Credit where credit is due: Wired Magazine’s Noah Shachtman and Conde Nast have a scoop on their hands. In the course of researching his new and largely fair piece on Andrew Breitbart and the “Big” websites, during which he was given unprecedented access, Shachtman learned of a new project-in-progress by ACORN stingmeister James O’Keefe involving the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) offices in Detroit and Chicago:
This time, there are no prostitutes involved, just a shady, and serious, tax-fraud scheme. The ploy involves the Obama administration’s 10 percent tax credit to first-time home buyers. The law says that the credit maxes out at $8,000 for an $80,000 home. But at the Detroit office of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the rule seems open to interpretation. O’Keefe asks a staffer, What if I bought a place for $50,000, but the seller and I agreed to write down $80,000 as the purchase price?
“Flip it any way you want,” the staffer replies.
What if the place is worth much less — like only $6,000?
“Yup, you can do that.”
O’Keefe and fellow activist Joe Basel ran the same sting at HUD’s Chicago office and at several federally supported independent housing groups. Breitbart paces the parquet floor. The video is damning but not exactly Acorn-explosive.
Then O’Keefe stops the playback. “Oh yeah, I forgot,” he says. “We went to the Detroit Free Press, to the managing editor. We told her the whole thing. She said she wasn’t interested. Wanna see the tape?”
Breitbart starts to cackle. Of course he wants to see the tape. Sleazy HUD administrators are important, sure. But media covering up sleaze? That’s entertainment. “Dude, that’s the most important part!” he says. “I have seepage coming out of five parts of my body right now.”
O’Keefe hits Play. A world-weary Freep editor listens to O’Keefe’s kickback story and politely declines. There could be a thousand reasons why, but to O’Keefe and Breitbart, there’s only one explanation: liberal bias. Breitbart slaps the walls like they were congo drums, grinning. “OK,” he tells O’Keefe, “now I officially adore you.”
Realizing that he had a major scoop on his hands, Shachtman then quickly posted an additional story today on the Wired blog:
Late last year, O’Keefe and fellow activist Joe Basel went into the Detroit and Chicago offices of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with a hidden camera. They pretended to be scam artists, asking employees there to participate in a complex kickback scheme involving federal incentives for first-time home buyers. In the excerpted footage shown to me by O’Keefe, the staffers seemed only to happy to comply.
The law says that the tax credit maxes out at $8,000 for an $80,000 home. On the tape, O’Keefe asked a staffer, “What if I bought a place for $50,000, but the seller and I agreed to write down $80,000 as the purchase price?”
“Flip it any way you want,” the staffer replied.
What if the place is worth much less — like only $6,000?
“Yup, you can do that.”
I wish I could provide more details — like the names of the staffers, or the exact dates of the recordings. But O’Keefe showed me the tapes just once, and quickly. O’Keefe did mention, however, that he was surprised he was able to avoid the federal buildings’ security systems.
A HUD spokesman said he was unaware of the tapes — or of any ongoing investigations into fraud at the department’s Chicago or Detroit offices. “First I’ve heard of it,” said HUD’s Jerry Brown.
And these are the same people to whom President Obama is proposing we turn over our heath-care system?
We also have an unnamed editor at the declining Detroit Free Press passing on O’Keefe’s proffer and thus on Wired’s scoop. As Shachtman notes, there could be “a thousand reasons” why the Freep decided to look the other way about possible abetting of criminal behavior at HUD — look! it’s Monica Conyers, wife of one of the most powerful members of Congress, heading off to jail! –
As I was saying, there may be “a thousand reasons” why — look! it’s U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, mother of the city’s disgraced ex-mayor, answering a summons to appear before a federal grand jury!
As I was saying…
Stay tuned.
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204 Comments
Its gonna take two years after the Republicans recapture the government just to get all the relevant people in line for prosecution…
My take…?
"The executions will continue until the corruption abates…"
When You Wish Upon a Star,, Makes no diff who you are,,, Ken Star is on the way folks!!
What the employees at HUD "may" think is that this $8000 is government money, so why should I care if someone scams the system. What they fail to realize is that it's their money as well as my money and your money. Fools.
The ACORN scandal ended up being a complete lie. O'Keefe is a joke; a rich racist boy who lies and edits and does whatever it takes to destroy social programs or anything that helps society. Welcome to a world of victim wealthy, that's what he is. Oh, poor me, I'm so rich and these poor people get all this free help. Disgusting.
Could it be they passed because O'Keefe has no credibility?
And the fun begins again…….. go James and Andrew………
O'Keefe is the NEW Joseph McCarthy!
It takes a man to wear those shoes!
O'Keefe is eminently more honest than Michael Moore.
Hurts to be exposed, huh, Godless?
Ahem. It is not "free."
Try proving the lies. I dare you.
Loves these people who pop out of the wooodwork to say XXXXX about the messenger. Gee, buddy so you don't believe in God. Who else is driving your brain? Satan?
O'Keefe has no credibility??
Really?
So his expose of ACORN isn't responsible for federal De-Funding, cancellation of ACORN's participation in the Census, and the Re-Naming of Acorn as COI? How about the massive attempt to scrub all evidence of Obama's association with the organization?
If he had no credibility – why would his reports have had ANY effect at all? Why did these things happen to ACORN?
Maybe because he very successfully and credibly exposed rampant and institutionally entrenched corruption!
trolls are out today, I see…
but if the Repubs take back either house or both houses of Congress, expect the Dems and their media fronts to start barking about "the politics of personal destruction"
When you help society by helping a pimp import 13 year old hoes, I'm sure you look for a job there GA.
Obama will pardon the Democratic Party en mass before he leaves either in the impeachment trial over Blagoiavich or in 2012.
Good timing on this story. Should be plenty of DOJ investigators to get to the bottom of corruption at HUD.
Why?
Because Obama's DOJ shut down its investigation into massive ACORN voter registration fraud and other allegations(according to Judicial Watch).
In another matter, did I mention how much I resent tax-funded, government giveaways that do nothing but improve someone's lifestyle?
GA… if you really believe that you're gonna need to go back and review the facts. The facts, not what you see on the HuffPo, but the facts.
Andrew Cuomo what agency did he head? I wonder? I just can't think of it . . . it began with an H and ended with a D. Nope. Can't remember.
And how is the ACORN scandal a lie??? Video recordings do not lie. Oh they were edited???? LOL!!! And also tell us how he's a racist… What basis do you get that from. In all honesty, I'm thinking you probably were describing yourself more then O'Keefe in your rant.
What makes me really pity people like Godless American, other then them being Godless, is that they know they are lying.
What was it George Costanza would tell Jerry Seinfeld?
"It's not a lie if you believe it."
What? You mean you don't like going to work everyday and paying taxes so someone that rarely works can live in the same kind of house you do and drive the same car you drive? What? LOL I just don't understand what is fair about me going to work so others can live off of my work. I want to know who's definition of fair is going to be used.
Oh look, "Godless American" has all the Blumenthal talking points memorized… how cute!
Your tears are delicious.
So If i go in to a governement office and basically harass someone about hypothetical situations until they grow bored then ask some other stupid hypethetical question and get a bored response from someone who just wants you to go away but cant tell you that cause they live in on of the most liberal states in america, I can claim corruption too…
Why not just go after real corruption… Oh yeah thats dangerous much better to go after peons just doing their job than target real corruption in Washington. The right wing media is getting as bad as the left.
Every troll that can type will be here tonight.
Social programs help society? Compare the inner city prior to the "Great Society" and afterwards. Yes, government programs help people — they help bureaucrats and they help racists keep down the black middle class.
Every morning, the trolls Google "O'Keefe", and after their mom tells them once again to clean up their room, they micro an egg & cheese biscuit and descend on the latest story to attack the messenger.
Keep up the good work James, and Andrew the leftist parasites are squirming.
I'm glad to see that ACORN couldn't shut this patriot up! Go O'Keefe!!! I think he should get the Pulitzer!
You and your ilk are slightly less rabid about attacking O'Keefe than you are about attacking Sarah Palin. O'Keefe must be doing something right then.
And when you call someone a racist with no basis in fact, you automatically lose any credibility and further argument you may make. We're not playing that cheap "racist" game anymore.
Odumbo is seeking another 250 mil. to fund a new prison in the likely place of his birth, Kenya. The prison is to be state of the art and will contain several thousand government, federal, state, and local including acorn workers. He said only 250 mil is needed due to the fact that the majority of those sentenced will be ghetto dwelling street thugs from the Chicago area. They really aren't use to the finer things so much as his personal federal level thugs in his admin.
Hey “godless” -you have a “god”. Its name is Soros/Mao/Castro/Che/Chavez/OsamaBin Laden/Hitler and other assorted pigscum like you. Your not “godless”-your “gods” are just inhuman pukes like you are.
When "just doing your job" means willfully defrauding the US taxpayer, then maybe you have a moral obligation to step up and blow the whistle. The media loves whistle blowers, so why are we having to drag these people out of the cover of darkness? Likely because they see nothing wrong with defrauding the evil, oppressive US taxpayer.
Bada Bing James, woo hoo go git 'em dude, stick it to the man. Now this is exposing truth to power whether it likes it or not. Andrew, good job, good job buddy.
Soon, the NYT can bask in the glow of their seasoned "journalists," exposing restaurants offering "under the table" salt shakers!
Now that's the real news the Libtards wanna see! Forget about this ACORN/HUD baloney. The moonbats want the good stuff, like exposing the fat content in my McDonald's Angus beef n' cheese burger with 'shrooms.
Too bad O'Keefe can't find the congressional aides who reported Massa to Pelosi's office back in October!
Now thats funny!
Just we needed, some humor. I can't wait. An undercover salt sting. Talk about pouring salt into the New York Times already festering, stinking, gangerenous wound………..
WHOO-phuckin'-HOO!
Oops, fergot I was "replying" to godless.
BOO-phuckin'-HOO!
Did you know that godless spelled backwards is LOSER?
No? Dang it! Well, it should be!
OMG-I LOVE WATCHING THE SYSTEMATIC MELTDOWN (SUBSEQUENT TAKEDOWN) OF THE SLEAZY, SCUMBAG, DERELICT, UNWORTHY OF LEADERSHIP ON ANY SCALE, BIG FAT WHINEY POOP- IN -YER- PANTS PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL BABIES AND THEIR COMPLIANT COHORTS (CO-CONSPIRATORS) SOME CALL MSM!
WITH THE HELP OF TRUE BLUE AMERICANS AND FANTASTIC PATRIOTS LIKE O'KEEFE, GILES AND HUGGABLE, LOVABLE BREITBART, WE WILL WIN THIS PEOPLE!
GOD BLESS AMERICA!
GOD BLESS THE godless, TOO.
They don't pay taxes- it's your money they are scamming.
I FINALLY KNOW WHAT ALL THAT HOPE AND CHANGE MUST OF FELT LIKE!
*k-turning off caps now*
Video eveidence doesn't lie, no matter how hard liberal/socialist/progressive/communist/Democrat activists want it to…
Wait a minute here.
You mean that the Freep, who should be aware of Breitbart’s views of the media, and O’Keefe’s tactics, and their access to the general public STILL didn’t want to get involved?
Didn’t they know how lame they’d look?
Hell, you promise to get right on it, run a he-said, she-said article between the tire ads and the strip club ads behind the sports section and claim you’ve done your duty.
Somebody’s not paying attention.
Die Angußschleppangeln müssen ihre Medikation nehmen.
Woops. That long word is intended to mean dead head trolls, but it literally translates into "Dead head dragging fishing rods", but that still works ok.
Only 8 more months to Armageddon for DemocRATS. We are going to need an army of prosecutors and Special Prosecutors to cleanse these non-profit CRIMINALS and Government Agency CRIMINALS from the rolls of the employed. Build MORE prisons!
Shut your mouth fool, your intelligence is showing.
Be careful. These trolls belong to the Federal Troll Union. They carry guns and wear badges. They can not only troll like the idiots they are, they have a license to shoot you down if you threaten their lifetime sinecure.
IA_Libratarian, all those poor, set-upon government workers had to do was display a little integrity and inform O'Keefe that what he was suggesting was not only likely unlawful, but morally wrong in the bargain. I would welcome proof that something like that happened–it would mean we have honest people guarding the public wallet.
Funny.
We should wish them all: 和平在地球上，善意對男人的。
Funny. Cantoneese doesn't translate here………..
Bertha? Is that you?
Capone was a Saint compared to these idiots.
和平在地球上，善意對男人的。
Isn't it WAY PAST time to dismantle the Democrat engineered welfare state?
Hasn't this "cradle to grave" hammock finally outlived itself?
The so-called "War on Poverty" has cost the hard working taxpayers TRILLIONS in wealth transfer, much of which amounts to de facto "reparations".
End this maddness now, it's time to start defunding these government sponsored scams.
I really enjoyed reading about AB's history. It truly is an exciting time in human history to see first hand, the pioneers of the new media show the world how it is done. The Progressives have in all actuality gotten out of hand. They really will destroy our entire civilization if we allow them to. AB sees it, millions of us out here in flyover country see it. And this one of the millions is so glad to have these web sites, that I feel like we can actually win this thing.
"so why are we having to drag these people out of the cover of darkness?"
Because the blowee is not some rich white guy.
Try Venezuela, Chavez could use a few more useful idiots like yourself. Just be advised that he doesn't tolerate a lot of dissent.
Credibility in whose view?
Try googling "o'keefe". The left is google-bombing so no one can find both sides of the story.
Yeah!
Now, let's see, all those poor lowly government employees are innocent because some fat cat in D.C. ordered them to steal from the taxpayer. Is that about right for your argument? Get real!!!
Poor Dee Dee,
Still mad cause you and maxxy didn't get any play….. :'(
I read the interview and agree it was fair.
The one part that did stick in my craw was the assumption that death panels have been thoroughly debunked was pure garbage. They already have them at the state level.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,392962,00.htm...
My money is they'll start blaming everything on republican obstructionism.
And Bush.
Well, being from Michigan right outside of Detroit with all the corruption every which way till Sunday, and Monica Conyers wife of John Conyers ( no, I had no idea she was up to that nonsense, and of course I did not notice an extra 100K lying anywhere around the house) getting sentenced to three years in prison yesterday, it should definitely be an interesting scoop……… I am surprised that the Free Press did not want the story though…. considering how they went all over Mayor Kwami Kilpatrick for the last three years….. I will have to wait and see…
great scott, you acorniacs are still on the "edited" Its all a lie thing?
you should change your handle to "Brainless American"
These are "greedy" crooks stealing from people, including the poor who will now have less. Black racism is alive and well.
Nifonging good people like OKeefe is wrong. He is exposing corruption and thievery which will help the deserving poor and blacks and who really need it and who are not cheats.
umm, you should wait till you see video on O'Keefs latest project, then you can say he harassed a board bureaucratic peon.
the proper response to O'Keefs "alleged badgering" would have been, "thats illegal, no , no, out of my office or i will call security, not "OK-whatever"
O'Keefe has lots of cred, proves it every day.
Obama is the one who has no credibility because he is the one who is victimizing the poor. They are oppressives, not progressives.
.
McCarthy was right 85% of the time. He should have been allowed to finish the job then.
Alger Hiss, Rosenbergs, and Screen actors guild — guilty! Charlie Chaplain was a card carrying commie and moved to France where they tolerate oppression.
We're just getting started here.
.
Yes, the tears of unfathomable sadness, oh yes!
There's lots more of us than there are of them. Both here and out there, and we will be voting.
I hope Obama tries to ban hunting before the elections.
.
If Obama is for thepoor and the little people, how come he allows Acorn to take it away from the legitimate poor it was intended for?
This is how fraud and abuse is going to work in the massive health care takeover, too. Call all reps to vote no.
meinst du das?
The food police are on there way. This is how they'll create new jobs. We can bride the SEIU thugs with cheeseburgers.
I heard Obama just signed an order prohibiting drilling for 3 years.
In another brilliant move, I suppose we can't rule out Obama will try to pull out the election for democrats by banning recreational hunting season just before the election.
HUD? Can't tackle HUD without understanding the role of the board of directors of the Wall Street investment bank Dillon, Read & Co. Catherine Austin Fitts has a treasure trove on HUD. And what a jackarse Jack Kemp was behind closed doors.
So now we have Ms. Catherine Austin Fitts. Mr. James Rickards. And Ms. Brooksley Born.
One guy way off the radar is Don Smaltz. If Janet Reno didn't narrow the scope of his investigation POTUS 42 and this housing debacle may have been short circuited also vis a vis a crisis at the highest levels. Talk about being caught red handed.
Don Smaltz was one of the original victims of the Progressive movement yelling "Nazi" when CA (Rep.?) Santos ushered out such unbelievable non-sense. Anyone who knew Don Smaltz knew why it was hogwash. He is an outstanding American.
GO GET THEM JAMES!
James O'Keefe must have made his parents very proud of him, and I wish him and Hannah and Andrew the best of all possible futures, though it will not be easy for any of them. Of every dollar spent by the gov't, 20% is waste and 30% is fraud, at least. Every gov't employee–minus the military–is paid at least twice what he or she is worth, just based on this waste/fraud balance. We can cut it all in half by hiring 1/3 the number of competent, ethical, honest, and hard-working employees. Until that's done things will only deteriorate further.
Does O'Keefe have a permanent defense fund set up yet? Even Cockroaches have enough sense to skitter when the lights are turned on… HUD, compliant in illegal activities… no surprise at all. Don't any of these agencies hire people with more going for them than just a pulse?
Good, good stuff. Keep it up, guys.
I was a HUD housing inspector – one contract was in New Orleans – and I think James ought to go there. Virtually the whole HUD program is fraud infested, not just the new stimulus-related part. I was shaking my head in disbelief constantly.
I love the bold statements:
O'KEEFE HAS NO CREDIBILITY
If I ever get caught on tape breaking the law, I will be sure to attack the credibility of the person who pressed RECORD on the camera.
By the way, it's gray and rainy today. I blame the weatherman!
There is an unfortunate attitude people seem to have regarding "group" money. (the group could be members of a club, members of a town; any group where the individuals contribute money) People seem not to care when a major rip-off occurs if its group money, because the personal rip-off from their pocket is small. Just look at the Boston big dig project as an example. The people up there should have required the head of many, many people involved with that collossal rip off, but have you heard of a single person fined or given jail time?
Here in NY, the most corrupt state in the U.S., I'm convinced there are absolutely no honest politicians, and even the newpapers are shills for their corrupt activities. They paved an old railroad bridge in Poughkeepsie to make a walkway. It should have cost no more than a few million dollars, based on materials and labor, yet the total cost billed out was about 36 million dollars! An obvious ripoff of collossal proportions, yet nobody seems to care for two reasons, 1) they think it is a nice project, and 2) individually, it's less than a dollar of ripoff money out of each NY residents pocket. It was all taxpayer funded, and the amazing thing is that some corporations contributed. Do they have complete idiots in control of all the money in this country?
Capone never ran his organization in the red…………………………8>)
The lesson here my friends is you better be darned careful to stay above board when you are at work. If you are following the rules and doing things legally you have no need to fear you will wind up on video tape breaking the law.
And I hope you will pardon my cynicism, but that piece of advice goes for both parties. In a country where anyone who walks into your office might be looking for a story you best be behavin'!!! This form of journalism is a boon for the conservative right at the moment but it could turn right around and bite them in the behind if they are not following the law either!
I've been wondering about HUD and welfare for some time now.
Did you know that welfare pays the landlord directly for a welfare recipient who lives in their property? I guess that the welfare recipients can't be expected to pay their rent even if it is provided for them.
Isn't this how some of the might O's friends and supporters became wealthy since they own large apartment complexes full of welfare recipients? they wanted to be in a position to sell their properties to the government for the '12 summer Olympics so they could get even more money for their property that had already been paid for by welfare.
They have been gaming the social programs for so long that it has become business as usual for them.
if you want to uncover fraud, take a look at the section 8 voucher program in most major cities, now being used to provide housing for immigrants, such as Somalians being relocated, and many, many more……..just sit inside a HUD office and watch the applicants and ask where they are from??? see if they can actually speak English…hmmmmm
He did not accuse anyone of anything yet, He just said the trolls would be in here tonight. And CL does not call everybody who disagrees with him a troll. I have disagreed with him before and not been called a troll. He just calls trolls , trolls. which is someone who makes a off the wall statement and then leaves, or keeps making the same statement over and over again. mostly they log in as guest, anon, or some other temp profile so they cannot be held accountable for thier statements.
He accused me of being a troll with a fake name yesterday. Kinda pissed me off.
o someone that rarely works can live in the same kind of house you do and drive the same car you drive?
Uhh try better house. When I lived in Ca we worked our butts off to afford our 900 square foot 2 bedroom home. Well the house behind us was 3 bedrooms and larger. Occupied by "Latinos" who were receiving government help. They trashed the place. Garbage all over the back yard in bags. Poor dog left outside barking forever. Just a bunch of pigs.
On a side note, anyone know why my intensedebate photo isn't visible?
New sheriff is coming to town
It becomes apparent with each passing day that GOP has an excellent opportunity to take over the House and considerably change the situation in the Senate in the 2010 elections. What should be the republican message in the coming weeks and months? I believe the most popular feeling these days is a general disgust with Washington, DC and the government establishment. The Tea Party movement is clearly on the rise, and each day that Obama is trying to push through Congress a very unpopular health care bill, the public is getting more and more upset. The republicans should not simply sit while Obama is jumping of the precipice – it's time for them to start a campaign of intimidation.
Read the rest on my blog:
http://hyphenatedamericans.blogspot.com/
Hahaha. This guy is better than Borat. Entertainment and a service to the American tax payer.
My whole dorm laughed at this when I told them.
I think okeefe should just feel lucky he wasn't one of the aids.
This is just the beginning. There is a target rich environment for O'Keefe and his partners. You've got to drag these libs into admitting that there has been a crime committed. But having the media wave it off is just inexcusable. Make sure that Detroit paper is in the headlines too. Get Drudge involved too. Then Fox News. Then keep going. Don't stop with HUD, they're all crooked. Building new prisons to hold these jokers would be the best use of our tax dollars in years!!
To tell you the truth, that is a lie.
The people here that I have called trolls, I can count on one hand. They are normally limited to the few who say nothing substantive. Rather than coming across with a ridiculous, unfactual statement and embarrasing yourself, is there anything substantative you wish to add?
After working for the gov't for 32yrs none of this surprises me. As far as waste and corruption goes
i would estimate that 1/2 of our budget every year was wasted or stolen(from gov't purchases that end up being taken home)
Giving “Dependers” (Non producing people, who spend their days idly, awaiting a passerby or government for a handout) governing jobs, is the ultimate welfare program!!! It’s an upside down situation, to say the least! The industrious/producers are governed by the welfare recipients, who now have a job as a governor, in charge of government programs! They have been hired, by the government that was giving to them freely! They played/scammed the system then too!!!
Look, man. I am here to learn and debate, not to pick fights with strangers. But yesterday your exact words were that I was "unemployed" and using a fake "nom du jour" I replied to you then. Ring a bell?
As for O'Keefe, I think his tactics make it easier for the hard Left to dismiss legitimate questions of ethics and corruption. Where are the conservative Ezra Kleins? If he is going to go for these sorts of zinger attacks, I think he needs to aim higher after planning better. His investigative style plays into the sound-bite cycle too readily.
The MSM has all these stupid images of him in a pimp hat and Hannah in that garish getup and that makes it so much easier to tar him with as a buffoon. They could have pulled their sting dressed normally and it would have been much more powerful. Unfortunately, I have to blame him for a lot of the abuse he's been subjected to.
In any event, I look forward to following your posts in the future as I am new here.
Are you offended? Are you a troll?
Fair enough.
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and go the extra mile. I'll more than meet you half way.
You speak like a troll. If the folks at ACORN were stupid enough to relate to someone dressed like a "pimp", they deserved what they got… the truth. So move along and find yourself at home in your basement, troll.
Excuse me? WTF? I keep trying to talk about the abuses Acorn has committed with OUR money and I get blowback from people who don't want to take what O'Keefe did seriously. I don't need blowback from you just because I think uncovering government corruption should not be an entertainment media sideshow.
Apparently, no they don't. And for that they get paid way more than the private sector.
TAKE BACK AMERICA.
Sorry I offended you. My point was that the dressing as a pimp and whore was satirical. It made the whole story that much funnier for the average person. You have my apology, I am man enough to do the right thing. In this case, you made a good point.
Christmas might come early this year.LOL
Just look at all of the government employee-welfare rioters in Greece. That's are future folks. Are your prepared for unrest?
Don't criticize a man till you've walked a mile in his shoes. If you piss him off, then you're a mile away AND you have his shoes! LOL!
No that's not why they passed; you know why they passed.
Looking forward to seeing the Tapes. http://www.BorderInvasionPics.com
"Under the table" is for people "below the salt"…
Its time for the FBI to go undercover at Fannie and Freddie……….Purge the govt. of this corruption. Also, now that Fannie and Freddie are govt owned no more taxpayer $$$$ should be donated to political candidates…..
Alinsky would be proud of all the trolls ad hominem attacks on James O'Keefe.
Hey Kook, I don't care if Barney went in to present the scam to the HUD duds. It's aiding and abetting a fraud. It's clear that the government is riddled with a bunch of scum balls on the take.
This is a twofer for Breitbart and O'Keefe.
FGrey, I am curious. What did the post you wrote say that prompted Cowboy to call you a troll?
To tell you the truth, I forget which thread it was on. I do remember that my comment was pretty innocuous. I am new here and it seems like there are are a great number of these "trolls" who log on, say something snarky and split. I just want to listen and to be heard. Cowboy was quite diplomatic after our exchange and I will definitely be following him,
The US government is filled with corruption.. from DA's in justice deptment useing pot and more powerful drugs on a daily basis.. all the way to Obama..hideing his school records so no one see's he went to college as a foreign exchange student..
Seriously? You want the American government to keep wasting your tax dollars?
O'Keefe has no credibility??
Really?
So his expose of ACORN isn't responsible for federal De-Funding, cancellation of ACORN's participation in the Census, and the Re-Naming of Acorn as COI? How about the massive attempt to scrub all evidence of Obama's association with the organization?
If he had no credibility – why would his reports have had ANY effect at all? Why did these things happen to ACORN?
Maybe because he very successfully and credibly exposed rampant and institutionally entrenched corruption!
First, New York turns Times Square into a Disney ride and now the war on salt. Personally, I think I am going to use more salt out of simple spite.
Great pun using the term "seasoned," btw. LOL
You're a freaking douche' nozzle! You think it's OK for these Po Folk to break the law and steal from me. Their not just stealing from the rich a-hole!!! Although the richest 2% pay 50% of the taxes in this misguided system. Their criminals just like the POTUS and his cronies! Just like Kwami in Detroit. .Well maybe he didn't actually have someone offed because the bitch was gonna talk like you know who! But he has the same character flaws!
You can't make this stuff up! LOL!! ROFLOL!!!
Obama: More inept than jimmy carter, more corrupt than Al Capone, THE CHICAGO WAY!! Too F#ckin funny!!
Could it be that you're a douche bag? Rhetorical…yes u are! O'Keefe and Hanna got ACORN defunded!!! There will be an investigation into HUD trust me! This has got lot's of people pissed off. And….Breitbart/Okeefe and Hanna Giles have lots, lots more where this came from!!! Keep watching here…I love it. They are bringing down the liberal media and the progressive agenda single handedly! They are Heros and Patriots!! matter of fact, they put the "riot" in patriot! LOL
What ya lookin at? Some kinda bird?
[...] that isn’t going to happen with their next scandal, because Wired Magazine broke it — clearly not what Breitbart and [...]
The suggestion for Fannie and Freddie investigation will happen after Repubs take back congress,
Also, with all the voter fraud bubbling up in the news — and the crucial upcoming elections — an undercover
work toward this topic would be a service to our country.
Thanks again to Breitbart, James, and Hannah — and all the BIG site authors for setting the journalistic bar higher.
Shooting skeet.
Vidoe doesn't lie no matter hpw much a Democrat activists and s o c i a l i s t s want it to.
And even some who can't!
his non credibility helped kick acorns ass
O'Keefe is great. So are the others including you Andrew for bringing us this information.
That HUD encourages transactions of this kind is a sad reflection on the system. But after rolling this around in my head for a bit it occurred to me, that if I owned a $6000 property and some schmuck was willing to actually sign a contract offering me $80,000, all because they thought they were scamming the government for $8000, would I really say NO? I feel so ashamed………
Both political parties are guilty of fraud—-look at Bush's no-bid contracts to Blackwater and Halliburton—-billions. Plenty of fraud occuring during those 8 years of Bush/Cheney—it was a bit more "sophisticated" but probably the fraud was more in the billions. I'm no fan of ACORN or Obama, but let's not forget corporate welfare as well. All of our so-called (s)elected officials, regardless of which political party, seem to be on the take one way or another. Term limits, please. Fraud in all forms, including this, needs to be rooted out as much as possible. It's costing us taxpayers too, too much.
Yeah you know what you are talking about, you troll.
Your name says it all. Godless. If you dont think there is a big scandal with Acorn, you are a liberal toting moron…
they have nothing else to hold on to
i like trolls
they taste like chicken
a little old bay spice mashed potatoes on the side ice cold brew
mmm mmm mmm
what that skeet ever do to you
FGP
what does it matter how they went about getting the info
the facts are, two young, fairly inexperienced although knowledgeable
20 somethings walked into multiple acorn offices dressed in a manner I would have just thought of as strange and proceeded to talk to the supervisors about doing something illegal. the response they got of help and suggestions on how to defraud the government and hide underage girls for sex
Can't wait! Let the heads . . . um . . . . the tapes roll . . . .
First of all, let me say that the time is now for citizen journalists. The problem is that methods matter. By employing the same sort of inflammatory showboating I usually expect from the hacks at Dateline, the ACORN apologists were handed a perfect propaganda tool. O'Keefe and Giles were easily dismissed by the MSM as "activists" instead of "reporters."
The stunt helped to overshadow the scathing report from Scott Harshbarger, the former Massachusetts attorney general who was asked by ACORN for help in the wake of Breitbart's scoop only for ACORN to discover, to their dismay, that he intended a REAL investigation. The report lays the groundwork for the activities captured on tape being part of a larger and more systemic pattern of misrepresentation by the group.
But the MSM had a goldmine in the props and, more importantly, the lack of full disclosure and selective editing by these two inexperienced kids as detailed in the New York Daily News. That is the kind of gotcha editing that reminds me of old Dan Rather 60 minutes segments from the 70s.
It is my argument that the methods made it easy for further investigation to be scuttled. In the internet age, the raw footage could have been posted instead of being packaged. Now THAT would have been powerful. With the web, we don't have to have all of our information sound-bited anymore.
If anyone thinks ACORN has been truly damaged, I think that they are being naive. Essentially, the hydra just lost a head.
Take 'em down, man. The heads just keep rolling.
Didn't link to sources in the post. Bad form. Sorry.
Harshbarger Report
Daily News Article
Didn't link to sources in the post. Bad form. Sorry.
Harshbarger Report
Daily News Article
This is the third day in a row I've read you accusing anyone who might not agree with you as being a "troll". How do you know they are not just citizens with a different opinion?
It sounds believeable for sure. I can't wait to see the evidence.
I heard that the MSM had put in an extra large order for crickets recently in preparation for their response.
The New Media will just have to take up the slack in distributing the reports about this.
Now, if they'll learn how to spell…
Thanks.
You understand. I always try to be respectful. I respect different opinions. I have even had dialogue here with Syntaxgame and Dhasselhoff. There have been few people I have called trolls. Palmtree and Anon come to mind quickly.
[...] View full post on Big Journalism [...]
Go back to your choir Daily Kos and huffington puffington Guest! and by the way take Godless with you.
Click on Godless American and you are directed to a left-leaning web site.
Click on Godless American and you are directed to a left-leaning website.
He's a website! Click on and peruse – it's very weird.
We have cameras everywhere. You Leftist criminals can't hide anymore. Now don't get paranoid on us but we are watching 24/7. Stay tuned!!!! LMAO!!! More tapes soon. MARXIST=DEMOCRATS=TERRORIST All the same ask the Pantywaist in the Whitehouse.
That's cool. Welcome aboard. There are kinds of opinions here. But beware, most of the people who post here do not take kindly to ad hominem attacks and ignorant rants without substance.
Great work! Keep pressing, keep pushing. The more rot that gets exposed while the media ignores it only further marginalizes the importance of the media going forward. And the more that investigations are quashed will only spawn investigations into those coverups when the grownups are put back in charge.
http://factsarestubbornthings.net
So, we have Ron Emanuel ideas being implimented like in the good old days of Al Capone. All stimuls money should be stopped. There is no evidence of long term jobs being created with the stimulus money. Many of the workers who recieved jobs under the stimulus policies are now back on unemployment. Much of the stimulus money has been used to merely to buy votes for the democratic party. And history says Grant's administration was one of the most corrupt. The grounp in power in Washington now will go down in history as being the most corrupt but also the most stupid.
There are lots of areas for government corruption. Why not look into healthcare? We are told that the Medicaid program is corrupt where doctors bill or patients never seen or overbill for the actual care provided, etc. Key person may be the secretary, medical assistant.
No trolls yet, so he hasn't accused anyone yet. Unless you're suffering from guilty conscience?
Then again, a guilty conscience isn't a very troll-like thing to have…
Seriously, we disagree and down thumb each other all the time, Grey. It's only the truly asinine folks that are trolls. (Disclaimer: losing one's temper can cause one to be mistaken for a troll. I speak from personal experience)
"Why not just go after real corruption… Oh yeah thats dangerous much better to go after peons just doing their job than target real corruption in Washington. "
Bet you have a great plan to make that happen…yawn…we need to expose corruption wherever we see it. Finding it at the regional or state offices of a federal department very surely reflects on the HUD leadership and the Obama admin. How else do you propose we go after fraud? Puhleeeease…
"He just calls trolls , trolls."
Trolls on conservative sites are also often paid through some Soros group…kind of like people that troll financial boards hoping to move a stock price. That's why you see strong opinions about them!
"I don't need blowback from you just because I think uncovering government corruption should not be an entertainment media sideshow. "
Fair enough, but how else is it being done? Our Congress is SOO corrupt, they're certainly not checking the Executive powers currently, nor all the associated Executive departments! So just what methodology would you suggest be practically employed, if not some kind of media one (currently?)
Look, if our fed government ever comes back into some semblence of accountability with the American people, then we can logically talk about employing a more dignified method. But for now, this is about all we've got.
Who is standing up for, or listening to the poor American taxpayer, to the poor American voter out there? Who??
"The stunt helped to overshadow the scathing report from Scott Harshbarger, the former Massachusetts attorney general who was asked by ACORN for help in the wake of Breitbart's scoop only for ACORN to discover, to their dismay, that he intended a REAL investigation. "
You trust that Harshbarger would have gone any further than his whitewash? Come on!
http://biggovernment.com/tag/acorn-reform-scott-h...
You really can't have much impact when the media and law enforcement are all part of the corruption. "We found no evidence of illegality" – various authorities
this is like exposing corruption in a foreign country where the dictator just looks at you and says "so what?"
It's the standard policy. If you are a minority, the rules don't apply to you. And a rule does apply, then it's open to "interpretation". Call them out on it, and you're a racist. If all else fails, then throw out the, "we're too stupid to understand the rules because the white man has held us down for sooooooo long". Now I understand the phrase, "the decay of society".
P.S. Any Firefox users? Highly recomended plugin "After the Deadline". http://firefox.afterthedeadline.com/proofreading-...
Helps me look less stupid. (<;
Of course it is the politics of personal destruction however what the progressives fail to realize is that it is their personal actions that created the destruction.
When draining a swamp, just like going after gangsters, one starts at the edges and works their way to the ringleaders.
Doing things your way would have made O'Keefe much less effective with other people. Not everyone reacts the way you do.
Hey goddlesscommunist- Why should our tax money support the likes of you? This has nothing to do with race, moron, but has everything to do with a deeply entrenched entitlement class. Get off your lazy azz and support yourself! If I wanted to be racist, I would have written Get up off your azz and support your own self. But I'm not a racist, and neither are most of the hardworking folks who want real fairness and real equality. Stating facts doesn't make someone racist.
The same "no-bid" contracts that Clinton signed?
Okay folks…Now you can see how WASTE FRAUD and ABUSE is just normal everyday "work" to these parasites who suck at the GUBMNT teat! AND the thought of THESE people CONTROLLING our health care system scares the snot out of me! We would have to resort to BRIBERY and PAYoffs to get the health care we get today!
Why can't these idiots see how the SCAM called GUBMNT works? It is a RACKET!
That sound you hear is that of a thousand government shredders working to capacity.
[...] h/t Comment (RSS) | Trackback | Permalink [...]
Re: Pallas' post – I agree, but I think there might be a bit of a difference. I'm thinking (and I don't know if this is correct regarding the businesses you mentioned) that one could be hired no-bid and still do a conscientious job. I'm not saying it's ok if Mr. Bush did it. Although it seems less of a problem to me, depending on the work of those that were hired, than having people paid with federal funds encouraging the sex trafficking of minors kidnapped from a foreign country.
Like you, I'm sick of politicians screaming like kids on a playground that "he did this!" and "well, so did you on such-and-such a date!" I'm sure defenses must be made to avoid getting buried in the Democrat/MSM mud storm. But I'm not interested in political squabbles, or the particular people whom Washington elites think are worse than themselves. Deal with the fraud and stop with the shifting attention ploy.
THANK YOU, Team O'keefe – I am still reeling over how ACORN has not been indicted yet for the admitted executive embezzelment of millions of dollars. And how about the dispicable Congressional bribery, payoffs, backroom deals, and bathroom mobster tactics to force our Representatives to vote against the will of the people. That's Legal? And we are just told "Oh, that's just how Washington operates." – Well we should NOT accept this. Now we have to deal with a crooked HUD and a crooked press…. we the people should be marching in the streets demanding our law enforcement officials start doing their jobs. It is nice to know you brave young investigative journalists are out there. It's too bad the mainstream media has no investigative journalism mentors around to help you guys out.
So whatever happened to O'Keefe over the Landrieu office explosion? Last I heard, the media was portraying him and his friends as guilty of sabotage and wiretapping, even though that wasn't the case. Were the charges dropped?
And just like McCarthy the left-wingers have already tried to stomp him…Judge dismissed one case against him already! Thank GOD.
It is truly a shame we have to depend on such young people to point out the PROOF of widepspread GOV. CORRUPTION…because the so-called msm REFUSES to DO their JOBS!
GOD BLESS and Protect them!
Here's an idea, why doesn't Andrew send his little protege to a Blackwater office and try selling them underage prostitutes. Oh, wait..
i don need no stinkin spellin
lol
I hope they learn to speak French.
i don't think this person is smart enought to operate a microwave. I think they have cold cereal and untoasted pop tarts.
HAHAHAHAH!!! You are so FUNNY!!!
It is interesting topic.
Any time you put blacks in charge of anything that involves $, your asking for trouble.
They rather steal than do any honest work
well vod, im so glad you could make such a knowlegeable comment like that…
racist douche bag, learn your new handle and love it…
American Citizens' tax dollars are being spent on ILLEGAL ALIENS, FRAUD, Liberal Bias, and Anti-American teachings in our public school systems.
Our Health Care costs are HIGHER than any other Nation SOLELY because we are paying for between 15 and 30 MILLION Illegals health care. No other Country in the World allows ILLEGALS to stay in their Country in the numbers the US does let alone lets them get "free" health care.
Yet, every Politician is SCARED to bring up these facts under the guise of being called "racist".
In the Bible it says THOU SHALL NOT STEAL and many of these ILLEGALS are stealing our names, ss#, identity, jobs, childrens education, etc. WHERE is the outrage?
If it was 15-30 MILLION Conservative White People the LIbs would be CRYING/DEMANDING they be deported.
ENOUGH!
The whole "there could be a thousand reasons" shtick is complete and utter bullshit.
I hereby challenge Noah Shachtman to list just 100 credible reasons for why the managing editor of the Detroit Free Press wasn't interested in this story.
100 – that's a mere 10% of the reasons he imagines exists.
IF we had a government that seriously cared about waste, fraud and corruption,
what O'Keefe was uncovering would be great.
But we don't………………….
this will all be covered up, James will be the only one who faces threat of prosecution,
you watch and see. IN our broken government, ethics and integrity aren't valued.
The quicker people face that fact, the sooner they'll know what to do ——–
vote ALL incumbants out !
Isnt the HUD a union. They dont pay taxes if Obama gets his way.
I hope Mr. Okeefe goes after obama somehow even more than just breaking down Acorn and HUD. Hopefully he will follow Rev Wright, Ayers, Khalidi, Jones and other Marxist working with Obama. Obama is the top Cobra in the stack and until he catch him we are not making great progress. Hopefully by Nov 2010 Breitbart along with Okeefe will uncover Obamas true identity. I believe Obama works with Osama.
Anybody know what happened with O'Keefe's Telephone man impersonation in Louisiana?
I just stumbled into a HUD program called the Dollar Home Initiative where local governments can purchase a foreclosed single family FHA/HUD-owned home for $1 if it’s been on the market for over six months. Local governments may partner with local nonprofit home ownership organizations to resell the homes to low- and moderate-income residents.
Funny thing. ACORN used to have a nonprofit home ownership organization called “ACORN Housing Corp.” Out of curiosity I typed in http://www.acornhousing.org and landed instead at https://secure.ahcoa.org. Is ACORN Housing still in business, but with the new name of “Affordable Housing Centers for America?”
HUD should only be known as a Paul Newman movie.
A great short lived claymation show called "The P.J.'s" treated HUD as the joke they are.
Caps Lock is above Shift.
[...] Breitbart. Michael Walsh, the editor of Breitbart’s Big Journalism called the piece “largely fair.” I can handle things! I'm smart! Not like everybody says… like dumb… I'm smart [...]
I'm salivating waiting for Breitbart to strategically drop this into the public's psyche… I'm sure if Breitbart showed the interviewer a piece of the tape, that's just the tip of the iceberg.
the solution is simple, one in a million
we need just 300 honest ethical men, one out of each million of us
put 265 in the house
put 65 in the senate
we dont need the pres
Yeah, except the 1st amendment guarantees the right to hold Communist viewpoints. I disagree with said viewpoints, but not the rights that uphold them. The same power that fueled HUAC could be directed towards ANY group…even Christians and conservatives. McCarthy was Big Brother. We should ALL agree that HUAC was just plain wrong.
And that couple "20 somethings" used their own money, might I add. Seems logical that such a limited budget could result in limited planning. Their piggy bank stopped ACORN from getting how many millions? Very effective.
Silly goose, Obama already bought that prize too.
Where's your proof, I mean real proof that O'Keefe is a liar. It seems to me you have a naive and shallow veiw and understanding of the whole situation. Another useful idiot hand-crafted by the mainstream media. It does not have to be that way though my freind. Educate yourself , seek the truth, really try to look at things from as many perspectives as you can find, and somewhere between you may find the truth, if you're lucky. The search is not easy and it can be very painful confronting yourself and really challanging yourself to think for yourself.
Thank you ellie. Well said.
[...] » Wired Magazine, Conde Nast Scoop Breitbart, the ‘Bigs’ â HUD … [...]
[...] just have to read it and find out. (No Ratings Yet) Loading [...]
banana
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