Fraudulent ACORN’s Fallout: How Far From Barack Obama’s Campaign Tree?

Update: From Michelle Malkin, more compelling information on ACORN fraudulent activity, plus federal judge calls out Ohio secretary of state for election law violations…

If you haven’t been paying attention, it’s time to tune in to the story of the Democratic presidential candidate (Barack Obama), widespread voting fraud (ACORN), and detestable past actions that fed the current financial crisis. Are you with me so far? I don’t need to retread all the facts because so many others already have.

Let’s start with this editorial in Investor’s Business Daily:

A radical group Barack Obama used to work for is committing voter-registration fraud in several states, ahead of the election. What does Obama know about this scam?

It goes further than that. As insightful blogger Ed Morrissey notes:

Not only has Obama publicly endorsed ACORN, he has paid them at least $800,000 for their services, an amount that he didn’t immediately disclose until pressed. ACORN has responded in kind, with their voter-registration efforts that have resulted in criminal investigations in more than a dozen states…

Missouri. Connecticut. Wisconsin. Ohio. Indiana (105 percent voter registration?). Michigan. Nevada (Using the identity of Dallas Cowboys? Come on…). Florida. Pennsylvania. Tennessee. Right here in Colorado.

And there’s nothing new here. The taxpayer-funded ACORN (yes, you read that right … taxpayer-funded) has been under investigation for serious allegations of misusing our dollars for partisan purposes (PDF).

With all the mounting evidence, conservative attorney and blogger John Hinderaker at Powerline observes: “It is reasonable to ask whether ACORN is in fact a criminal conspiracy to subvert the voting rights of Americans.”

Or you can entertain yourself by reading the brilliant, biting satire of Iowahawk: “ACORN Files Voting Rights Suit on Behalf of Imaginary-Americans”.

Nevertheless, the issue becomes downright serious when you follow the Media Circus investigation. Barack Obama appears to have had a direct role in 1990s ACORN lawsuits that pressured banks under the destructive Community Reinvestment Act to make thousands of bad loans or face irreparably damaging (but spurious) charges of racism. The practice stinks of blackmail, and Obama as a community organizer ought to explain how deeply he had his hand in perpetuating these bad loans that have helped to violently contaminate our economy.

(Of course, it is important to remember how Barack Obama has been advised by disgraced former Fannie Mae executive Franklin Raines executive and has taken more contributions from the financial institution than all other U.S. Senators but one.)

Investor’s Business Daily, Ed Morrissey, and many others are asking what Barack Obama knows about ACORN – his former employer, as well as a group he has publicly endorsed and his campaign has funded to the tune of $800,000 – and the current fraud. With the integrity of our national elections potentially being violated on a vast scale, Americans deserve an answer to the question. Who will have the courage to press the Democratic presidential candidate on the issue?

Even though you probably don’t have the powerful media position to ask Barack Obama, you can express your opinion by signing your name and email address to this online petition to investigate and STOP ACORN.