For those of you not wishing to read this whole post, please be sure to visit the site “Smash Acorn. No Nuts in the Census” linked here and print out and mail your letter to Commerce Secretary Locke.

When I received a copy of ACORN’s Ohio 2007-08 Political Plan linked here; I just about fell off my chair, literally. Being a resident of Ohio, I followed closely and with fascination the ongoing day-to-day events unfolding with regard to ACORN in this state and the part it played in Election 2008. Because Ohio “delivered” the 2004 presidency to George W. Bush, it was inevitable that ACORN would play a big role in the Buckeye State in 2008. And so it did. But I had no idea they actually had what I would call a “business plan.” If having no other value, at least it show’s us what we are up against.

OVERVIEW

Katy Gall was the ACORN Head Organizer. The first page states:

“After delivering a minimum wage increase to an estimated 718,000 Ohioan-14% of the state’s workforce, ACORN members and organizers are building political power by bringing low and moderate income Ohioans together around a broader Working Families Agenda.”

To examine this correctly, we need to refresh our memories about ACORN’s mission statement:

“We are a community-based organization that advocates for low-and moderate-income families by working on neighborhood safety, voter registration, health care, and affordable housing, and other social issues.” ACORN states they provide these services and goals through “demonstration, negotiation, and lobbying for legislation and voter participation.”

So based on the above, that “mission statement” would also include advocating for higher minimum wages. And deliver that minimum wage they did. In 2006. Here is a link to a Youtube video still up, almost 3 years later, showing an ACORN march to campaign for a “yes” vote to raise the minimum wage in Ohio. And here is a link to ACORN’s “celebration” of that victory.

This document is a long read, but worth the time. For those who just want some key points, please read below.

KEY AREAS OF THE DOCUMENT

Before we go any further, many of you have probably heard the word progressive or progressivism lately. Used here as a political term; it is the advocacy of progress, change, improvement or reform. Presidents Wm. Taft, Woodrow Wilson, both Roosevelts and LBJ were considered by many to be progressives. Progressivism can advocate income redistribution, is generally in support of trade and labor unions, and can campaign for a “living wage” or universal health care.

So it is therefore no surprise that on page 2 of the plan ACORN states it has “an unmatched opportunity for progressives to win the White House, build a progressive majority in the House and Senate, pave the way for the post 2010 redistricting struggle, and hold progressive candidates accountable for implementing progressive public policies.”

So how does ACORN accomplish this? Number one is through “voter registration.” Number two is through “voter education and mobilization.” Look closely on page 4. Analyses of costs conclude voter registration is cheaper, “coming in at” $12.50-$15 “per card;” while a “voter education and mobilization program” can cost as high as $54 “per card.”

The Voter Registration program is pretty much what most people saw on TV during Election 2008: canvassers on the streets registering people to vote. On page 5 of the document, ACORN states that IT WILL, not that ITS GOAL IS; to register 205,000 new voters in Ohio.

Fascinating stuff.

The Voter Education and Mobilization program “increases the share of the electorate that votes for progressive candidates (also page 5) using a sophisticated personal contact methodology that includes mail, phone, and face-to-face conversations.”

At the time this document was prepared, there was no clear-cut “ballot initiative plan.” It was agreed the issue would be researched.

Page 9 pretty much sums it up:

“It is this kind of LONG-TERM interaction and commitment to problems that plague peoples’ daily lives that allows ACORN to bring voters together around a progressive agenda–and it is this kind of organizing that ACORN brings to bear on elections where a distinction can be drawn between progressive candidates who care about working families and those who do not.”

That’s it. In a Nutshell

“MEMORIES OF OHIO” 2008

Below I am linking some of the “best of the rest” sites and videos about “ACORN and Ohio, 2008.”

Shelby Holliday, of Palestra.net; the Student Network.

ACORN Ohio voter fraud witness.

Oh Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner’s interview with Greta von Susteren.

Jennifer Brunner’s appeal to US Supreme Ct. re: election 2008.

CONCLUSION

ACORN will continue to attempt their agenda which they have had for the last 37 years.

I have one more document to share with you. It is Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner’s April 22, 2009 report to Governor Strickland and the General Assembly of Ohio:

Election Enhancements for Ohio.

Happy Reading!