Riehl World View

ObamACORN Shreds Remaining Reputation Instead Of Documents

By dumping a large number of sensitive documents in a public dumpster on the eve of a formal investigation, ACORN may have succeeded in shredding what might be left of its reputation. It may have also revealed itself not just as a criminal enterprise, but as an enterprise that is, at its heart, criminally dumb.

But then what else would one expect from a bunch of progressives rolling in a ton of Democrat cash, possible bribes, kickbacks and influence peddling? Let us not forget that the titular head nut behind ACORN is none other than Barack Obama himself.

While the future is impossible to predict and plenty of powerful Dems will be doing everything they can to circle the wagons and protect their party and potus in all this, at this rate, Obama may yet prove to be the false prophet who led his people into the sea just as the waves came crushing down on them.

It will take a Republican majority in the House in 2010 to truly get to the bottom of this garbage, up to and including potential links to the Obama WH itself. But Republicans must have control to make it happen. This is yet another good reason to put dreams of a 3rd party aside right now. With effort, we could bring the whole thing down in 2011 - 2012 and cut the progressives adrift in American politics for a decade, or more. Keep the big picture in mind as you're reading Big Government on this.

Documents shared with BigGovernment.com include information exposing not only the inner workings of ACORN in California, but also personal, sensitive information belonging to employees, members and clients of ACORN. ACORN and its few remaining defenders insist that the “good” ACORN provides outweighs the transgressions exposed in the recent undercover video sting. But, ACORN’s massive dumping of these documents and the cavalier manner in which it betrayed the trust of its supporters betrays that talking point. (Unlike ACORN, we have redacted sensitive and personal information.)

ACORN’s political agenda is also exposed, with thousands upon thousands of documents revealing the depth of the political machine that is ACORN, and its disturbing ties to not only public employee labor unions but some of the most radical leftist organizations.

The laws governing how sensitive, personal information such as social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, immigration records, tax returns, etc. must be treated are very stringent, and thus it seems as if ACORN may have committed serious violations in that department alone, with thousands upon thousands of potential plaintiffs.

Man In Airport Ties Lizards To Chest

Hmm. For a minute there, I thought Charles Johnson may have been smuggling in new readers from Australia. Anyway, at least it wasn't dynamite for a change.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Federal officials say they arrested a man who strapped 15 live lizards to his chest to get through customs at Los Angeles International Airport.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Friday that 40-year-old Michael Plank of Lomita, Calif., was returning from Australia when U.S. Customs agents found two geckos, two monitor lizards and 11 skinks - another type of lizard - fastened to his body Tuesday.

Plank has been released on $10,000 bond and will be arraigned in federal court on Dec. 21.

Some Priceless Prose From Berkeley

Tigerhawk weighs in on the Berkeley protests here, with links. But no one seems to have included a few gems from the original source article. They deserve to be highlighted. The world view of the protesters tells us this will happen, again - and likely get worse; the university's weak response will be partly to blame for it; and no amount of reasoning will help.

Who led the protest and what do you suppose her preferences are for the Middle East? Don't be surprised if the same mindset, perhaps among others, helps to contribute to violent protest on behalf of the Palestinians here one day.

"We decided it was necessary to take action," said Andi Walden, a Middle Eastern studies and political science major. "A lot of people have been saying, 'Whose university? Our university.' So we decided to put that into action."

How did the administration respond in thought? They're "disappointed". My, however will these students cope with such a strong scolding? And how much does it do to tell them to do it, again?

Janet Gilmore, a spokeswoman for the university, said employees on campus "share the frustration" of the occupiers, but "at the same time we're disappointed that they had taken this action."

Finally, what was achieved? Well, nothing, really. But it was a great success!

"There was no negotiating going on," UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said. "They had an all-or-nothing stance, and the university had neither the ability nor the inclination to give them what they were demanding, and not under these conditions."

After she was led from Wheeler Hall to wild cheers from onlookers, doctoral student Ianna Owen, 23, said, "I feel like we really mobilized people."

She said she would continue to address the fee hikes issue and was not disappointed the group's demands were not met.

"Not all gains are material," she said.

ACORN: About That Journalistic Integrity Thing

Sad, but too bad, LA Times. Now, if it had been a conservative source, how many additional confirmations do you think they would have wanted? My guess is at least one solid one. Oh, but progressive Commie types? We know they never lie because they care so much!

Yeah, ... right.

In September, L.A. Times columnist James Rainey wrote a column in which he uncritically quoted ACORN worker Lavelle Stewart suggesting that she had turned Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe out of her office:

LMAO: Mail Carrier Of The Year Announced!

The stupid just keeps pouring off of the wires tonight. A female mail carrier, drunk, breaks into a home and plops down on the kitchen floor to eat some leftover noodles?? You can't make this chit up. Too bad we don't have guvmint health care, yet. They'd probably just transfer her to the critical care ward to help reduce costs. She wasn't even fired on the spot. You watch, it'll be rehab and back to work delivering mail to your house. Help her out and keep some warm noodles on the porch for when she stumbles past. ha ha ha

MARION, Iowa (AP) -- Police in Marion and postal authorities are investigating the case of a mail carrier who was allegedly found drunk inside a residence while on the job. Police said the postal worker, 46, was charged with public intoxication Nov. 3 after she was found sitting on the kitchen floor of 95-year-old woman's house, eating leftover noodles from her refrigerator.

Police Lt. Steve Etzel said Tuesday that the woman apparently entered the home through an unlocked front door. He said she was in uniform and had mail and a mail-carrying bag with her.

The woman, a 17-year employee of the U.S. Postal Service, was taken to the Linn County Jail. Marion Postmaster Rick Leyendecker said the woman is currently on unpaid leave.

Couple Calls Police Over Pot Theft

Nah, smoking too much dope doesn't make you, like, uh, dumb, or anything. And within 1,000 yards of a school?? lol Morons like this don't deserve to get high.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- A man and woman who reported to police that robbers stole their marijuana are now facing charges themselves. The 32-year-old man and 29-year-old woman told police five armed men came to their Wichita apartment late Monday night and took marijuana.

Police said one suspect accidentally fired his gun and spooked the other suspects. They ran from the apartment to a white Cadillac, dropping marijuana along the way.

Police found more marijuana inside the apartment.

The couple were booked on suspicion of various drug charges, including selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a school.

Cold Cash Jefferson Gets 13 Years

Thirteen years in prison. We'll see what he serves, but it couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - A former Louisiana congressman who famously stashed cash in his freezer was sentenced Friday to 13 years in prison for taking hundreds of thousands in bribes in exchange for using his influence to broker business deals in Africa. The sentence handed down in suburban Washington was far less than the nearly 30 years prosecutors had sought for William Jefferson, a Democrat who represented parts of New Orleans for nearly 20 years.

Feds Ignored Medicare Fraud Warnings For Years

Isn't this fun stuff to read. One can only imagine the sharks lining up to get their portion from any new health care reform. Medicare fraud is thought to be in the area of $60 Billion a year. Despite repeated warnings in some cases, the Feds managed to ignore it for years. Yes, please do take more of our money only to manage it as if it wasn't your own. Oh, that's right! It isn't. Which has proved to be one of the biggest problems facing government as long as it has existed.

America should be outraged over this. Instead, many Americans will simply gloss over it as business as usual when it comes to the Federal Government. Because they're looking after us, right?  What a sad joke.

MIAMI (AP) -- For three years, the federal agency in charge of preventing Medicare fraud repeatedly ignored internal watchdog warnings about swindlers stealing millions of dollars by scamming several programs, documents show.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services received roughly 30 warnings from inspectors over three years during the Bush and Obama administrations but didn't respond to half of them, even after repeated letters, according to records provided to The Associated Press by U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley's office.

A July 2008 warning said organized crime had infiltrated the system and was costing more than $1 million dollars for each phony Medicare provider license the crooks obtained. The letter got no response, Grassley said.

Bill Sparkman: Census Worker's Death An Insurance Scam?

Talk about another shoe dropping, geez.

Dang, those Right Wing fanatics will stop at nothing in the pursuit of profits. No wonder capitalism is dying! And why has the Left stopped paying attention to this story? Don't they actually want to get to the bottom of it after having used up a political non-talking point? Don't they actually care about Census workers? Who would have guessed?

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - A census taker found hanging from a tree had named his son as his life insurance beneficiary, and investigators are looking into whether the father manipulated the death scene to make a claim possible, law enforcement officials told The Associated Press Thursday.
 
In an interview with AP, Josh Sparkman said he found paperwork for the private life insurance policy among his father, Bill Sparkman's, personal files but wasn't sure of the amount or when it was taken out. He said authorities have told him nothing about the case or produced a death certificate, which is usually needed to make an insurance claim.

Two law enforcement sources, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the case, said investigators are trying to determine if Bill Sparkman manipulated the death scene, so his son could collect.

ACORN: We Have A Constitutional Right To Steal Taxpayer Money

Why don't these idiots go out and get real jobs. Breitbart's video busts told us what they do best. The pathetic part in all this is that they were not just allowed, but encouraged to run wild on taxpayer funding by corrupt liberals, including Obama. They should all hang together if you ask me. How long will it be before corrupt Democrats find a way to back door them the money? I bet they're accustomed to the back door. Maybe Barney Frank should spearhead the effort? After all, he ran a whorehouse at his condo once, too. Now that I think of it, I wonder if he bought it on ACORN dollars?

NEW YORK (AP) - ACORN has filed a lawsuit claiming that Congress violated the Constitution when it passed a law cutting off federal funding to the organization.
The Center for Constitutional Rights filed the lawsuit on ACORN's behalf Thursday in Brooklyn federal court. It claims the law was unconstitutional because it punitively targeted an individual organization.

Messages for comment left at the White House and the federal agencies named in the suit were not immediately returned.