Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Undercover at ACORN

Unless you watch FOX news you probably are unaware of what is happening with ACORN.” I had heard this statement but didn’t really believe it until I talked to a friend who only watches Main Stream Media (MSM) and he was completely unaware of the latest scandals with ACORN. So now I am not sure which is worse, the scandal or that the MSM is sweeping it under the floor. But if you are like my friend, and only get your news from the MSM then let me inform you as to what you are missing…

Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now or ACORN is supposed to help minority communities with housing, voter registration and other issues. Although they have recieved millions of dollars of tax payer funds and are eligible for additional millions in stimulus money they have frequently been found to be corrupt, illegal, and misusing our money. To find out just how far they could go, two conservative activists went undercover and visited ACORN offices with an outrageous request....

James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles, both young white twenty somethings, posed as a pimp and prostitute wanting to buy a house with ACORN's help to use as a brothel for 10-13 under aged El Salvadorian girls and to raise enough money for the “pimp’s” future congressional campaign. Really! They even dressed their parts in over the top outrageous outfits that were parodies of the movie version pimp and whore. He went so far as to wear a fur coat while she wore next to nothing with huge heels and earings. Dressed like this they entered ACORN’s offices where they taped what happened next. And you wouldn’t believe it if it wasn’t on video. (To see for yourself, all of the videos can be found at: http://biggovernment.com/ )

After hearing the couples outrageous request for a house, did ACORN employees throw them out? Did they even try to dissuade Hannah from her life of prostitution? Did anyone mention any of the legalities or rather illegalities of their intentions? Did anyone speak up for the young girls who were supposedly being imported for prostitution? No, No, No and No. In fact, just the opposite. At each office, the ACORN employees went out of their way to assist Hannah in not only applying for a house but also in doing her income taxes and even hiding what she does and her money so that it wouldn’t hurt the pimp’s future congressional run. And the Baltimore office gave out hugs to their prostitute client at the end of their meeting.

But first, the Baltimore ACORN employee helped the couple to find a legitimate line of business or “code” since prostitution is illegal. They suggested she say she was a performing artist. This same employee then brings in their “tax expert” who later determines that the prostitute could claim upwards of $7,000 of her supposedly $9,000 monthly income as expenses and that she could claim some of the girls as dependents.

In Washington DC, the ACORN employee also councils how to get around being a prostitute by telling them to “create false company name to disguise ‘Lady of the Night Thing’” and encourages her to not put prostitute down as business but to set herself as a Sole Proprietor of her own business such as Marketeer or Consultant. When asked by the pimp if he could be the one to put up the money for her and she can do the tricks in the new house, the ACORN employee agrees with a “Yep”. They then tell him that he needs to be just the landlord and shouldn’t have any knowledge of what is going on in the house and he should stay away from that house if he wants to go into politics. The Washington DC ACORN employees go so far as to tell the “pimp” to lie to the police if he is ever asked about what happens in that house.

After these two films were released late last week even though the MSM ignored them, others are finally starting to take some action. Personally, I was thrilled to hear that the Census Bureau will not use ACORN to help with the upcoming Census. Yes! Then yesterday, Congress passed a law which stops million dollar funding to ACORN.

To try to limit any more damage, ACORN has fired most of the employees involved in the sting. The Chief Organizer of ACORN, Bertha Lewis then spoke out saying “This recent scam, which was attempted in San Diego, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia to name a few places, had failed for months before the results we’ve all recently seen.” And so with obvious glee, O’Keefe released yet a third video, this time from Brooklyn, New York.

The New York ACORN office reacted the same way that the Baltimore and Washington DC ACORN office’s reacted. Although this office suggested that the prostitute put her earnings in a tin and buries it in the backyard of her new house! This office also suggests that the prostitute buy the house then transfer it to a third party who then sells it to the pimp so that there is no direct link between the pimp and the prostitute. As for Hanna’s profession, the ACORN employee tells her “If you are going to do it then do it well, and start thinking for yourself.” Enough. You get the drift.

To repeat myself, as outrageous as this story is, the bigger outrage is the fact that NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post and almost every other MSM has yet to provide a detailed story on this even though it has all the elements of a great scandal: sex, brothels, under age prostitution, corruption, etc. I also wouldn't be surprised if there are more videos to follow. And yet, could you imagine what they would do if this was a conservative group and not ACORN with its close ties to the President?

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Health Care, 65 Roses and A Prayer

Last year a local news station made a video about a day in the life of my niece, Aubrey Rose. At the time, my niece was an ambassador for Cystic Fibrosis, an incurable disease that she and her family must deal with every day of her life. This emotional video http://www.wftv.com/video/17788642/index.html) shows that life is difficult and the future uncertain for the whole family.

I mention this because in the current discussions of health care I wonder how the government’s plan for health care would affect charities and those with chronic illnesses? There’s been a lot of talk about how the elderly will be treated, but what about those like my niece, Aubrey Rose? Will the government continue to allow her to get expensive medications, participate in clinical trials or go to specialists, particularly if there isn’t a cure? Who will make these decisions? Today it is between you, your doctor and your insurance company. Do you want to have the government become a part of these painful, emotional decisions?

If we had national health care then I could easily see how the government would feel it is looking at the “big picture” and using your dollars to provide the care that would benefit the most. They might ask - is it fair to spend all this money on one child when there is no cure for her disease? Hell yes, if it is your child! And can’t you just see the health care panel denying a CF teen a new lung thinking that she will probably die in another 10 years so let’s give the lung to someone with a longer life expectancy. Wow. This is not what America is all about. A cost-benefit approach is an awful path to go down and we must never take even a first step in that direction. For didn’t some other governments start off with just this kind of questions? First, it was the mentally ill and chronically ill but it went on from there… And even in America, how far might this line of questioning go and where might it lead us?

As I said in the beginning, I am writing about this not only as a concerned citizen but also as “Aunt Patti”. My niece, Aubrey Rose, was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis a few days after she was born. The family was horrified to learn that there is no cure and she was destined to have a difficult and shortened life. In fact, right now her life expectancy is only 37 years old. Can you imagine all that you have done or might miss in your forties, fifties, sixties and even seventies if you were to die in your mid thirties?

Yet my niece is lucky that she was born in America. If she had been born in Ireland, where there is national health care, her life expectancy drops from 37 all the way down to 27! CF patients have ten years taken from an already shortened life because of the lack of care in a country with socialized health care. This should be a huge warning to our country as to the detrimental impact of socialized health care.

Of course, one way to avoid the whole nationalized health care problems is to be healthy. To that end, a lot of people are working very hard to find a cure for CF or to at least give CF patients the means to live a healthier longer life. And we are working hard, too, through our annual 65 Roses Golf Classic. When Aubrey was diagnosed we decided that since government doesn’t give a penny to help the CF Foundation then my family would raise money to help find a cure. But unlike other charity functions which raises money, every dollar donated would go to the CF Foundation and not to some dubious “Trust Fund”, plus 90 cents of every dollar donated to the CF Foundation goes straight to research and not to exorbitant salaries or fancy trips. So you know when you donate money that it is going to truly help out.

Eight years ago my family, friends and the Orlando Chapter of CF started the 65 Roses Golf Classic. About 6 of us worked hard to put on this event but it is worth the effort as we have raised tens of thousands of dollars each year for the CF Foundatoin. Now it’s time for the next tournament. But we need your help. The economy is making it tough on all charities, including our own event. Yet if we help each other than there will never be a need for government to step in. Now that is what America is truly all about – people helping each other without any government interference. And here is how you can help us raise money to find a cure for CF…

If you live in Central Florida, we would love if you could join us at our 65 Roses Golf Classic in honor of Aubrey Rose to be held on November 23, 2009 at the Heathrow Country Club in Lake Mary Florida. Many of our golfers return each year for the golf, great food, drinks, good auction items and for the overall comradery of the group. Plus as a special treat, before the tournament begins, the golfers also enjoy a clinic by professional golfer Chris DiMarco. That is just the start to what is always a fun and rewarding day. Click on this link for more information http://orlando.cff.org/65rosesgolf .

If you can’t be here, you can still help out by giving a donation to this wonderful cause. Your donation, no matter the size, is important since every single dollar is making a real differenced in the search for a cure for Cystic Fibrosis. My family and I would appreciate whatever your budget allows, be it your charitable donation of $10, $25, $50 or $250. Plus this donation is 100% tax deductible. To donate to the 65 Roses Golf Classic to help find a cure for CF, click on this link www.cff.org/lwc/auntpatti.

Aubrey Rose is smart and funny and sweet and stubborn, in other words just like most kids her age. Except as you saw in the video (http://www.wftv.com/video/17788642/index.html) her life is different from her classmates. Yet she deserves, as does every CF child, to have a long and healthy life. And it is up to us to help her do just that. So please, help us find a cure for Aubrey Rose and the 30,000 others with Cystic Fibrosis by donating to our 65 Roses Golf Classic at www.cff.org/lwc/auntpatti. And join me in my prayer for my beautiful niece, Aubrey Rose; that some day a cure is found so that that this terrific little girl who is just starting second grade, will live a long life and will die of old age surrounded by her children and her children’s children in the far far future. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?