Nevada AG Charges ACORN With Corruption in Las Vegas: Quotas, Bonuses & Dallas Cowboy Registrations

The Las Vegas Review Journal has reported that the Nevada Attorney General's office has criminally charged ACORN (Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now), and other key regional figures for ACORN, with crimes relating to voter fraud. Two of the co-defendants, Christopher Edwards, 33, and Amy Busefink, 26, appeared at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas on Wednesday, June 3, 2009, for the charges.

The Nevada Attorney General's office has charged ACORN and Edwards with 13 counts of compensation for registering voters. Busefink is charged with 13 counts of compensation for registration of voters. Edwards is ACORN's former Las Vegas field director, Busefink, evidently from Florida, was the group's regional director for voter registration.

What's the big deal? Well, ACORN is accused of illegally requiring canvassers to meet voter registration quotas. This is alleged to have resulted in several thousand "garbage" registrations, according the the Nevada Attorney General. The authorities are claiming that the canvassers were under incredible pressure to turn in registrations with fake names and fake addresses just to keep their jobs. It is reported that one such canvasser turned in the starting lineup for the Dallas Cowboys football team. Certainly, they could have done better than that. I guess since Las Vegas doesn't have a football team, they had to go to the lone star state for back up. What? Is there not enough fake names or fake aliases in Las Vegas?

In order to beef up that quota, ACORN reportedly employed a Las Vegas style bonus program known as "blackjack." In this bonus program a canvasser or employee would get paid an extra $5.00 per shift if they brought in over 20 completed registrations. Now do you see why Nevada had to get Texas involved? We don't have the population. There is only about 2 million people in the Las Vegas metro area, that is just not enough, I guess.

Bertha Lewis, ACORN's CEO and chief organizer, is reported to have stated that the blackjack bonus was against ACORN's policy and they eventually put a stop to it. Key word being "eventually". According to Lewis, the charges being made by the Nevada Attorney General against ACORN and the other defendants are politically motivated. But, that doesn't make any sense, because the charges were brought by Democat Catherine Cortez Masto, the Nevada Attorney General. The charges were, then, announced by Democrat Ross Miller, Nevada Secretary of State.

This "politics" statement made by the ACORN team is really the most political strategy in the entire case, not the charges. What next? Will ACORN call the Nevada Attorney General a "racists" given her hispanic descent? Evidently that is the new trend. Just ask potential Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor. Crime is crime. It seems that ACORN is making this "political" because of the $20 million, plus, they are getting and have gotten from the Federal Government. Why is the US Government not stepping in?

The claim by ACORN is that the Republicans in Nevada have "influenced" the Democratic Nevada authorities, according to Lewis. Lewis claims that, "Just because somebody says they are a registered Democrat doesn't make them fair and balanced and open." Oh really?!? Lewis needs to rethink that statement. Just because someone is a member of ACORN doesn't mean them beyond the law, or does it.

According to ACORN attorney Lisa Rasmussen, "The politically motivated charges, such as those brought by the attorney general and secretary of state, just highlight the voter registration system that is broken." Sorry to break the news to you Ms. Rasmussen, but it is actually the fact that the canvassers have the ability to go out and register the Dallas Cowboys starters to vote in Nevada that has highlighted that the voter registration system in Nevada is broken, its not the charges. If these claims are politically motivated, the objective should be to change the way Nevada voter registration occurs in Nevada. Would that really be so bad, Rasmussen?

The attorney for Busefink, Anthony DiRaimondo, even chimes in on the charges claiming that "Nevada's election officials are wasting time and taxpayer money threatening people like Ms. Busefink who [is] working to bring disenfranchised Nevadans into the electorate." Mr. DiRaimondo, I would not consider the Dallas Cowboys starting roster to be "disenfranchised Nevadans."

The Chief Deputy Attorney General Conrad Hafen responded to these claims by emphasizing that politics was not any part of the ACORN charges. He said, "The attorney general's office is tasked with upholding the laws in the state." That is obviously what they are doing. Hafen also mentioned that he's never seen this law used in his 17 years as a prosecutor. Good to see the Attorney General is finally doing something about voter fruad in several decades. Either that, or voter fraud has become so common that it just can't be ignored.

However, I get the point Mr. DiRaimondo. ACORN is a very large operation and if the supervisors did not know about the fraud, then they should not be the people that are used as a tool to enforce this highly political topic. It is not the charges that are political, though, it is the topic. The charges reflect the serious violation of a law that must be vigorously enforced. If ACORN is promoting and encouraging voter fraud, not only are they passively complicite, they are an active part of the fraud.

Voter fraud compromises the very fabric of our leadership's right to lead. We voice our agenda and our opinions by how we collectively vote. Allowing a specific group to alter that collective agenda will have catastophic consequences to our societies' definition of fairness and justice. The ripple effect will be devastating and will enter every area of our lives for generations. It will arguably be irreversible.

Cheating may be somewhat common in sports: in NASCAR (with altered carberators), in football (with video taping signals) and in basketball (with referees betting on the games they officiate). I don't believe any of us think that politicians are free from this corruption, too. Arguably, that is tolerable, to some degree. But not in our voting system. Now you're messing with me!!

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