ACORN- THE GREATEST DANGER TO THE REPUBLIC SINCE.... WELL NOT EXACTLY

Congress recently passed legislation to protect unsuspecting Americans from this all powerful, pervasive danger

Funny thing. I easily found two or three recent editorials lacerating ACORN in the Herald with an archives search. And Congress is all in a lather over allegations of fraud by ACORN, so much so that they passed an allsweeping law to ban companies convicted of fraud from doing business with the Federal Government. Oops- that law will end up banning the top 10 defense contractors from continuing to do business with the DOD. Funny thing: I found no mention in the Herald of Lockheed, which has previously been convicted of defrauding the federal government and which is currently accused of defrauding the Air Force on the F-22 fighter project:

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4169849&c=AME&s=AIR

Lockheed Martin Accused of Fraud in F-22 Lawsuit
By SAM LAGRONE
Published: 2 Jul 2009 14:04
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"A whistleblower lawsuit accuses defense giant of defrauding the U.S. Air Force by using defective outer coatings on its F-22 Raptor stealth fighter and lying about meeting contract deadlines.

Darrol Olsen, a stealth engineer, filed the lawsuit two years ago in federal district court in California. The documents were unsealed in May."

And the Herald didn't exactly highlight fraud by Halliburton that killed people in Iraq. I guess if your organization tries to register poor minorities to vote, you will be held to a much higher standard than if you provide shoddy products to the military that cause the deaths of American servicemen and women.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ggIzyaVjgrtoH9EBT4obMw3JIq4Q
US contractor in Iraq accused of electrocution deaths

(AFP) – Jul 11, 2008

"WASHINGTON (AFP) — The biggest US military contractor in Iraq, KBR, was steeped in another scandal Friday as lawmakers, families and experts accused it of recklessly causing the electrocution deaths of US soldiers.

"While I had always been prepared to hear that one of my sons died by way of a firefight or a roadside bomb, I was dumbstruck to hear that my son was electrocuted while taking a shower in his living quarters," said Cheryl Harris, mother of army Staff Sergeant Ryan Maseth, who died in January.

Maseth's "burnt and smoldering" body was found under still-running, electrically charged water by a fellow soldier who kicked down the door of the bathroom at an army base in Baghdad, Harris told a hearing of the Senate Democratic policy committee.

KBR, a former subsidiary of the Halliburton energy firm which was once led by Vice President Dick Cheney, was contracted to maintain facilities at the base and had been informed of electrical problems in the building where Maseth died."

And, to put this all in proper perspective:

"The amount of money that ACORN has received in the past 20 years altogether is roughly equal to what the taxpayer paid to Halliburton each day during the war in Iraq."

Glenn Greenwald
Wednesday Sept. 23, 2009 10:24 EDT
Salon Radio: Rep. Alan Grayson on de-funding corrupt defense contractors

"Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) -- my guest on Salon Radio today -- yesterday pointed out that the bill passed by both the Senate and House to de-fund ACORN is written so broadly that it literally compels the de-funding not only of that group, but also the de-funding of, and denial of all government contracts to, any corporation that "has filed a fraudulent form with any Federal or State regulatory agency." By definition, that includes virtually every large defense contractor, which -- unlike ACORN -- has actually been found guilty of fraud. As The Huffington Post's Ryan Grim put it: "the bill could plausibly defund the entire military-industrial complex. Whoops."

I spoke with Rep. Grayson this morning regarding the consequences of all of this. He is currently compiling a list of all defense contractors encompassed by this language in order to send to administration officials (and has asked for help from the public in compiling that list, here). The President is required by the Constitution to "faithfully execute" the law, which should mean that no more contracts can be awarded to any companies on that list, which happens to include the ten largest defense contractors in America. Before being elected to Congress, Grayson worked extensively on uncovering and combating defense contractor fraud in Iraq, and I asked him to put into context ACORN's impact on the American taxpayer versus these corrupt defense contractors. His reply: "The amount of money that ACORN has received in the past 20 years altogether is roughly equal to what the taxpayer paid to Halliburton each day during the war in Iraq.""