Saturday, May 9th, 2009

By J.R. Claeys

The Attorney General in Nevada and officials in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania have brought charges against ACORN this week for perpetrating a fraud in those states. In 14 other states investigations continue against the organization. ACORN incentivized volunteers to commit crimes and did not act to prevent fraudulent activities through its voter registration drives.

But ACORN is only part of the problem. What we should all be worried about is the group of lawmakers who have abandoned the integrity of our elections in favor of appealing to their base. Or, perhaps they simply benefit from fraud and prefer to preserve a system that favors the illegal tactics that keep them in office.

Michigan Rep. John Conyers (D) asked for hearings on ACORN on March 19, 2009. New York Rep. Gerald Nadler (D) now says those hearings will not be held because Conyers decided against investigating the group's activities. What changed between then and now? What new information changed the mind of a prominent lawmaker away from investigating illegal actions of an organization eligible for federal funding?

Democrats are asleep at the switch when it comes to our elections. Congress should investigate any organization charged with committing these types of crimes, especially when it is getting our tax dollars to subsidize the fraud. The latest stimulus bill has some pork in it for ACORN too.

In an article by John Fund today in the Wall Street Journal ACORN defended themselves saying they are merely a group of "community organizers just like our president used to be."

Just like our president, indeed.

It gets worse. From the WSJ article:

But Acorn's registration tricks may soon be unnecessary. Congressional Democrats are backing a bill to mandate a nationwide data base to automatically register driver's license holders or recipients of government benefits.

This "would create an engraved invitation for voter fraud," says Hans von Spakovsky, a former Federal Election Commission member, who points out that these lists are filled with felons and noncitizens who are ineligible to vote. Ironically, in light of its troubles with the law, Acorn was selected in March to assist the U.S. Census in reaching out to minority communities and recruiting census enumerators for the count next year.

When it comes to the integrity of our elections, the fox is guarding the hen house.