Lori Edwards

Lori Edwards last quarter campaign report shows that she is going to be a great congresswoman.  She already has deficit spending down.  Her campaign finance reports show that she brought in $35,270 and spent $51,294.83.   I wonder if this quarter will be different since Lori had the congressman from ACORN.  No word yet   how much Grayson was able to bring in for her.

Below is a list of contributions to her campaign

Tania C. Allam
2418 Wildwood Ct
Winter Haven, Florida 338843000 Information Requested 10/30/2009 500.00 Information Requested
500.00

John M Belohlavek
702 S Fielding Ave
Tampa, Florida 336062724 University of South Florida 11/13/2009 250.00 Professor
250.00

Susan McIntosh Bentley
3 Casa Loma Way
Lakeland, Florida 338132806 Retired 10/15/2009 125.00 Retired
225.00

Patricia Burnetti
2106 Kirkland Lake Dr
Auburndale, Florida 338232043 Information Requested 10/30/2009 500.00 Information Requested
500.00

Elizabeth Castor
1298 Millstream Rd
Tallahassee, Florida 323122548 University of South Florida 11/13/2009 500.00 Educator
500.00

Sharon McManus Comkowycz
7 Bridgewater Dr
Winter Haven, Florida 338843005 Our Children’s Academy 10/30/2009 250.00 Principal
500.00

Amy N Dean
2600 Island Blvd Apt 1706
Aventura, Florida 331605210 Self employed 10/29/2009 500.00 Arbitrator
500.00

Pat T DiCesare, II
2846 Chatsworth Ln
Lakeland, Florida 338123875 Dicesare, Davidson & Barker, PA 10/30/2009 250.00 Attorney
500.00

Jason Eberstein
1001 G St NW
Washington, DC 200014545 Dewey Square Group 12/17/2009 250.00 Government Affairs
250.00

Sherida Lynn Ferguson
17581 Fairmeadow Dr
Tampa, Florida 336472501 Principal Financial Group 10/21/2009 100.00 Certified Financial Planner
450.00

Sherida Lynn Ferguson
17581 Fairmeadow Dr
Tampa, Florida 336472501 Principal Financial Group 10/30/2009 250.00 Certified Financial Planner
450.00

Sherida Lynn Ferguson
17581 Fairmeadow Dr
Tampa, Florida 336472501 Principal Financial Group 11/06/2009 100.00 Certified Financial Planner
450.00

Mary J Figg
18406 Timberlan Dr
Lutz, Florida 335495829 Retired 11/13/2009 250.00 Retired
250.00

Fassil Gabremariam
345 Bayshore Blvd 1607
Tampa, Florida 336062354 U.S. Africa Education Foundation 11/13/2009 250.00 President & Founder
250.00

Leigh Graham
2003 E Hernandez St
Pensacola, Florida 325035717 USPS 10/07/2009 100.00 Postal Carrier
300.00

Lorna Taylor Gregory
3009 W Villa Rosa Park
Tampa, Florida 336112839 Premier Eye Care 11/24/2009 1000.00 CEO
1000.00

Kathryn Jeri Hammond
216 Boxwood Dr
Davenport, Florida 338375548 Lake Wales Charter 10/20/2009 250.00 Teacher
1750.00

Kathryn Jeri Hammond
216 Boxwood Dr
Davenport, Florida 338375548 Lake Wales Charter 10/20/2009 500.00 Teacher
1750.00

Kathryn Jeri Hammond
216 Boxwood Dr
Davenport, Florida 338375548 Lake Wales Charter 11/23/2009 250.00 Teacher
1750.00

Kathryn Jeri Hammond
216 Boxwood Dr
Davenport, Florida 338375548 Lake Wales Charter 12/29/2009 250.00 Teacher
1750.00

Lois Cowles Harrison
2311 Nevada Rd
Lakeland, Florida 338032339 Retired 10/15/2009 250.00 Retired
750.00

Homer Hooks
2311 Nevada Rd
Lakeland, Florida 338032339 Retired 10/15/2009 250.00 Retired
250.00

Kenneth Kaminga
2823 Grapefruit Dr
Auburndale, Florida 338234901 Retired 12/31/2009 100.00 Retired
400.00

Jane Frank Katcher
4197 S Douglas Rd
Miami, Florida 331336832 Retired 10/07/2009 1000.00 Retired
1000.00

Homer D. Kern
223 Indian Hill Ln
China Spring, Texas 766332862 Retired 12/17/2009 300.00 Retired
550.00

Alan Joseph Kromholz
3213 Par Rd
Sebring, Florida 338721263 None 11/23/2009 25.00 Retired
275.00

Nora Leto
915 South Blvd
Lakeland, Florida 338031137 Kaylor & Kaylor 11/13/2009 250.00 Attorney
250.00

Mark A Linsky
503 W Platt St
Tampa, Florida 336062245 Self 11/10/2009 200.00 Attorney
450.00

Toni W. Maloney
PO Box 1006
Auburndale, Florida 338231006 Self 10/30/2009 100.00 Forensics
350.00

William Malzone
3465 Turnberry Dr
Lakeland, Florida 338035462 Clark and Daughtrey 10/30/2009 250.00 Physician
250.00

A. Melissa Maxfield
8947 Donna Lu Dr
Odessa, Florida 335561908 Comcast Corporation 12/31/2009 250.00 Vice-President, Federal Government Aff
250.00

Daniel D Moody
4281 Old 9 Foot Rd
Eagle Lake, Florida 338394105 Moody Law 10/01/2009 180.00 Attorney
1690.00 * In-Kind: Office Space

Daniel D Moody
4281 Old 9 Foot Rd
Eagle Lake, Florida 338394105 Moody Law 11/01/2009 180.00 Attorney
1690.00 * In-Kind: Office Space

Daniel D Moody
4281 Old 9 Foot Rd
Eagle Lake, Florida 338394105 Moody Law 12/01/2009 180.00 Attorney
1690.00 * In-Kind: Office Space

Michael E Musetta
2314 N Riverside Dr
Tampa, Florida 336021838 Michael Musetta & Associates, Inc. 11/24/2009 250.00 Court Reporter
450.00

Michael E Musetta
2314 N Riverside Dr
Tampa, Florida 336021838 Michael Musetta & Associates, Inc. 12/30/2009 100.00 Court Reporter
450.00

Charlotte Perret
707 S Gulfstream Ave
Sarasota, Florida 342367710 Retired 10/03/2009 400.00 Museum Educator
400.00

Clay Phillips
3033 W Asbury Pl
Tampa, Florida 336112805 Congresswoman Kathy Castor 11/13/2009 250.00 Chief of Staff
250.00

Catherine Williams Real, Esq
2110 W Platt St
Tampa, Florida 336061759 Catherine W Real PA 11/05/2009 500.00 Attorney
500.00

Jeffrey W. Reddout
310 Hernando Rd
Winter Haven, Florida 338841030 Self 11/23/2009 100.00 neuropsychologist
250.00

James W Schroeder
621 Nadina Pl
Celebration, Florida 347474960 None 12/18/2009 250.00 Retired
250.00

Donna Edna Shalala
8565 Old Cutler Rd
Coral Gables, Florida 331436217 University of Miami 12/31/2009 250.00 President
250.00

Nancy M. Simmons
124 Mirror Ln NW
Winter Haven, Florida 338811316 Retired 10/29/2009 200.00 Retired
700.00

Alicia Smith
1401 K St NW Fl 12
Washington, DC 200053464 Smith-Free Group 12/17/2009 250.00 Government Affairs
250.00

Barbara Stampfl
2435 Jonila Avenue
Lakeland, Florida 33803 Bartow Library 10/29/2009 250.00 Librarian
1000.00

Barbara Stampfl
2435 Jonila Avenue
Lakeland, Florida 33803 Bartow Library 11/28/2009 250.00 Librarian
1000.00

Barbara Stampfl
2435 Jonila Avenue
Lakeland, Florida 33803 Bartow Library 12/22/2009 250.00 Librarian
1000.00

E. Bruce Strayhorn
2125 1st St Ste 201
Fort Myers, Florida 339013092 Self Employed 10/20/2009 1250.00 Attorney
1250.00

Andrew Tobias
787 NE 71st St
Miami, Florida 331385717 self 12/09/2009 250.00 writer
250.00

Susan Douglas Turner
702 S Fielding Ave
Tampa, Florida 336062724 Retired 11/13/2009 250.00 Retired
250.00

Mary Kay Vona
3112 W Oakellar Ave
Tampa, Florida 336112918 aon consulting 11/24/2009 500.00 executive
500.00

Kerry M Wilson
1906 18th St NW
Winter Haven, Florida 338811216 Peterson & Myers 10/30/2009 150.00 Attorney
400.00

Robert A. Young
301 Lake Pansy Dr NW
Winter Haven, Florida 338819620 Retired 11/13/2009 150.00 Retired
650.00

Andrea Ellen Zelman
3033 W Asbury Pl
Tampa, Florida 336112805 Fowler White Boggs 11/13/2009 250.00 Attorney
250.00

Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
421 Aviation Way
Frederick, Maryland 217014756
12/31/2009 1000.00

1000.00

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE, COUNTY AN
1625 L St NW
Washington, DC 200365665
12/07/2009 2000.00

2000.00

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS IN DIVERSE GEOGR
499 S Capitol St SW Ste 422
Washington, DC 200034028
12/31/2009 5000.00

5000.00

International Assn of Fire Fighters – F
1750 NEW YORK NW
WASHINGTON, DC 20006
12/31/2009 2500.00

2500.00

NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCI
1325 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington, DC 200054171
11/13/2009 1000.00

4000.00

Charlie Crist & Marco Rubio

Former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio has written a letter to his 2010 GOP Senate primary rival, Gov. Charlie Crist, asking him to probe scandal-rocked ACORN’s activities in Florida.

The left-leaning group has come under fire after a series of undercover videos — featuring a 20-year-old Florida International University student — have revealed ACORN workers appearing to condone prostitution and promote tax evasion.

Rubio’s letter notes a St. Petersburg Times report about Crist’s past links to ACORN and Crist’s absence in 2008 from the chorus of Republicans who criticized the group’s voter-registration practices.

Read the text of Rubio’s letter after the jump…..

September 17, 2009

The Honorable Charlie Crist
The Capitol
400 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, Florida 32399

Dear Governor Crist:

As you are no doubt aware, the community organizing group Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is now under intense scrutiny for recent reports of its involvement in questionable behavior and potentially illegal activity in several states.

In addition to the damning video reports of ACORN employees now familiar to most Floridians, just last week the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office announced that arrest warrants were issued for 11 former ACORN employees accused of faking voter registration cards. While it is commendable that ACORN assisted in the investigations that led to the arrests, it begs the question: why were so many people capable of these crimes working for ACORN in the first place?

Last Friday, the Census Bureau severed ties with ACORN. On Tuesday, U.S. Senators Bill Nelson and George LeMieux joined 81 other Senators in an overwhelming and bipartisan vote to strip federal funding from ACORN. Just yesterday, Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger in California and Tim Pawlenty in Minnesota took similar action, asking officials to investigate ACORN’s behavior in their respective states and prevent state taxpayer funding of the group.

Based on the mounting evidence against ACORN and the serious questions surrounding this organization, I respectfully ask that you follow the lead of the other elected officials I mentioned above and take immediate steps to initiate a thorough investigation into ACORN’s activities in Florida, including a detailed accounting of what state funds, if any, ACORN may be receiving. If it is discovered that they are receiving state funds, I believe further steps should be taken to cut off any taxpayer funding of ACORN.

The St. Petersburg Times also reported yesterday that your office may have partnered with ACORN in the past on several initiatives, including your 2007 effort to restore voting rights to convicted felons in Florida. If you partnered with ACORN, I have no reason to doubt you did so unaware of ACORN’s propensity for questionable activity, and with what you believed at the time to be the best interests of Floridians at heart. However, given the recent revelations about ACORN, I believe it is now in the best interest of all Floridians for your office to provide a thorough accounting of its relationship with ACORN and what, if any, influence ACORN may have had in any actions you have taken on behalf of the people of Florida.

Lastly, during last year’s presidential election, despite what now seems to be a prescient chorus of concerned parties asking for an investigation into ACORN’s election-related activities, you insisted that you were unconcerned with ACORN’s activities. In light of the recent allegations against ACORN, I suggest you reconsider your position, demand a full investigation of ACORN’s election-related activities, and take whatever steps available to you to prevent ACORN from engaging in voter registration and other election-related activities until the questions surrounding this organization are resolved.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Marco Rubio

WASHINGTON — Mickey Mouse could not bring down ACORN, but a prostitute and her pimp may.

After sporadic controversy in recent years over the national community organizing group’s political activities, a firestorm has erupted with hidden camera videos showing workers dishing advice to a couple wanting to set up a brothel.

It was a ruse — mini skirt, fur coat and all — but several ACORN workers seemed happy to oblige. In Brooklyn, an employee instructed the couple to not reveal their line of work in seeking a home and to hide earnings in a tin can in the back yard. In Baltimore, a counselor advised how to shield a home full of underage girls from El Salvador.

With their shaky, poorly-lit cinéma vérité aesthetic, the videos have enraged and emboldened critics. Powered by YouTube and Fox News, they have inflicted more damage than past repeated attempts by conservative talk show hosts to link election impropriety to President Barack Obama.

Today conservatives are shouting a collective TOLD YOU SO. Viewers of Glenn Beck have taken up his edict to call newspapers and demand front-page coverage.

And lawmakers jumped to action, calling for a federal investigation and voting Monday to cut off taxpayer funding. Longtime critics renewed calls for the IRS to investigate ACORN’s tax-exempt status.

ACORN calls it a right-wing sham — “Journalism by Borat,” seethed spokesman Scott Levenson — and says a few bad employees, who have been fired, should not indict an entire organization.

The group, formally the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, announced Wednesday it is ordering mandatory training for employees and an independent review.

But it questioned the motives of the admittedly conservative movie makers and called for copies of unedited tapes. “I will clean this house,” CEO Bertha Lewis pledged on CNN.

Even so, the damage may be hard to overcome. Washington has reacted with remarkable speed and force:

• On Friday, the Census Bureau said it no longer wanted ACORN’s help with the 2010 population count.

• On Monday, the Senate voted 83-7 to prohibit housing and community grant funding for the group, citing the videos. Both Florida senators, Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican George LeMieux, were in the majority. House Republicans quickly introduced legislation to do the same and sent a letter urging Obama to take a stand.

• On Tuesday, Sen. Mike Johanna, R-Neb., demanded Attorney General Eric Holder launch an investigation into ACORN, which he said may “have been engaged in illegal activity” by aiding and abetting tax evasion, prostitution, human trafficking, fraud and conspiracy.

• On Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor, took to the House floor to condemn the group. “I for one will not sit idle and allow my taxpaying constituents to be swindled by an organization that receives millions in federal funds.”

According to lawmakers, the group has gotten about $53 million since 1994. An ACORN spokeswoman said less than 5 percent of its operating budget is federal funding, with the bulk coming from private and foundation donations.

• • •

ACORN was founded in Arkansas in 1970 as an advocate for the poor. With chapters in more than 40 states, the group helps first-time home buyers and tenants. It champions better schools and higher wages for workers.

In 2004, ACORN gathered enough signatures for a constitutional amendment to raise the minimum wage in Florida. It passed overwhelmingly. The group has fought utilities in Orlando and predatory lending in Miami-Dade.

“There is nothing else that covers the issues and does the multiple things,” said Florida director Stephanie Porta. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe in it.”

But ACORN has also engaged in politics. Though ostensibly nonpartisan, the group has been accused of being a front for Democrats, including Obama. As a young lawyer, he represented ACORN along with other plaintiffs in a case against the governor of Illinois, demanding that the state better enforce a new federal “motor voter” law, which allowed people to register to vote when they got their driver’s license.

During the 2008 election, ACORN boasted that it signed up 1.3 million voters, though it was later revealed that 30 percent were rejected for a variety of reasons, including duplicate or incomplete forms.

Some were flat-out fraudulent, leading to investigations in several states and giving weight to Republican complaints. The St. Petersburg Times reported in October how one person tried to submit a Florida registration form for Mickey Mouse. In Nevada, names of the Dallas Cowboys were submitted.

Last week in Miami, authorities announced the arrest of 11 former registration canvassers who submitted nearly 200 bogus forms.

But prosecutors say the Miami workers appear to have been motivated by money, not partisanship. They were paid $8 to $10 per hour to gather signatures and some apparently thought it easier to just make up names.

The workers were turned in by ACORN.

“We think this demonstrates the seriousness with which we take protecting both our good name and the integrity of the voter registration process,” said Brian Kettenring, former Florida head organizer and now deputy director of national operations.

The Florida Division of Elections said it had no concern about voter fraud.

“The department has not received any evidence of widespread attempts to defraud the system,” Secretary of State Kurt Browning said in a statement.

• • •

ACORN’s election activities stirred complaints throughout the 2008 campaign and were constant fodder for conservative pundits. But it mostly remained on the periphery.

A fake prostitute and pimp changed all that.

The guerrilla videos were made by 20-somethings James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles, who is a journalism student at Florida International University.

O’Keefe, 25, last made news for undercover videos shot at Planned Parenthood, where he asked that donations be used for abortions of minority babies.

“Why go after ACORN?” Giles told the New York Post. “Because I love America, I love God, and corrupt institutions don’t help that.”

ACORN said it was appalled by the workers’ responses in the videos but also suggested they could have been doctored. The group contends O’Keefe and Giles went to several other cities, including Miami, and were turned away.

On Wednesday, ACORN said the worker in a video from San Bernardino, Calif., was hip to the game and played along by saying she once ran a prostitution business and shot her husband dead in self defense.

Police issued a statement saying both of her former husbands are alive.

SOURCE

Rich Crotty

Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty said Wednesday that he has avoided working with the anti-poverty group ACORN on a housing foreclosure campaign, and does not expect to work with them in obtaining an accurate 2010 headcount for the U.S. Census effort he’s helping lead in Florida.

The advocacy group, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is in hot water because ofsecretly-taped interviews appearing to show multiple organizers condoning or encouraging prostitution and the laundering of earnings from it. The group responded with reform proposals today.

Crotty said he specifically made it clear during a senior staff meeting months ago that the group should not be included in any plans Orange crafted to spend $28 million in neighborhood stabilization funds to deal with foreclosures. “In a very out-loud voice, I said I didn’t want that word [ACORN] to come up,” Crotty said.

Crotty also discussed the fact that U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson has been one of the group’s most prominent supporters, and that any Republican who ran against the freshman Democrat next year could point out that Grayson is often referred to as the “Congressman from ACORN.”

“It’s always been an arrow in the quiver,” said Crotty, who for several months has flirted with the possibility of challenging Grayson. To that question, Crotty said an answer should come soon.

Crotty pointed to the start of the next federal campaign donation reporting period, which begins in October, and said “that’s when serious candidates get serious.”

So is he the one?

“I’m not saying anything,” Crotty said. “But I expect Congressman Grayson to have a Republican opponent in the next fund raising period, and a strong one at that.”

Original Post

WASHINGTON (16 September) - Today U.S. Rep. Gus M. Bilirakis (R-Fla.), representing Florida’s 9th Congressional District, delivered the following remarks after sending a letter to President Obama asking him to end taxpayer funding of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). In addition, Bilirakis co-sponsored H.R. 3571, the Defund ACORN Act, which would prevent any federal funding or support for ACORN. Since 1994, ACORN has received more than $50 million in direct funding from the federal government.

When you first find out that there is a move to fix Florida’s gerrymandering districts you may seem in favor.  However once you find out that ACORN and the Democrats fund Fair Districts Florida you may think about differently about supporting the cause.

The About Us page located HERE shows their Chairs and Co-Chairs.  All of which are Democrats.   ACORN gave $25,000 in 2007 to start this Partisan Effort at redistricting.  Not only has ACORN funneled money to this effort but also several high profile Democrats have been sending money that way.

“With the help of large contributions from a few big Democratic donors, FairDistrictsFlorida.org, which is sponsoring the amendments, has raised almost $600,000 for a campaign.

That includes $200,000 from a retired Colorado energy executive who recently moved to Naples, $110,000 from a Tampa businessman and thousands more from well-known, high-level Democratic donors.” Tampa Tribune

So the kicker is this, Every time that Ellen Freidin shows up to discuss Fair Districts Florida she states that it is a non-partisan effort. If it walks like a duck and quacks likes a duck it must be a duck!

I attempted to contact Fair Districts Florida about these questions however I am still waiting on a phone call back

Evidence of Democrats Supporting Fair Districts Florida:

Collier County Democrats; Seminole Democrats; Alachua Democrats