In a fast-breaking development comes word that agents of the Attorney’s General office in Louisiana have raided ACORN’s offices in New Orleans. ACORN’s New Orleans was, for decades, the headquarters of the national community organizing association. News of the raid comes from Marcel Reid and her colleagues at ACORN 8, an association of former ACORN leaders and board members. Many of the individuals involved with ACORN 8 were fired from ACORN for demanding a forensic audit following an embezzlement scandal involving Dale Rathke, brother of ACORN co-founder Wade Rathke.
Check back her for more details, as well as a statement from ACORN 8 head Marcel Reid.
Update: Big Government has contacted the Louisiana Attorney’s General office. We are told that all of the press officers are “out to lunch” right now. We have been promised a return call later this afternoon.
According to NOLA.com:
Attorney General Buddy Caldwell has served a search warrant at the ACORNoffice at 2609 Canal Street, according to Tammi Arender Herring, a spokeswoman with the office.
Investigators in khaki pants and polo shirts loaded several dozen computers and other electronic items into an SUV. They are also carrying records out of the building on handcarts.
The large office building sits at the corner of Dorgenois and Canal. ACORN staffers were given no notice that a search would be conducted today, Herring said.
Whole story here.
From WDAM in New Orleans:
Caldwell said investigators will copy records and hard drives, then return them to ACORN.
He said the original allegations of embezzlement were made last year by ACORN board members who were fired after they asked for a forensic examination of the group’s books.
ACORN fired the longtime director of its Louisiana chapter last month, citing a lack of accountability.
Whole story here.
Big Government readers may remember that the ‘longtime director’ ACORNS’s LA chapter is Beth Butler, longtime companion/wife of ACORN co-founder Wade Rathke.
DECATUR - Caterpillar Inc., announced Monday plans to permanently let go of 2,500 previously laid-off employees, and to bring 550 others back to work.
The announcement came after last week's third-quarter profits registered higher than analysts expected at 64 cents per share, or $404 million.
"We do believe that the third quarter marked the low point in Caterpillar sales and revenues," said spokesperson Bridget Young. "We're seeing the signs that a recovery may be under way, and based on our current demand schedules, we have the opportunity to return a selected group of employees to work."
Caterpillar is not disclosing how the numbers are split between its U.S. facilities, but Young said it is safe to expect employees from the Decatur area will be permanently cut, as well as asked to return to work.
"Given our footprint in the Decatur area, it's fair to say there will be people impacted in the area," she said.
Since late 2008, the company has laid off 18,700 employees worldwide, Young said, or 16 percent of its work force.
The 2,500 workers getting the ax will be notified with a telephone call from individual supervisors. Young said she was uncertain how long it would take to contact those that will be affected.
http://www.herald-review.co...
Touring a field of solar energy panels in west-central Florida, the president urged greater use of several technologies to make America's power transmission system more efficient and better suited to the digital age. The projects include installing "smart" electric meters in homes, automating utility substations, and installing thousands of new digital transformers and grid sensors.
"There's something big happening in America in terms of creating a clean-energy economy," Obama said, although he added there is much more to be done.
He likened the effort to the ambitious development of the national highway system 50 years ago. He said modernization would lead to a "smarter, stronger and more secure electric grid."
We all know how well those have gone over for those here in California...
Remember that story how then-senator Joe Biden became Barack Obama’s Democratic vice presidential running mate?
In the summer of 2008, Biden had accompanied his wife to the dentist’s office for a root canal. He got a call there from Obama, who offered him the vice presidency. Biden accepted, if the job could be made meaningful.
Speaking at an annual Allegheny County Democratic Committee dinner in Pennsylvania last week, Biden told a curiously different version. He said he rejected Obama’s offer flat-out when first approached.
“I initially said no, that I wasn’t interested,’’ Biden said, but he agreed to think about it.
“A couple months later,’’ Biden said, Obama repeated the offer in a hotel room in Minneapolis. The senator looked at Obama and said, “Are you really committed to changing the course of this country?’’
“He reached out, shook my hand and said, ‘I am.’ ’’
http://www.boston.com/news/...
http://apnews.myway.com/art...
Day 56 of the commanders request for more troops. The american military held hostage...
Obama plays more golf in 9 months of the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression (an in the midst of 2 wars) than GWBush played in almost 3 years...
What is with the Bakersfield PD? I called them about 4 weeks ago, complaining about the all the illegal parking going on at the Aera Baseball Park on sundays. The entrance is marked with multiple NO PARKING signs, yet at least 20 cars are illegally parked there every Sunday. They said they would send the info to the appropriate division. Last Sunday, there was a Bakersfield PD unit in the park. I assumed he was there to ticket the violators. But no. He parked in a red stripped NO PARKING zone with cruiser on and the AC going, right in front of a line of illegally parked cars. He parked there and watched a ball game (presumably his son's) for at least 1/2 an hour. No tickets were written that I know of....
Pelosi says new tax is 'on the table'
By Michael O'Brien - 10/06/09 10:59 AM ET
A new value-added tax (VAT) is "on the table" to help the U.S. address its fiscal liabilities, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Monday night.
Pelosi, appearing on PBS's "The Charlie Rose Show" asserted that "it's fair to look at" the VAT as part of an overhaul of the nation's tax code.
"I would say, Put everything on the table and subject it to the scrutiny that it deserves," Pelosi told Rose when asked if the VAT has any appeal to her.
The VAT is a tax on manufacturers at each stage of production on the amount of value an additional producer adds to a product.
Pelosi argued that the VAT would level the playing field between U.S. and foreign manufacturers, the latter of which do not have pension and healthcare costs included in the price of their goods because their governments provide those services, financed by similar taxes.
"They get a tax off of that and they use that money to pay the healthcare for their own workers," Pelosi said, using the example of auto manufacturers. "So their cars coming into our country don't have a healthcare component cost.
What in the world are you talking about?? This lady is an absolute embarrassment. And a moron to boot...
http://www.nydailynews.com/...
The Hester quoted by TMZ made the stunning admission as a Letterman show source dished that he kept a secret bedroom above his set in the Ed Sullivan Theater on Broadway. "He doesn't have to come out," a staffer said. "He has a suite upstairs."
An ex-"Late Show" staffer said Letterman kept a room insiders dubbed "the bunker" that was open only to his favorite young female underlings.
Letterman, 62, admitted on the air Thursday that he had had several affairs, apparently while dating longtime love Regina Lasko, who he married in March. The two have a son, Harry, 5.
http://www.timesonline.co.u...
Ten American troops were killed at the weekend in two surprise attacks that caused alarm in Nato’s US-led coalition.
In one, hundreds of insurgents attacked a pair of isolated outposts in eastern Afghanistan, killing eight US soldiers and several Afghan policemen in the deadliest battle in 15 months. Scores more Afghan policemen were reportedly captured by the Taleban.
http://www.bakersfield.com/...
Hey, why show up to a Supervisor meeting when you can click on a link on a website and spam from anywhere in the world...
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