Posted on 12/10/2009 12:17:37 PM PST by Still Thinking
The embattled community group ACORN could help regulate the financial services industry under new financial regulatory reforms, said Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) on Wednesday.
Bachmann, a consistent opponent of ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), said that an amendment given in the House Financial Services Committee could allow the group to sit on an advisory panel that monitors the regulations.
“ACORN may have a seat at the table being on the oversight committee regulating the financial services industry of the United States,” Bachmann said at a press conference. “And that would be a cruel joke."
Bachmann’s remarks come as House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank’s (D-Mass.) regulatory reform bill is set to be brought to a floor vote this week.
The amendment offered by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) created Consumer Financial Protection Oversight Board that would need to include five members from the “fields of consumer protection, fair lending and civil rights, representatives of depository institutions that primarily serve under-served communities or representatives of communities that have been significantly impacted by higher-priced mortgage loans.”
The panel does not have the power to create policy but can recommend policies to the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
Bachmann argued that this provision could allow ACORN to participate on the board. ACORN was temporarily stripped of its federal funding by Congress in September after two conservative activists posing as a pimp and prostitute filmed ACORN employees offering them financial advice.
The Minnesota congresswoman said she would offer an amendment negating the Waters language. She requested a provision be added to the omnibus appropriations bill that would extend the funding ban to Sept. 30, 2010.
Bachmann previously offered an amendment to the Financial Services Committee version that would bar ACORN-like groups from sitting on a separate advisory panel. Her amendment was approved by the panel. Waters' amendment was also included in the final bill.
Still Thinking could open an account in the Bank of the Back Yard.
A very smart lady!!
FReep mail me if you want on/off the list.
That’s probably exactly what Maxine Waters intended with her oversight committee, to the tune of Send In The Thugs.
Laughs.
Laughs.
Laughs.
Well, we might beat the terrorists giving them all the legal protections of the US Constitution too.....
They’re already here.
bump
Part of me is sooo glad all of this cancer has been uncovered. Now, if we could only kill it.
The undersigned State Board delegates and National Board members of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (“ACORN”) file this criminal complaint against ACORN Staff and Executive Board members for fraud, embezzlement, conspiracy and concealment, and criminal civil rights violations. Additionally, since there has already been the public admission that a felony was committed, it is also possible that other federal offenses have also been committed including but not limited to;
Title 18 U.S.C. §1341, Mail Fraud,
18 U.S.C.§1001, Presenting a False Document to an Agent of the United States Government;
18 U.S.C.§1027 False statements and concealment of facts in relation to documents required by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and other possible offenses including civiland/or criminal RICO violations.
18 U.S.C. §§1961-68 (RICO Act)
18 U.S.C. §1001 (False Statements to Agents of the U.S. Government),
18 U.S.C. §1341 (Mail Fraud),
18 U.S.C. §1027 (ERISA Violations),
18 U.S.C. §241 (Conspiracy Against Civil Rights).
Finally, the complainants contend that full investigations of a RICO conspiracy under 18U.S.C. §1962(c) are warranted because they assert that (1) the defendant persons (2) were employed by or associated with an enterprise (3) that engaged in or affected interstate commerce and that (4) the defendant persons operated or managed the enterprise (5) through a pattern (6) of racketeering activity, and (7) the complaints were injured in its business or property by reason of the pattern of racketeering activity.
Thus, the complainants feel that a formal RICO investigationis also warranted. 1. The Alleged Offense:The Complainants hereby allege a violation of Title 18 U.S.C. §241 – Conspiracy Against Constitutional Rights – which prohibits in relevant part, “two or more persons (from conspiring) to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or because of his having so exercised the same . . .” See, 18 U.S.C. §241.
BACKGROUND ACORN, or the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is acommunity-based advocacy organization founded in 1970. ACORN became part of the story of the 2008 presidential election as news reports and allegations surfaced against ACORN in a number of states. These complaints refer primarily to alleged irregularities with voter registrationdrives conducted by the organization. (National Review Online: Inside Obama's ACORN, May 29, 2008.) But also included significant embezzlement and concealment by Senior Staff and Executive Committee members.
ACORN registered as a non-profit corporation with the Secretary of State in Louisiana in 1977. Its Charter Organization ID is 04700320X. According to its corporate filings, ACORN's principle place of business is New Orleans, Louisiana, and approximately 294 related entitiesand related non-profits are also located at this place of business. ACORN is not registered as a tax-exempt organization.
ACORN's top three officers are President Maude Hurd of Dorchester, MA, Vice President Maria Polanco of Brooklyn, NY, and Secretary Maxine A. Nelson of Pine Bluff, AR. (Bertha Lewis recently became ACORN CEO) Maxine A. Nelson is also the director of Project Vote.
Citizen’s Consulting, Inc. (CCI) provides bookkeeping, human resource and financial management services exclusively for ACORN and related entities. All of CCI’s “clients” reside at ACORN office locations, utilize common management and staff. CCI is the financial “nerve center” for ACORN and it affiliated organizations which houses the corporate books and records for all ACORN entities.
ACORN Structure ACORN was founded by Wade Rathke, an activist on issues of labor unions and lowincome workers, and Gary Delgado, an activist on issues of race and social justice. It has national headquarters in New York, New Orleans and Washington, D.C. The organization describes itself as a non-profit, non-partisan social justice organization. In 2003,
ACORN opened operations in 20 new cities, including 5 state capitals. The group claims about 350,000 members across the country. (Wall Street Journal: Obama and ACORN, October 14, 2008).
Since 1970, ACORN has grown to more than 400,000 member families, organized in 1,200 neighborhood chapters in 110 citiesacross the U.S. and in cities in Canada, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Argentina and India.
ACORN Funding--Government grants: According to an October 8, 2008 article in the New York Post, 40% of ACORN'soperations are funded through grants it receives from various governmental entities. (New York Post: The Pro-Barack Vote-Fraud Drive, Michelle Malkin, Oct. 8, 2008)
Grants have been issued to ACORN by the Dept of Housing and Urban Development, which gave $8.2 million to ACORN in the years between 2003 and 2006, as well as $1.6 million to ACORN affiliates. The Environmental Protection Agency gave a $100,000 grant to ACORN in 2004 for a Louisiana Justice Project, which removed lead from the homes of low income families. The Justice Department also gave a grant to ACORN in 2005 for a juvenile delinquency program. (NPR: ACORN's Money Tree Has Many Branches, October 15, 2008). --
SNIP--24 pp
SOURCE http://www.acorn-8.net/PDFs/USAttComp.pdf
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