Wilson also called for an immediate freeze in the disbursement of federal funds to ACORN that he described as “a criminal enterprise whose main purpose is to undermine electoral procedures.”

“The voter registration fraud has been so widespread and so extensive now that if House Republican Leader Boehner does not bring ACORN to account, the organization will continue to run roughshod over the democratic process,” said Wilson in a statement.

“While these criminal investigations are ongoing, Congress has no business funneling taxpayer money to ACORN’s burgeoning accounts,” Wilson added.

ACORN was made eligible for more than $2 billion under the $787 billion “stimulus” spending bill. ACORN is also currently eligible for over $500 million of an “affordable housing fund” created under the $300 billion Foreclosure Prevention Act passed this past summer, and according to the Consumer Rights League receives some 40 percent of its funding from taxpayers annually.

“Congressional Democrats can no longer pretend that ACORN is an above-board organization,” said Wilson. “Further, Congress cannot continue funding a criminal enterprise.”

Wilson’s call for Congressional hearings follows Nevada State Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto bringing criminal charges against ACORN and two former employees for registration fraud. The state says that the organization published a handbook and constructed policies setting up a quota system to register voters.

“By structuring employment and compensation around a quota system, ACORN facilitated voter registration fraud,” Masto said. “In Nevada, it is unlawful for a person to provide compensation for registering voters that is based on the total number of voters a person registers.”

ACORN has been under investigation for voter fraud in several swing states, including Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Missouri, and has a long history of such fraud in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington, Michigan, Wisconsin, and New Mexico. Americans for Limited government last year released the following executive summary of its activities.

“The most recent charges in Nevada are not just an isolated incident,” Wilson said. “These efforts have been concerted and coordinated for years to steal elections, boost urban representation, and weaken the nation’s political institutions.”

Wilson reminded the press that in 2008 more than 30,000 more people than were eligible to register in Marion County in Indiana were somehow registered to vote. He also cited:

• Michigan, where municipal clerks have reported that ACORN has been responsible for fraudulent and duplicate voter registration applications statewide.

• Seattle, Washington, where felony charges have been filed against ACORN in the state’s largest voter-fraud case ever in 2007 when the state filed felony charges against several paid ACORN employees and supervisors for more than 1,700 fraudulent voter registrations.

• New Mexico, where officials in Bernalillo County have notified federal authorities of more than 1,000 fraudulent voter registration cards, with ACORN as the prime suspect.

• And Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where election officials have accused ACORN of filing multiple fraudulent voter registrations during the 2008 primary. In March 2008, an ACORN worker in Pennsylvania was sentenced for making 29 phony voter registration forms.

Wilson noted that the Census Bureau is enlisting the aid of ACORN in counting the 2010 census. “Taken together, it is obvious that the registration efforts, the census participation, and the Congressional funding are all connected,” said Wilson. He said it was “like a pay-to-play scandal, but this is even worse.”

“This is actually an elaborate, coordinated national effort to finance a criminal enterprise devoted to conjuring and developing fraudulent constituencies at taxpayer expense,” Wilson explained. “And it must come to an end.”

Wilson has previously called for ACORN to be defunded by Congress for its role in lobbying for loose credit standards that have contributed to the current financial crisis.

“House Minority Leader Boehner needs to take the lead to stop ACORN, freeze its funding, and root out any efforts by the Congressional majority to kick back even more taxpayer dollars to the organization,” said Wilson.

Wilson also encouraged Americans nationwide to visit StopACORN.org to sign a petition calling for ACORN to be investigated for election fraud.

Wilson warned House Republican Leader Boehner to move as quickly as possible to hold ACORN accountable. “There needs to be a sense of urgency to defend our electoral processes. Congress won’t just be preserving the legality of the vote, it will be preserving our representative democracy,” Wilson concluded.

Interview Availability: Please contact Alex Rosenwald at (703)383-0880 or at arosenwald@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

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“The public has a right to know to if and when legislative favors are made in return for lucrative government contracts,” said ALG President Bill Wilson.

The FOIA request includes all contracts between the FDIC and CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), the company Richard Blum chairs. Blum is Feinstein’s husband. The request also includes all communications between the FDIC and CBRE, the FDIC and Feinstein’s office, the FDIC and Blum, and the FDIC and Feinstein.

“The only way the American people are going to get to the bottom of this growing pay-to-play scandal is when this information is made public,” Wilson said.

“Now is the time to cast some sunshine on the cesspool politics that is so often commonplace in Washington,” Wilson added.

On April 21st, the Washington Times reported that Feinstein offered on October 30th, 2008 to secure funds for the FDIC just days before the agency awarded a three-year contract to CBRE “which raises the appearance of impropriety.”

The Feinstein bill would provide the FDIC with an unusual direct grant to expand its mortgage modification and loan guarantee programs. Mr. Blum’s contract with the FDIC could ne him hundreds of millions of dollars in sale of foreclosed properties held by the FDIC.

Americans for Limited Government recently called upon the Senate Ethics Committee to immediately investigate Feinstein’s role in the scandal.

According to the Times story, Feinstein’s $25 billion proposal was a “pet project of FDIC Chairman Sheila C. Bair.” Feinstein ultimately introduced the legislation on January 6th of this year to give direct funds to the FDIC, which originally was supposed to operate by raising money from bank-paid insurance payments.

Feinstein’s unusual move came directly on the heels of her husband receiving a highly lucrative FDIC contract. By March, the FDIC had assigned CBRE 507 foreclosed properties to be sold, worth $221.7 million. It already has under contract to be sold more than $11 million worth of properties.

“We trust that the FDIC will be prompt in turning over the requested documents. Pay-to-play corruption symbolizes why America disdains politics as usual, and until it is rooted out and treated harshly, public confidence in our political system will continue to erode,” Wilson concluded.

Interview Availability: Please contact Alex Rosenwald at (703)383-0880 or at arosenwald@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

In a statement, Wilson said, “Americans for Limited Government thanks the Senate for voting against the radical fringe of the Democrat party and for rejecting the idea of forcing those who pay their bills to also pay for those who won’t.”

“H.R. 1106 would have forced responsible U.S. taxpayers and homeowners to compensate delinquent borrowers and irresponsible lenders that took out and made the bad loans in the first place,” Wilson added.

The legislation had passed the House of Representatives 234-191, but failed by 15 votes in the Senate when the Democrat Senate majority bucked the Obama Administration by refusing to kill a Republican filibuster. The vote was 45-51, and effectively kills the legislation.

“The American people did not support this out-and-out robbery,” he added. “And thanks to the Senate, who stood with their constituents, the American people have finally won a small victory against the bailout barons.”

Wilson, in a letter to Congress in February, warned that the legislation would have further weakened and distorted the housing market.

“The Senate’s constituents are the ones who would have ultimately paid for these mortgage cram-downs,” Wilson said.

“It would have forced banks to eat the costs when the principal owed on the mortgage is reduced, and then the banks facing insolvency would have had to then turn to the government for more bailout funds,” Wilson explained.

“The taxpayers then would have wound up paying twice: first to bail out the borrower who couldn’t afford their house, and then the bank that was forced by government to make the bad loans in the first place,” Wilson added.

Wilson also warned in detail that the bankruptcy courts would have become overwhelmed, “There were about 2.3 million foreclosures in 2008, and fortunately most of the Senate realized that 368 bankruptcy judges could not handle that sort of caseload.”

“It would have been an unmitigated disaster,” Wilson said.

Wilson believes that most Americans do not support President Obama’s plans for mortgages.

“It’s very simple: the American people do not want to reward those who made bad decisions in the first place. It is Barack Obama who now stands for paying off those who took out loans they could not afford and wants to continue to force banks to make loans that cannot be paid back,” Wilson said.

“Fortunately, Obama’s upside-down worldview is starting to unravel,” Wilson concluded.

Interview Availability: Please contact Alex Rosenwald at (703)383-0880 or at arosenwald@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

ALG News has learned that at least one Senator is considering placing a hold on Sims’ nomination for additional questioning over Sims’ role in long-standing stadium controversy. And now more are raising questions over the controversial nomination’s qualifications.

“As King County Executive, Ron Sims’ administration first concealed information from King County voters to get Qwest Field built via a 1997 referendum,” said Wilson.

“And then, Sims’ office concealed the same information for another four years from Armen Yousoufian, who prior to the vote requested studies be made public that were damaging to the political case made by Sims to the county legislature and residents who voted to build the stadium,” Wilson added.

“And then, only because of a court order did his office ‘find’ the documents. Barack Obama promised the most open, transparent administration ever. And yet Obama’s nominee Sims acted so arrogantly that it took a court to force him to disclose basic information,” Wilson noted.

In a recent video interview with the Washington News Observer, when asked if he concealed anything and was fined $120,000, Sims denied any wrongdoing. “I didn’t conceal anything… I was not fined $120,000.”

“As a matter of fact, it’s interesting because there is nothing in the court record at all involving me personally. I never was involved in that at all. There’s nothing—nothing regarding my conduct. I didn’t conceal a thing. I did order the release of documents after they were discovered, but I never concealed anything,” Sims added.

The trial court that originally heard the case ruled King County could have complied with Yousoufian’s request within five business days following Yousoufian’s initial request. Instead it took more than four years and a handful of lawsuits.

Contradicting Sims’ denial that “there is nothing in the court record” involving him, “The office of Ron Sims, King County Executive” was listed as the respondent in the case Yousoufian v. Sims, as reported by the Washington Examiner.

“To this day, Sims cannot come to grips with the fact that the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that his office ‘repeatedly deceived and misinformed Yousoufian,’” said Wilson.

According to the majority opinion in the case, “The unchallenged findings of fact demonstrate King County repeatedly deceived and misinformed Yousoufian for years. King County told Yousoufian it produced all the requested documents, when in fact it had not. King County told Yousoufian the information was located elsewhere, when in fact it was not. After years of delay, mispresentation, and ineptitude on the part of King County, Yousoufian filed suit; nevertheless, it would still take another year for King County to completely and accurately respond to Yousoufian’s original request, well past the purpose of his request, the referendum on public financing of a sports stadium.”

“Sometimes, the truth hurts,” said Wilson.

“Ron Sims may not like it, but it is a matter of public record that his office concealed information that was politically damaging. And that is not the sort of record that ought to be brought to Washington,” Wilson concluded.

Interview Availability: Please contact Alex Rosenwald at (703)383-0880 or at arosenwald@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

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ALG Editor’s Note: Yesterday, the Washington Examiner broke news of startling contradiction by Barack Obama’s nominee for deputy secretary of HUD, Ron Sims, current King County Executive, in the following featured commentary:

Court Records Contradict HUD Nominee’s Remarks to Television Crew

By: Kevin Mooney
Examiner Investigative Reporter
04/28/09 3:38 PM

President Barack Obama’s nominee for deputy secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) told Senator David Vitter (R-La.) last week during a confirmation hearing that he could not comment about his role in an on-going legal battle over a sport stadium.

“With regard to the litigation involving Qwest Field, since the matter is involved in active litigation, I am regrettably unable to comment upon that case,” said Ronald Sims, the King County Executive in Washington State.

However, when he was interviewed by a television crew the next day about a $120,000 fine Sims denied concealing any records or having any personal involvement in the case. Sims also said there were no records linking him with the case.

“I didn’t conceal anything, so you’re absolutely wrong on that,” he said. “I was not fined $120,000. As a matter of fact, it’s interesting because there is nothing in the court record at all involving me personally. I never was involved in that at all. There’s nothing—nothing regarding my conduct. I didn’t conceal a thing. I did order the release of documents after they were discovered, but I never concealed anything.”

Court records contradict these statements. “The office of Ron Sims, King County Executive” was listed as the respondent in a court ruling issued this past January. Writing for the majority in Yousoufian v. Sims, Justice Richard Sanders concluded that information was withheld from the plaintiff and that fines should be levied.

The opinion reads as follows: “The unchallenged findings of fact demonstrate King County repeatedly deceived and misinformed Yousoufian for years. King County told Yousoufian it produced all the requested documents, when in fact it had not. King County told Yousoufian the information was located elsewhere, when in fact it was not. After years of delay, mispresentation, and ineptitude on the part of King County, Yousoufian filed suit; nevertheless, it would still take another year for King County to completely and accurately respond to Yousoufian’s original request, well past the purpose of his request, the referendum on public financing of a sports stadium [emphasis added].”

In this same ruling it was also noted that, “The trial court found King County could have complied with Yousoufian’s PRA [Public Records Act] request within ‘five business days’ following Yousoufian’s initial request.”

Armen Yousoufian, the plaintiff, asked for records of government studies that examined costs connected with the proposed Seattle Seahawks stadium. This request was made when King County residents were still a few weeks away from voting on a referendum to raise taxes by $300 million, according to Americans for Limited Government (ALG), a group opposed to the Sims HUD nomination.

King County has now been ordered to pay Yousoufian $120,000, the largest fine in state history, ALG claims in a news release.

There is no question that Sims is the main defendant in this case, despite what he told the television crew, Carter Clews the communication for ALG, said. The records could have been released in a timely fashion that would help serve the public interest but instead this took years , costing millions of dollars in litigation, he added.

“He’s being Clintonesque in his words,” Richard McCarty, a researcher with ALG said. “He’s trying to say it’s his office that has been fined but not him personally, but he’s the one responsible here.”

The Washington Times has reported that Senator Feinstein offered on October 30th, 2008 to secure funds for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) just days before the agency awarded a three-year contract to CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), a company run by Feinstein’s husband, Richard Blum.

The Feinstein bill provided the FDIC with an unusual direct grant to expand its mortgage modification and loan guarantee programs. Mr. Blum’s contract with the FDIC could ne him hundreds of millions of dollars in sale of foreclosed properties held by the FDIC.

“The Senate Ethics Committee needs to investigate this apparent conflict of interest of Senator Feinstein immediately,” said Wilson. “They must ensure that this government contract was not awarded in return for the Senator introducing legislation favored by FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair.”

According to the Times story, “The proposal was a pet project of FDIC Chairman Sheila C. Bair.” Feinstein ultimately introduced the legislation on January 6th, 2009, totaling $25 billion in an unusual direct allocation to the FDIC, which usually operates by raising money from bank-paid insurance payments.

Feinstein’s unusual move came directly on the heels of her husband receiving a highly lucrative FDIC contract. By March, the FDIC had assigned CBRE 507 foreclosed properties to be sold, worth $221.7 million. It already has under contract to be sold more than $11 million worth of properties.

“While the Senate considers legislation offered by Senator Feinstein to funnel money to the FDIC, what it should really be considering is whether she did so because her husband is doing profitable business with the FDIC,” said Wilson.

Both Feinstein and the FDIC have denied there was any pay-to-play corruption involved. “That should be for the Senate Ethics Committee to determine,” Wilson said, reminding the committee of its responsibility to investigate “even the appearance of a conflict of interest.”

“The culture of corruption in Washington, epitomized by what appears to be a pay-to-play conflict of interest, will only be brought under control when the legislators involved are brought to account,” Wilson concluded.

Interview Availability: Please contact Alex Rosenwald at (703)383-0880 or at arosenwald@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

“The American people should be proud of themselves for what they did. For taking to the streets yesterday in their hometowns to protest an unjust government. For traveling miles to be in their state capitals, and elsewhere,” said Wilson.

Wilson emphatically believes that “the American people, and the American people alone, deserve credit for making their voices heard as one.”

“The beauty of this movement is that, despite some claims, nobody organized this; the American people spontaneously did this themselves,” Wilson said.

More than 250 thousand Americans are estimated to have participated in over 700 tea parties in cities, towns, and villages nationwide, protesting some $13 trillion of spending, loans and assurances by the federal government since March, 2008.

“This is just the beginning,” Wilson added. “Now Americans everywhere must become recruiters, organizers, and list-builders. Now is the time help take back liberty and defend limited government, one community at a time.”

The tea party movement was inspired by CNBC on-air editor, Rick Santelli, who in response to President Barack Obama’s $275 billion mortgage modification plan famously asked traders on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, “This is America! How many of you people want to pay for your neighbor’s mortgage that has an extra bathroom and can’t pay their bills? Raise their hands.”

After a chorus of boos by traders, Mr. Santelli promised to organize a Chicago tea party, inspiring a nationwide movement.

The movement itself was organized on websites like Taxdayteaparty.com, on social networking sites like Facebook, and through word-of-mouth. Media outlets like the national Fox News Channel, talk radio, and the thousands of local newspapers, television and radio stations across the country are also credited with giving individual activists a means of getting the word out about local events.

“Politicians in Washington, in state capitals, and elsewhere had better be paying attention,” Wilson warned.

“This is not going away,” Wilson promised. “The American people will not be denied what is rightfully theirs, they will no longer be ripped off by the welfare, entitlement, and bailout spending that is saddling the nation with the largest debt in human history, and they will only take so much.”

“And to those in power that are afraid, know this: you should be,” Wilson concluded.

Interview Availability: Please contact Alex Rosenwald at (703)383-0880 or at arosenwald@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

“Barack Obama should provide a comprehensive list of what Congress actually approved in spending instead of what Obama wants us to see,” Wilson declared. “The government website is just pure political propaganda paid for by taxpayer money to divert attention from the waste and outright fraud he and Nancy Pelosi are perpetrating.”

Wilson noted that the government website, Recovery.gov “highlights spending that promotes the Obama political agenda, but conveniently not the spending that the American people would find objectionable.”

“Why are Barack Obama and his cronies trumpeting a few road projects today?” Wilson asked. “Why isn’t he showcasing the $168 billion in welfare, or the $53 billion in handouts to state governments who refuse to rein in their wasteful spending? Or, why isn’t he showcasing the $17 billion sent to foreign banks via the AIG bailout?”

The Recovery.gov website was introduced by Obama in February of this year. Wilson noted that private news media like the Wall Street Journal “were more capable at producing a comprehensive look at the spending than the bureaucracies tasked to actually spend the money.”

On February 14th, Obama promised the nation that Recovery.gov would “allow any American to watch where the money goes… this is your money, and you deserve to know where it’s going and how it’s spent.”

Wilson believes that the Administration has broken its promise. “Obama is not following the website’s own mission to show ‘how, when, and where the funds will be spent—which states and sectors of the economy are due to receive what proportion of the funds.’”

Wilson says an honest accounting of how the money is spent may never be forthcoming. “We may never know how the money is ultimately spent,” he said.

“What we do know is that the trillion-dollar ‘stimulus’ spending bill is one of the biggest, and most expensive thefts in human history. By the time the money flows back into Obama and his Party’s political coffers, Recovery.gov will still be updating its website,” Wilson concluded.

Interview Availability: Please contact Alex Rosenwald at (703)383-0880 or at arosenwald@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

“The Senate has voted to gut taxpayer protections in the GIVE Act that would have prohibited lobbyists, political organizations, for-profits and labor groups from taking money under the program,” Wilson warned. “And now only the House can put a stop to it by voting to reject the Senate’s amendments.”

The legislation passed the Senate by a vote of 79-19. This followed a close vote that would have put language back into the bill prohibiting the groups from participating in the program.

“The House version of the GIVE Act was amended overwhelmingly to explicitly prohibit these groups from receiving tax dollars under the program,” Wilson reminded House members in his statement.

“Now under the Senate version of the bill, the groups can receive the money, they just have to promise not to use it for the prohibited activities,” Wilson explained.

As ALG News previously reported, the House version of the bill, HR 1388, was amended in a motion to recommit by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC). It was her amendment that had inserted the prohibitions, now in danger of being completely removed. The legislation, with Foxx’s amendment included, passed the House 321-105.

Wilson warned that it will be easy for the groups prohibited under the House version to “get around toothless limits of the Senate version.”

“Because the money is fungible, or can be substituted by the organizations using accounting tricks, tax dollars will most certainly wind up being used for politics and lobbying,” Wilson explained.

“Even worse is it will be nearly impossible to enforce any prohibitions once the money starts moving. This was a bad deal for taxpayers,” Wilson said.

Wilson noted that there will not be any conference committee even though the House and Senate versions of the legislation are different.

“Because the Senate simply amended the House version of the bill, all the House now needs to do is vote to accept the Senate amendments,” said Wilson.

Wilson urged there to be a roll call on the bill. “Constituents in every single district across the nation have a right to know how their representatives vote on the Senate amendments.”

Wilson cautioned House members against overreaching. “If the House now votes to force American taxpayers to furnish money for speech with which they might not agree, we promise to remind their constituents often,” he concluded.

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