Thursday, September 24, 2009

Doesn't Get Any More Backwards Than This:

On Wednesday, the new head of the federal Census Bureau revealed his reason for dropping ACORN as an agency partner. He said the bureau's link to ACORN was hurting efforts to get Americans to participate in the count. And Rep. Darrell Issa (Calif.), ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, on Wednesday asked the House Judiciary Committee to summon Lewis, ACORN founder Wade Rathke and other ACORN officers for a hearing on its activities.


So, we have a census program that is so politicized and embattled and underfunded that it must routinely rely on low paid, unskilled, almost volunteer labor to conduct its work. It turns to ACORN and other community groups who are at least dedicated to working with undercounted communities. The right wing, who oppose accurate Census counts as well as universal voting registration attack and delegitimize the entire process of Census taking, counting, and voter registration and it is ACORN and poor communities that pay the price? And the Census thinks that it is ACORN's reputation that is "hurting" the Census and not the full frontal push by Michelle Bachman and others to demonize the Census and the Census workers? Issa knows what he's doing--why don't the Democrats hold angry, ugly, hearings with Census workers who have been attacked, spat on, threatened and put Bachmann and other right wing poster nuts for anti-federalism and anti-census nonsense on a show trial? If you aren't on offense, you aren't even on defense. This is no long game they are playing. They are playing dead.

h/t Crooks and Liars

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