# ACORN workers caught on tape apparently advising on child prostitution **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 11, 2009, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681 "2009-09-11T13:19:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 34
**Author:** ![yorick73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5a626/32.png) [@yorick73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick73)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/661 "2009-09-26T05:45:43Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > They register whoever wants to register. That happens to be a lot of minorities and poor people. The fact that minorities and poor people vote Dem is not ACORN’s doing. > And there aren’t any corruption charges. Not a single instance of voter fraud has been found against ACORN. If you look at their political wings it’s not a stretch to assume they are trying to register dems in larger numbers. You are not naive enough to think that they are just trying to register random people. The fact that they are poor or minorities is incidental. Also, the corruption charges may stem from their use of government grant money in their political arms. We’ll have to wait and see. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/662 "2009-09-26T05:51:49Z")
What method do they use to spot these Dems and register only them? There aren’t any corruption charges. ---
**Author:** ![yorick73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5a626/32.png) [@yorick73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick73)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/663 "2009-09-26T06:05:13Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > What method do they use to spot these Dems and register only them? Poor urban citizens and minorities…overwhelmingly democrats > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > There aren’t any corruption charges. Yet…give it time ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/664 "2009-09-26T06:22:24Z")
> [@yorick73](#): > > Poor urban citizens and minorities…overwhelmingly democrats. So you agree. What bugs conservatives us that ACORN registers minorities to vote. ---
**Author:** ![yorick73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5a626/32.png) [@yorick73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick73)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/665 "2009-09-26T08:30:18Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > So you agree. What bugs conservatives us that ACORN registers minorities to vote. No, you are seeing this backwards. Conservatives are not happy that an organization is registering Liberals in record numbers. The same would be true of Libs if there was a Pub organization signing up Pubs left and right. But, they go after this organization because they are corrupt. Different issues. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/666 "2009-09-26T14:12:16Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > They register whoever wants to register. That happens to be a lot of minorities and poor people. The fact that minorities and poor people vote Dem is not ACORN’s doing. > And there aren’t any corruption charges. Not a single instance of voter fraud has been found against ACORN. Are you trying to say, “…as opposed to ACORN workers…?” Or are you trying to say that “voter fraud” =/= “fradulent voter registration?” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/667 "2009-09-26T15:43:35Z")
Slipping in a bit of innuendo when facts will not suffice,\*\* Bricker\*\*? Tsk. You know damned good and well what friend **Dio** is saying. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/668 "2009-09-26T15:49:57Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Are you trying to say, “…as opposed to ACORN workers…?” As far as I know, no ACORN workers have been charged with voter fraud either. > [@](#): > > Or are you trying to say that “voter fraud” =/= “fradulent voter registration?” This is correct. They are not the same thing. But ACORN has not been accused even of registration fraud. All they’ve done is REPORT attempts at registration fraud. Surely you’re aware of this. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/669 "2009-09-26T15:56:43Z")
> [@yorick73](#): > > No, you are seeing this backwards. No, you are. ACORN does not have magical powers enabling them to tell how the people they register will vote. They register poor people and minorities. How those people vote is not determined or manipulated by ACORN. > [@](#): > > Conservatives are not happy that an organization is registering Liberals in record numbers. That’s for sure. > [@](#): > > The same would be true of Libs if there was a Pub organization signing up Pubs left and right. ACORN is a non-partisan organization. They do not impose any partisan test for registration. > [@](#): > > But, they go after this organization because they are corrupt. Cite that they are corrupt? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/670 "2009-09-26T16:11:08Z")
Well, of course they are, any organization is ultimately responsible for the actions of its members! Say, for instance, an ACORN worker was caught soliciting gay sex in an airport restroom! ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/671 "2009-09-26T16:23:38Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > As far as I know, no ACORN workers have been charged with voter fraud either. > > This is correct. They are not the same thing. But ACORN has not been accused even of registration fraud. All they’ve done is REPORT attempts at registration fraud. Surely you’re aware of this. In my view, people are using “voter fraud” and “voter registration fraud” interchangeably. It’s certainly true that ACORN, the organization, has not bene charged with anything. But its workers have. One example: [Five ACRON workers](http://www.seattlepi.com/local/349896_voterfraud04.html) pled guilty in King County Washington; two admitted guilt in Pierce County. These were almost certainly people trying to get padi for non-existent work, an no false ballots were actually cast. Washington is one of twelve states that have had investigations opened against ACORN’s workers for voter-related fraud. And your defense, as I understand it, is: (1)It’s not ACORN, just ACORN’s workers, and (2) It’s voter registrations, not actual votes. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/672 "2009-09-26T16:48:39Z")
My defense against what? There aren’t any charges against ACORN, just against people who tried to _steal_ from ACORN. Essentially, you are correct. ACORN hires day workers off the street to gather registrations. Some of these people (actually very few proportionally) try to cheat their numbers to scam more money out of ACORN by falsifying registration forms to pad their numbers. As I know you’re aware, ACORN is mandated to submit every form regardless of how obviously bogus it might be. They do not have the discretion _not_ to submit them. All they can do is flag them as suspicious (which they do consistently, and which is the reason anyone even knows about the bogus forms). At no point does voter fraud take place (and it’s not a trivial difference. These phony registrations do not result in illegal votes, and do not affect elections in any way), and at no point is ACORN guilty of anything but occasionally hiring workers who try to scam them. ACORN is the _victim_ in these petty scams, and is the agency which alerts them to the authorities. Do you disagree with any of this? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/673 "2009-09-26T18:00:22Z")
Its simply a matter of emphasis, not dishonesty. Look here: Voter registration fraud! and **Voter** registration **fraud!** ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/674 "2009-09-26T18:01:40Z")
No money down? No, money down! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/675 "2009-09-26T18:28:45Z")
Don’t! **Stop!** Oooh, don’t stop… ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/676 "2009-09-26T18:51:10Z")
In true SHODAN style, I wonder why Blackwater has not been cut off with all their transgressions? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/677 "2009-09-27T20:01:57Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > And your defense, as I understand it, is: Yes, Counselor, defense against what? > [@](#): > > (1)It’s not ACORN, just ACORN’s workers, and (2) It’s voter registrations, not actual votes. You really don’t think there’s much difference in either one, or are you just trying to support your party’s pet insinuation in the absence of facts? Which is it? You do know better. You’re wasting your own time, not just everyone else’s here, with this shit. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/678 "2009-09-27T21:09:49Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > At no point does voter fraud take place (and it’s not a trivial difference. These phony registrations do not result in illegal votes, and do not affect elections in any way), and at no point is ACORN guilty of anything but occasionally hiring workers who try to scam them. ACORN is the _victim_ in these petty scams, and is the agency which alerts them to the authorities. > > Do you disagree with any of this? I was with you up until “…at no point is ACORN guilty of anything but occasionally hiring workers who try to scam them.” It’s true in a criminal liability sense, but not in the broader use of the word guilty. ACORN is guilty of the extremely lax management practices that encourage such fraud to happen. The organization does not, in other words, do anything effective to discourage such fraudulent shortcuts, and indeed encourages them. I agree it’s not the same level of harm that would accompany a plot to actually cast multiple fake votes, but it creates an environemtn where an obviosu next step would be casting multiple fake votes. It should be stopped. ACORN has already initiated a wide internal review of their processes, which in my view is an absolutely appropriate reaction to these disclosures. They’ve promised that the results of that review, and the changes they make, will be fully disclosed. I think that’s the correct approach for them to take. Do you disagree? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/679 "2009-09-27T21:11:36Z")
You’re grasping at straws. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/680 "2009-09-27T21:34:29Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > In my view, people are using “voter fraud” and “voter registration fraud” interchangeably. > > It’s certainly true that ACORN, the organization, has not bene charged with anything. But its workers have. One example: [Five ACRON workers](http://www.seattlepi.com/local/349896_voterfraud04.html) pled guilty in King County Washington; two admitted guilt in Pierce County. These were almost certainly people trying to get padi for non-existent work, an no false ballots were actually cast. > > Washington is one of twelve states that have had investigations opened against ACORN’s workers for voter-related fraud. > > And your defense, as I understand it, is: (1)It’s not ACORN, just ACORN’s workers, and (2) It’s voter registrations, not actual votes. 14,000 temporary workers at election time and all you come up with is maybe 5 workers who were trying to get paid for not doing some work. or perhaps they did the job but nobody stopped to register so they padded to get paid. Nobody voted fraudulently . ACORN flags registrations that they think are suspicious. As always you have nothing but a distrust of the little people. You don’t like people who aren’t doing well in life, do you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681.md?page=33) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681.md?page=35)