RobertSnider/AcornEditorial

September 20, 2009

Congressman Edward Markey 2108 Rayburn Office Building Washington, D.C. 02515

Re: ACORN

Dear Congressman Markey:

There has been a pattern of misbehavior by members of the Democratic Party that shows a disdainful disregard for the ethical and legal responsibilities of the people’s representatives. Previously, efforts to investigate ACORN have been blocked by Democrats who have controlled the process. Based upon the latest revelations as to ACORN’s activities, I have drawn the inescapable inference that ACORN is a nation-wide criminal enterprise to which the Democratic Party funnels taxpayer funds, supposedly for social service purposes, but actually to finance its voter registration drives and fraudulent voting practices.

1. Over 70 ACORN people in 12 states have been charged and been convicted for illegal voting practices over a period of years. I have read newspaper reports that several states have launched investigations into ACORN’s activities from the last presidential campaign. Further charges and convictions are reasonably to be expected. When voting violations occur over a long period of time at many different places a pattern becomes clear and may not be ignored. The law refuses to recognize ignorance as a defense when evidence of wrongdoing becomes obvious and especially so when the observer has a fiduciary responsibility to take action to protect those who rely upon their office.
2. During the last presidential campaign, I saw interviews of people on television who admitted to being ACORN employees and I heard them brag about all of the false voter registrations they had turned in.
3. I know from my readings that ACORN funnels its government funds through a central location in Louisiana and that no audit has been done as to the $53,000,000 of taxpayer funds given to ACORN in the past. ACORN is scheduled to receive $8,500,000,000 in the future if it is not stopped.
4. Former ACORN directors who had resigned in protest over ACORN’s refusal to operate openly and have testified on television that the head of ACORN, Mr. Rathke, covered up his brother’s embezzlement of one million dollars and refused to open his books. A reasonable custodian of the public’s funds would have long ago compelled a careful and complete audit of all of ACORN’s books and operations.

5. Questionable practices are not limited to ACORN. Representative Rangel, chairman of Ways and Means, was discovered to have failed to disclose very substantial assets and rental income in his income tax return and on the financial disclosure statements that he is mandated to submit. Secretary of the Treasury Geithner’s failure to pay taxes was one of the clearest cases of tax cheating I have ever seen. Senator Dodd has cheated by taking a valuable financing deal from a company his committee supposedly regulated. Attorney General Holder dismissed a voting rights conviction against the New Black Panther Party for no reason other than naked, “Chicago Rules” politics. ¹ I will not take the space to detail the parade of other tax cheats now holding high office in this administration. Evidently, no democrat pays any price for criminal or immoral actions. The excuses presented for their intentional behavior; e.g. it’s an “honest mistake, is an insult to my intelligence and the intelligence of every other law abiding American with a modicum of common sense.

6. The recent videotaping of five ACORN offices in which ACORN employees gladly helped young, documentary filmmakers apply for loans to establish a brothel for 13 year old girls smuggled into the U.S. from El Salvador for the purposes of the sex trade establishes that ACORN has a culture of criminality that permeates the entire organization. No ACORN office that was approached refused to help the criminal activity proposed by the filmmaker. Only an amoral and depraved person will remain silent at the prospect of 13 year old girls condemned to a life of sexual slavery without speaking out. Why did such open criminality have to be uncovered by a journalism student and a film maker? Where was law enforcement?

Manifestly, the Democratic Party is wedded to a doctrine of relative morality, silence in the face of evil and has abandoned the doctrine that the U.S. is supposed to be a government of laws and not of men. The same rules of morality and rule of law must apply to all of us, even the “public servants” in Congress who have turned the phrase on its head. Therefore, I respectfully suggest to you that in your capacity as a Congressman you have a fiduciary duty to take care of our government and the taxpayer’s money by taking positive actions that insure that:

1. ACORN receives no federal funds and that no person who was a former employee or officer of ACORN ever again receives federal funds.
2. Of course, we must remember we are dealing with people who will try to regain access to the public’s money by re-forming old organizations with new names. You must be sure such tactics are anticipated and foreclosed. No organization formed in the future that has ACORN people should be able to receive funds
3. No organization hereafter should receive public funds under the guise of being a social service organization that engages in political activity. That is not too difficult to accomplish. Our churches and synagogues have carefully lived within that rule for many years.
4. ACORN’s finances and affairs should be thoroughly investigated and any criminal behavior must be uncovered, violators charged and the guilty held to account whether or not they are Democrats. Promises that the government will root out fraud and waste from the health insurance business ring hollow in light of the failure of Congress to do anything previously about an organization which has openly violated the law with impunity; secure in the knowledge that it has friends in the government.
5. Obviously, if the voting process is seen to be infected by fraud the consequences for our nation will be extremely severe. The voting process must be returned to an honest state and operated without bias. A through investigation should be made of ACORN’s actions in the last election and the Voting Rights Law enforced without the kind of prosecutorial abuse shown by Attorney General Holder.
6. I expect to see a campaign launched to whitewash ACORN’s actions and to rehabilitate ACORN by means of the usual tactics; blaming the accusers, excusing ACORN’s violations on the grounds that it does “good works” and to attempt to brand those who object to having their hard-earned taxes stolen as being racists. I respectfully suggest that the American people are not as gullible as some of the media seems to believe. To excuse ACORN and to continue to fund it is to condone its actions, to affirm that the “culture of corruption” is the norm in the Democratic Party and give the lie to all who follow the law and the rules of morality. The level of cynicism among the citizenry is as high as Congress’ approval level is low and failure to deal justly with ACORN will greatly widen the gap.
7. Lastly, as a Democrat, you should insist that your party hold each and all of its members, no matter how influential, to the standard of ethics candidates promise they will meet in campaigns but do not meet. Further, that all those who violate the law pay the same price that the ordinary citizen pays. I have been a town meeting member in Framingham for more than ten years, a member of several committees and a practicing attorney. My actions are subject to a detailed ethics law. Following it requires care but is not difficult. There seems to be a big gap between the ethics of town meeting and the ethics in Washington.

There are several contentious issues dividing the populace at this time. As important as they are, the issue of corruption is fundamental because it strikes at the heart of the democratic process. To ignore the corruption is an implied approval of its results. Please do so.

Very truly yours,

Robert Snider