On Fox, WSJ editorial board member Moore echoes GOP's ACORN falsehood
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SUMMARY: Echoing a false GOP talking point, Stephen Moore claimed that "groups like ACORN" received money in the recovery act. In fact, the act does not mention ACORN or otherwise single it out for funding.
During the May 7 edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom, Stephen Moore, a Wall Street Journal senior economics writer and editorial board member, echoed the false Republican talking point that ACORN received money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Moore claimed that "we know from that stimulus plan that a lot of the money went to liberal special interest groups that helped make the last election possible. Groups like the labor unions, groups like ACORN." However, as Media Matters for America has repeatedly documented, the recovery act does not mention ACORN or otherwise single it out for funding; ACORN itself has said it is ineligible for the funds and has no plans to apply for them.
As Media Matters has documented, Fox News and other media outlets have frequently repeated this false Republican talking point.
From the May 7 edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom:
BILL HEMMER (co-host): Let me just be clear. I mentioned $787 billion in the stimulus plan. Of that, 500 billion is supposed to go out to the states, right? So it's a little less than the overall amount. And a --
MOORE: That's right.
HEMMER: -- North Carolina Democrat, [Rep.] Brad Miller, said we're trying to spend $500 billion quickly. That was a quote. I mean, I --
MOORE: Yeah.
HEMMER: -- if you're a taxpayer out there, man, how you feeling about this?
MOORE: Yeah, spending money quickly by the government isn't going to necessarily lead to the most economical ways of spending the money. I mean, I think you're going to see unbelievable amounts of waste.
And, by the way, we know from that stimulus plan that a lot of the money went to liberal special interest groups that helped make the last election possible. Groups like the labor unions, groups like ACORN. Well, does anybody really think that they're going to closely monitor how they're spending that money?
The real question is, why are you not coming out of the closet and calling yourself a Democrat? As can plainly be seen by your views, you are a liberal.
Nobody needs to cut off anything. It would be like me saying the Democrats are failing to attract me because I am pro-life and believe in less government and lower taxes.
If you want to try and fool us by proclaiming yourself an independent, go ahead. The Democrats built their party around people who believe as you so you might as well admit it.
My only hope is that another party does come about from all the people being kicked out of the now obsolete Republican brand. Let Hannity, and Beck, and O'Reilly, and Limbaugh and their few million people who actually drink their Kool-Aid (and who post here regularly in their defense) go with them into the wilderness. Let the pro-torture, pro-secession, homosexual=pedophile, theocratic few have their regional, white, uneducated party. I truly believe our nation is stronger with two strong political parties. Actually, I believe it is stronger with at least 5 strong political parties, but for the time being I would settle for a second.
It defies logic to believe that Obama, who has spent his career supporting and growing ACORN, (who btw, surreptitiously funneled over $800,000 during his campaign to an ACORN subsidiary,) and acted as both an organizer and legal counsel for ACORN, would create a multi-billion dollar give away program like he did with the ARRA and not payback his base.
Surreptitiously funneled? Sure, much like I surreptitiously funneled $17 to the person who cut my hair last week. It's called payment for providing a service.
Obama paid over $800,000 to an Acorn front group, Citizens Service Inc. for campaign advance work and tried to hide the funneling of money to Acorn.
Excluding the large payments to CSI, one of which was for $63,000 and the other for $75,000 the average amount the Obama campaign spent with other organizations was $558.82 per check on more than 1,200 entries classified as advance work.
FEC reports show that from February-May 2008, Obama paid $832,598.29 to CSI.
The payments were for:
$310,441.20 25-FEB-08 STAGING, SOUND, LIGHTING
$160,689.40 27-FEB-08 STAGING, SOUND, LIGHTING
$98,451.20 29-FEB-08 TRAVEL/LODGING
$74,578.01 13-MAR-08 STAGING, SOUND, LIGHTING
$18,417.00 28-MAR-08 POLLING
$18,633.60 29-APR-08 STAGING, SOUND, LIGHTING
$63,000.00 29-APR-08 ADVANCE WORK
$105.84 02-MAY-08 LICENSE FEES
$105.84 02-MAY-08 LICENSE FEES
$75,000.00 17-MAY-08 ADVANCE WORK
$13,176.20 17-MAY-08 PER DIEM
Interesting services and payments for a nonprofit organization that supposedly does simple canvassing work on behalf of low-income people. Yet the media glossed it over when it is obvious the Obama campaign was funneling money to ACORN.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/election/s_584284.html
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/08/22/acorn-watch-pt-ii-obama-hid-800000-payment-to-acorn-through-citizen-services-inc/
I don't see what your point is. The Obama campaign hired CSI to do GOTV work for them. They were paid for those services. CSI is a money-making division of ACORN to help fund their activities. This is not uncommon for non-profits. The fact that an organization is non-profit doesn't mean it can't provide services for payment.
Let's bear in mind that nothing illegal has taken place. Campaigns pay for GOTV efforts all of the time. CSI was doing what they do. ACORN's peripheral involvement also wasn't illegal or unethical. The payments were miscategorized on reporting to the FEC, but that error was discovered and corrected BY THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN.
We should all also remember that, in spite of conservative histrionics, ACORN has never been shown to have produced one single fraudulent vote. They've been operating for decades, all across the country, and you can't show a single fraudulent vote that has been a result of their activities.
Still, conservatives aren't likely to give up their boogeyman anytime soon.
Please return to Fox News or whatever liars you care to listen to..
the report uses ACORN as an example of the organizations that can and have received money in the stimulus bill. Niether the clip nor the transcript say the bill singled out ACORN to receive money. MMFA should be embarrassed by the(seeming to me)intentional distortion of this clip by -E.H.H., whom it would seem has an ax to grind with either Stephen Moore or Fox News, or both.
So, the intentional distortion brought to you by Stephen Moore.
The seven have been charged with either forging, illegally soliciting or illegally filling out voter-registration cards in the lead-up to the 2008 election.
Authorities in Nevada filed charges Monday against ACORN and two former employees on charges they illegally paid canvassers to sign up voters. ACORN denied those accusations.
One happened. ACORN got scammed by some temp employees. The other hasn't happened. Mickey Mouse never tried to vote.
I wonder if some of the bogus fill-ins the Reds shrill about were of the same sort of mindset.
No one who created a false voter registration has tried to vote using that bogus registration.
that and now he is on about this "Civilest of Wars" we are apparently in the midst of...
Comedy if it weren't so scary.