Great News: ACORN Back in Business in NYC

New name, same old thuggery, and supported by the unions. What a surprise!

Watch out! ACORN is back -- in all but its name.

Backed by hundreds of thousands of dollars in union donations, New York Communities for Change -- a rebranded version of the controversial organization that closed up shop amid several scandals -- is acting again as labor's attack dog on controversial issues.

NYCC took over ACORN's office on Nevins Street in Brooklyn, shares some of the same board members and uses its membership lists and other resources.

The "new" organization also fights to provide and preserve affordable housing for low-income New Yorkers.

But when NYCC has to choose between low-income consumers and unions, it dances to Big Labor's tune.

Consider Walmart's bid to open in New York City. It would offer discounted prices, which would disproportionately benefit the poorest New Yorkers.

But instead NYCC has joined the campaign to block Walmart because it is a non-union shop that would compete with unionized stores. That puts NYCC on the same page as Stuart Appelbaum, head of the National Retail, Wholesale and Department Store union -- not all those low-income consumers.

"A Walmart in Brooklyn?!? NO THANKS," NYCC says on its Web site.

Meanwhile the United Federation of Teachers gave NYCC more than $200,000 last year -- a big chunk of the advocacy group's budget -- to help organize child-care workers and parents.

NYCC's views on education mirrors the UFT's.

The UFT last year opposed the city's attempt to close 20 failing schools and replace them with new schools with new principals and teachers.

NYCC agreed. "Fix Our Schools, Don't Close 'Em," it declared.

I'm glad we can help people who provide a valuable service. I'll take help wherever I can get it to help working people. God knows the mayor isn't looking after them," UFT president Michael Mulgrew said.

I guess the fact the First Lady has teamed up with Wal-Mart hasn't helped their image yet. You would think giving "working people" shopping options isn't in the best interest of the unions. Well, not everybody is looking the other way.

Lawyer Randy Mastro, who has battled leaders of the ACORN-tied Working Families Party in court over alleged campaign finance violations, said, "It takes more than a name change to avoid the stigma of ACORN. Nobody is going to be fooled."

Well, most of the media will be. Or they'll just ignore this story. As they do with Walmart philanthropy that does far more to help New Yorkers than these union goons do.

Walmart has spread its philanthropic wealth to local community groups ahead of its campaign to open its first megastore in New York City, The Post has learned.

The Walmart Foundation has contributed $9 million to 40 Big Apple organizations over the past three years.

And the Walton Foundation -- a separate arm of Walmart's founding family -- has contributed more than $3 million to New York charter schools and education-reform groups in recent years, records show.

No wonder the teacher's unions so desperately want to stop them.

WFP Accused of Falsifying Signatures on Petitions

I'm shocked, shocked, I tell you that the far-left Working Families Party (read: ACORN front group) would be involved in shady political practices.

A former employee of the Working Families Party says he was so disturbed by the labor-backed group's practices that he walked out after only one week on the job.

In an exclusive interview, Brooklyn resident Patrick Crooks said he was encouraged by higher-ups to falsify signatures and addresses on petitions supporting the left-wing party's push to repeal a state law that took rent regulation out of the city's hands and gave it to the state.

"I saw that everyone else was doing it [putting down fake signatures] and my field manager was encouraging it . . . just so it looked like other people had been signing . . . But from my second day onward I decided not to do it . . . It just didn't seem right to me," Crooks, 26, from Maryland, told The Post.

Crooks' charges come amid a probe of the WFP by the feds and the city Campaign Finance Board. He revealed a litany of shady practices that prompted him to quit, including:

* Being misled about the type of work he was hired to perform -- fund-raising and canvassing instead of policy work;

* Getting a paycheck from the party's former political arm, Data and Field Services, although the job posting he responded to was for the WFP, and

* Receiving instruction to collect money and signatures in buildings that had "no trespassing" signs and only leave if forced out by police.

"By my first day, I was very jaded," Crooks said.

Mike Boland, executive director of DFS, disputed Crooks' accusations.

"Like all of our employees, [Crooks] was strictly prohibited from entering residences uninvited or faking any documents," Boland said. "It quickly became clear that Mr. Crooks was not qualified for the job and he was told he was going to be let go. We are disappointed that [he] has chosen to respond to his dismissal in this way, but we wish him luck."

A WFP source told The Post that some canvassers put their own names down first to give the appearance of more support. The source said the practice is only carried out with petitions for causes, not voter registration.

Crooks graduated in 2008 from Frostburg State University in Maryland with a degree in political science, and had volunteered with the presidential campaigns of John Kerry and Barack Obama.

Consider this Crooks blowing the whistle on crooks.

Heh: Corrupt WFP Wants Alec Baldwin to Run for Governor of NY

Staring at the prospect of losing their spot on future ballots, the scandal-ridden, ACORN-tied Working Families Party in New York is so desperate they're actually considering asking kook actor Alec Baldwin to run for Governor of New York.

The Working Families Party is so panicked a federal probe might keep Andrew Cuomo from accepting its ballot line in November, leaders are quietly mulling replacement candidates - even floating "30 Rock" star Alec Baldwin.

The labor-backed party will seek a "superstar" liberal to head its ticket if Cuomo declines its support, according to sources with knowledge of its plans.

The stakes are high: The party, which was flush with success only last year, needs to get 50,000 votes or else it loses its place on the ballot in the future.

Baldwin would fit the bill. He's not only a celebrity with a lefty ideology, he has also has been politically active as a founder of the Creative Coalition, a social and political advocacy organization for the Hollywood set. He grew up on Long Island and even has upstate cred - his mother and sister live in the Syracuse area.

Baldwin has expressed an interest in running for office and was mentioned as a potential primary challenger to Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman in 2009.

In 2006, the Manhattan resident told The New York Times: "If I ever run for anything, the thing I would like to be is governor of New York."

As if the state's not enough of a mess already.

The Working Families Party has been under investigation by the Manhattan U.S. attorney since last winter for work done by its for-profit arm, Data and Field Services, in the 2009 elections.

Cuomo, all but guaranteed to get the Democratic line at the state party's convention this week, has yet to decide whether he will accept the Working Families line. Yesterday, Cuomo said it's too "premature" to say if he would accept the support of the Working Families Party. "We'll address that situation down the road," he said.

It would be difficult for Cuomo to run on his reform and ethics platform and also accept the Working Families line if the investigation is ongoing this fall.

The WFP, of course, is joined at the hip with ACORN and assorted far-left unions. Cuomo should take some advice and steer clear of that odious crew.

ACORN Opens Branch in New York's City Hall

The goons are coming and once Michael Bloomberg is gone they'll probably have full control of New York City. Five years from now people will probably look back fondly on the "glory days" of David Dinkins.

The Constitution's framers held as inviolable citizens' right to petition government for a redress of grievances. So what does it say about rookie Public Advocate Bill de Blasio's opinion of himself that he thinks New Yorkers need his help to wave placards on City Hall steps?

De Blasio yesterday announced the creation of a new "community-organizing" department within his office -- purportedly to "help neighborhood activists build grass-roots coalitions."

Funny: We thought that "grass-roots" spring up naturally as concerned citizens exercise their First Amendment rights.

But perhaps the wheels of democracy turn too slowly for de Blasio. He plans:

* Workshops with favored activist groups to teach "organizing strategies."

* "Organizing toolkits" and a new Web site to teach New Yorkers how to conduct petition drives and "civic actions."

* A reworking of the public advocate's telephone hot line to tell callers how they can help change city policies.

Not that New Yorkers in search of, say, tax relief will get much help, of course: De Blasio's community "partners" are the same lefty grabbers who've been picking the city dry in the first place.

And, indeed, who put de Blasio -- a client of the far-left Working Families Party -- in office. This move only formalizes and consolidates their power.

U.S. Attorney Subpoenas Working Families Party

What a surprise that a group closely tied to ACORN would come under suspicion.

The feds are joining the numerous investigations of the Working Families Party.

Dan Cantor, the party's executive director, disclosed today that it has "received requests for information" from the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan, as have campaigns that have worked with the party's campaign affiliate, Data & Field Services.

Sources said it was a subpoena served Monday.

"We welcome this inquiry," said Cantor.

"(We) are confident that it will ultimately demonstrate what we have said before: our work has complied with both the spirit and letter of new York City's campaign finance law as well as all relevant state and federal election laws, tax and not-for-profit corporation laws."

Oh yes, I'm sure they welcome such inquiries and are eager to help out.

The party is being sued for its work on Staten Island Councilwoman-elect Debi Rose's campaign. A judge ruled last week that the trial can go forward.

It was also the subject of at least one complaint filed with the CFB.

Three days after the Nov. 3 elections, the party announced it had hired Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom to conduct a thorough review of the structure and relationship between the WFP and its for-profit arm, Data & Field Services. The review is being led by former Chief Judge Judith Kaye.

Sources say the party is paying dearly for Kaye's time and good name: Somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,000 an hour.

In his statement, Cantor expressed a desire for a "prompt resolution" to the investigation. It goes without saying that the longer this stretches on, the worse it will be for the party - particularly if it continues deep into the 2010 cycle.

It's hard to overstate how bad this could be for the WFP.

Does that name Data & Field Services sound familiar?

According to tax, campaign finance and other records, all four arms have been based in one office on the third floor of 2-4 Nevins Street in Brooklyn. The three co-chairs of the Working Families Party—Bob Master, Sam Williams and Bertha Lewis—were, along with now-White House political director Patrick Gaspard (a founding board member of the Party), the initial directors of the Working Families Organization, and their ongoing positions give them control over Data & Field Services. They were also, as of 2005, the respective president, secretary and treasurer of the Progressive America Fund. Dan Cantor, the executive director of the Party and of the Organization, oversees Data & Field Services, and is a former board member of the Progressive America Fund. According to records, they are not alone: nearly every person listed as an employee of one of these entities is also listed as an employee of at least one of the others. People who have visited the offices say they see no clear distinctions between desks, resources, staff and leadership.

ACORN and the WFP: Perfect together. Another name should also sound familiar.

SEIU.

Similarly, though the existence of Data and Field Services (DFS), a for-profit company incorporated in February 2007, had been mentioned in passing in prior press reports and as an ambiguous line on a dozen campaign finance reports over the last year and a half, never before have the details of the company and the extent of its ties to the Working Families Party been revealed.

The company was set up by Kevin Finnegan, then acting as a lawyer on behalf of the WFP, and currently the political director of 1199SEIU. Explaining the benefit of having a private company to the New York Post in April, Finnegan said that having a private for-profit company would allow candidates to avoid potential problems with the campaign finance laws, which put limits on the amount of money candidates can give to political parties. In New York City, that amount is $10,000.

The SEIU, of course, is famous for their goons beating up Kenneth Gladney this past summer.

All one big happy family living under that Democratic Party tent.

'An Audacious Scheme to Violate the Law'

Color me shocked to discover the far-left Working Families Party isn't exactly abiding by the law. Next thing you know we'll discover ACORN is run by shady characters.

The labor-backed Working Families Party has engaged in "an audacious scheme to violate the law" to help the party's favored political candidates get elected, a sweeping new lawsuit charges.

The first-of-its-kind suit says the WFP created a political outfit, Data and Field Services, that it is using to "circumvent state election and local campaign finance laws."

The way the scheme works, according the suit, is that the WFP gets involved in local races, backing its favored candidates, who in turn hire DFS for vital campaign services, such as phone banking, polling and get-out-the-vote efforts.

But under the plan, the WFP-endorsed candidates pay only "a nominal sum, well below fair market value," for those services -- giving those candidates a major, unfair advantage over their opponents, whose spending is limited by law.

"This is a case about an audacious scheme to violate the law by using corporate subterfuge to hijack our local election process," says the suit, which was filed in Staten Island.

"It goes to the very heart of our local democracy and undermines the fairness and integrity of our local elections."

The suit, filed on behalf of five aggrieved Staten Island voters, highlights the relationship between the City Council campaign of Debi Rose, a WFP-backed candidate, and DFS.

The court papers provide a case study for how the WFP, which has been increasing its influence, operates.

Two WFP candidates, Bill de Blasio and John Liu, are expected next week to be elected as public advocate and comptroller, respectively, and the party scored recent wins in a number of key council races.

The lawsuit charges that he Rose campaign -- which bested incumbent Democratic Councilman Ken Mitchell in the primary last month -- paid a mere $19,000 to DFS in that contest.

The real value of the campaign services in a council race is at least $100,000, according to the legal papers.

DFS provided aid to Rose's campaign, including polling, phone banking and petitioning in the primary, according to court papers.

"Something doesn't fit. Somebody's cooking the books," attorney Randy Mastro said.

"It would appear DFS was created as a corporate veil to shield the WFP, [which is] funneling campaign contributions to candidates they support."

Since corporations are limited to giving political candidates $5,000 worth of services or cash in a calendar year, the discounted DFS rates are tantamount to in-kind political contributions that never get reported, the suit says.

How clever. It's almost as if the left didn't have faith in the public to vote for them so they have to discover ways to steal elections.

By the way, did someone mention ACORN?

A new lawsuit against the Working Families Party also hits another target -- the scandal-tarnished group ACORN, which shares office space with the party.

Pointing to a string of probes that ACORN is facing and news reports about the two groups sharing a Nevins Street address in Brooklyn, the suit seeks to flush out the overlap.

Critics of the two groups have long complained they work hand in glove -- and have found compelling evidence in Brooklyn.

"Another organization that helped found and remains closely [allied] with the WFP is the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, commonly known as ACORN," reads a petition filed in the case, charging that "ACORN not only shares office space with the WFP . . . but Bertha Lewis, the executive director of New York ACORN, is also a state co-chair of the WFP."

The suit goes on to say the WFP "has remained closely" tethered to the group.

The court papers cite an exclusive Post story about hidden cameras at the Nevins Street offices capturing ACORN workers counseling a couple posing as a prostitute and pimp on how to buy a home and keep authorities from catching on.

Imagine my surprise to discover Lewis is the state co-chair of the WFP.

Community organizer Barack Obama was unavailable for comment.

Voter Fraud In Upstate New York

This isn't just a case of fraudulently registering a bunch of fictitious people to vote to get a bonus from your ACORN boss. This is real voter fraud and it of course involves Democrats, whose win by any means necessary mentality continues to push their rabid Kool-Aid drinking minions to engage these types of acts.

Lambersten's lawyer, David Gruenberg, calls what happened "the worst case of election fraud that I have seen in 32 years of practice" in Troy. "It goes far beyond what I have seen before because it involves fraudulently casting votes for individuals." He says the fraud was carried out by "individuals associated and working with the Democratic candidates ... they are working to get the WFP lines for their candidates in the general election."

This story is unfolding in upstate New York and it involves a group of people submitting absentee ballots for some real citizens. Citizens who did not vote or were denied their right to vote based on an absentee ballot already being on record for them.

Thirty-eight forged or fraudulent ballots have been thrown out -- enough votes, an election official admits, to likely have tipped the city council and county elections in November to the Democrats. Candidates would have been able to run both on the Democratic and Working Families Party lines in two weeks, and that could have given the Democrats in the general election.

This article is skimpy on details explaining exactly what the importance the Working Families Party is, but in if I am understanding it correctly, it is a sort of third-party which allows candidates from the two other major political parties to campaign under, even though it appears designed primarily to be a surrogate for the Democrats. What the Democrats would do is put their 'A' team candidates on the Democrat ticket and their 'B' team on the Working Families Party. The Republicans are allowed to put candidates on this party also. The Democrat's intent, and if what appears to have happened happened, is they were able to stack the deck with double the number of candidates.

I cannot figure out why, if they already had the deck stacked, they felt the need to further engage actual voter fraud. But I forget, this is Democrats we are talking about, who for so long have gotten by with so much that they no longer see any problem with the way they run elections.

"It's not the person who votes that counts, rather the person who counts the votes" said by somebody smarter then me.

JWF Updates: The Working Families Party is a hard-left socialist group joined at the hip with ACORN. Scroll down in the Fox News link for this.

The Working Families Party has recently gained strength, and controversy, in New York. Republican and Democratic candidates in the Empire State can also run on third party lines, such as the Working Families Party, as well as the Liberal, Conservative, and Independence parties, among others. The extra line means extra votes that could bring victory.

Hillary Clinton garnered 2.7 percent of her total votes from the WFP line when she first ran for Senate in 2000, which increased to 5 percent of her total vote in 2006. In September, Clinton's former campaign manager for her 2000 Senate run, New York City Councilman Bill DeBlasio, who has been endorsed by the WFP, beat two long-established politicians in the Democratic primary. Critics also accuse the Working Families Party of having a long association with the troubled activist group, ACORN. Bertha Lewis, ACORN's CEO, is one of the party's co-founders. The New York Times reported this month that "Patrick Gaspard, the White House political director, worked with ACORN in New York to set up the Working Families political party and sat on the party's board with Ms. Lewis."

The WFP has also endorsed New York Democratic Sen. Kristen Gillibrand, who was one of only seven Senators who voted against cutting federal housing funds to ACORN in September.

Is it any wonder why the White House is attacking Fox News?

Great News: ACORN Stooges Win NYC Races

Nothing like having a man beholden to ACORN and the hard-left Working Families Party in control of an $80 billion piggybank. Yet that's exactly who the people of New York City have as Comptroller. Also elected was Bill De Blasio as Public Advocate, who wen tout of his way to thank ACORN. Wonderful. The lone silver lining? De Blasio beat the loathsome Mark Green, the ubiquitous candidate for whatever office is open.

John Liu easily won last night's runoff election for city comptroller and Bill de Blasio routed rival Mark Green in the public advocate contest -- victories that handed a major boost to the Working Families Party in its first foray into citywide races.

Both races produced clear winners within 30 minutes of the polls closing at 9 p.m. A mere 228,000 ballots were cast, a record low.

Liu, who will oversee the city's $80 billion pension system, cruised into history as the first Asian-American to win a citywide election, beating Brooklyn Councilman David Yassky, by 56 percent to 44 percent, with 100 percent of precincts reporting.

De Blasio trounced perennial candidate Green, who was trying to reclaim his old job, 63 percent to 37 percent.

"I will be your voice, and whenever your government is not there for you, I will stand up for you," said de Blasio, who thanked members of the WFP and ACORN.

"Thank you so much for this incredible ride . . . We won this election in the streets," said Liu, who held his runoff party at teachers union headquarters and credited the WFP in his victory speech.

The victories give organized labor major toeholds in two of the three citywide offices.

And with both Liu and de Blasio now instant front-line City Hall hopefuls in 2013, Mayor Bloomberg will face two aggressive rivals taking swings at him through a likely third term.

Suitably Flip points out Liu was one of the many recipients of Norman Hsu money, much of which has not been returned.

Of the Hsu-tainted cash Liu got his hands on, he appeared to return just 22% (the contributions made explicitly by Hsu himself), which would suggest there's still cash stolen from Liu's fellow New Yorkers rolling around in his campaign coffers available for November's general election.

Among his prospective duties as comptroller, Liu would be responsible for the management of an $85 billion portfolio of public assets. Let's hope his apparent nonchalance about campaign finance law, investor swindling, and money laundering sheds no light on his fiduciary diligence.

Great News for NYC: Labor Stooge Set to Become Comptroller

It may be a much more low-profile position that the mayor, but do New Yorkers realize they may soon have a man who is beholden to the hard-left Working Families Party and ACORN controlling the city's purse strings?

Well, unless they wake up and have a good look as John Liu, that's exactly what's in store for them.

Councilman John Liu, the leading contender for comptroller, is so tight with the Working Families Party that some insiders fear his election would hand the left-wing party and the unions backing it the run of the city's second most important office -- and access to big bucks from the pension fund.

"I would certainly be troubled by someone that closely associated with the unions," said one former top official in the comptroller's office.

Supporters of Mayor Bloomberg are known to be concerned about the possibility of a Liu victory.

The race for comptroller will for all practical purposes be decided in a runoff Tuesday between Liu (D-Queens) and fellow Councilman David Yassky (D-Brooklyn).

Liu is considered the heavy favorite because he finished first in last week's four-way, low-turnout Democratic primary and because he has the backing of the well-organized Working Families Party.

The party has a close relationship with the disgraced ACORN group and has been accused of trying to circumvent campaign finance rules.

Veteran political analyst Jerry Skurnick estimated that as few as 150,000 to 175,000 voters -- a dismal 5 percent of the Democratic electorate -- will turn out for the runoff.

That would make the clout of the WFP more critical than ever -- and Liu's debt to it as large as could be.

A former city official said there's good reason for voters to have doubts that Liu would safeguard the public purse.
...
The comptroller's responsibilities range from oversight of an $85 billion pension portfolio to setting "prevailing wage" rates for city employees in trades that have counterparts in the private sector.

The comptroller also has to approve all contracts, including those for consultants that one major union -- District Council 37 -- has charged are taking jobs away from their members at the Department of Education.

Oh, when we say hard-left, we're not stretching it, since they are viewed favorably by the Communist Party.

In the meantime, we support many efforts to build alternative political formations (see FAQs about "Third Parties" such as the Green Party, the Labor Party, the Working Families Party, etc.). We work to build the political strength of the labor movement. We work to support candidates within the two-party system who offer real alternatives to the ultra-right, such as Paul Wellstone did. And we are working to build our Party in size, experience, and strength.

By the way, you might remember the WFP from their infamous trip to Connecticut to harass AIG executives last March when the media outnumbered protesters.

This NY Post editorial sends out the warning flare.

Big Labor may be about to score a huge -- and dangerous -- victory by installing its puppet, Queens Councilman John Liu, in the enormously powerful job of city comptroller.

Heaven help New York if it works.

City unions -- acting through the shadowy Working Families Party -- have lined up squarely behind Liu in Tuesday's Democratic runoff election for comptroller.

And, as The Post's David Seifman reports today, union and WFP support could well put Liu over the top, given expected low turnout -- leaving him all the more in their debt.

A Liu victory would be a huge coup for labor and WFP-types: The comptroller, as the city's chief financial officer, oversees the city's $85 billion pension fund and must sign off on all city contracts.

Imagine what they could do with that pot of gold.

"I would certainly be troubled by someone that closely associated with the unions," a former top official in the comptroller's office told Seifman.

Liu wants to use the fund to invest in "affordable housing" -- a field dominated by scandal-scarred housing giant ACORN, which is bolstered by unions and joined at the hip to the WFP. And with the power to OK contracts, he'd be able to hold up outlays that don't contain enough public-employee goodies.

Big Labor has even more reason to be so gung-ho for Liu: He's dead-set against reining in crippling public-employee pension perks. And he's backed just about every proposed tax-and-spend scheme to keep the money flowing to his union friends -- even, at one point, a dangerous stock-transfer tax that today would drive the city's struggling financial sector straight out of town.

Just what New York needs during a recession: A business stampede out of town.

It's Not Just Wealthy Conservatives Who Are Fleeing New York

It appears Rush Limbaugh has started a trend. A couple of months ago the radio host noted he had fled New York because of onerous taxation, and the accidental governor was happy to hear the news. Well, now one of the the state's wealthiest men is also hitting the road.

New York billionaire Tom Golisano is taking his big bucks elsewhere.

Furious over a new "millionaire's tax" that could cost him an extra $1 million this year, the Rochester-area resident and three-time gubernatorial candidate says he's fleeing the state for Florida's Gulf Coast.

Golisano called it a "quick decision" to switch his legal address to his $13 million waterfront mansion in Naples, Fla., after Gov. Paterson and lawmakers agreed to a record-breaking $4 billion income-tax hike last month.

"This budget and this increase in the level of taxation are really going to push a lot more people out of the state," Golisano told a gathering of Rochester business executives Thursday, according to The Buffalo News.

With an estimated net worth of $1.3 billion, Golisano is easily one of upstate's richest residents.

The millionaire's tax -- which hiked the income tax rate to 8.97 percent from 6.85 percent on those making over $500,000 a year -- would force Golisano to pay $13,000 a day in state income taxes. That's $4.7 million a year, up from $3.6 million.

Florida has no state income tax.

To officially qualify as a tax refugee, the Buffalo Sabres owner will simply have to extend by a month or two his usual winter retreats in the Sunshine State.

He follows conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, who predicted he would be the first in a wave of rich to flee the Empire State after state Democrats sealed the $132 billion budget deal.

Naturally, some of the socialists who enjoy life on the taxpayer dole aren't taking the news well.

Working Families Party Executive Director Dan Cantor, who championed the tax hike, called Golisano's move "selfish."

"It's a disgrace that this is how he pays back the state where he was presumably educated and that's been so good to him," Cantor said. "Taxes are the price you pay for civilization. He's moving to a space where there's a little bit less civilization."

NY Teacher's Union Funding ACORN and Working Families Party

Do the teachers in New York State even realize their union dues are going to radical groups such as ACORN and the Working Families Party?

Do they even care? I suspect if they realized the level of corruption within their own ranks they may not be too happy seeing huge chunks of money going to these very suspicious groups.

Next week, a coalition of advocacy groups will bus an army of parents into Albany for a "lobby day" against mayoral control of the city's schools -- a prime example of how Randi Weingarten's teachers' union shapes public perception and policy behind the scenes.

The May 5 event, part of the Campaign for Better Schools, is meant to show lawmakers that there's massive grass-roots opposition to Mayor Bloomberg's stewardship of the school system.

The lead organizer of the Campaign for Better Schools is the Alliance for Quality Education, whose celebrity spokeswoman is "Sex and the City" star Cynthia Nixon.

It received $775,000 last year from the United Federation of Teachers' sister organization, New York State United Teachers, to fund a media campaign, federal Department of Labor filings show. That's on top of a $35,000 grant the UFT gave directly to the Alliance last year.

If they wanted better schools they sure have a funny way of showing it, opposing charters schools every step of the way, unless, of course, Weingarten can find a way to unionize them. Meanwhile, ACORN and the WFP are essentially on the union payroll.

ACORN, a national network of antipoverty community organizations, has worked hand in hand with Weingarten and is now taking a leadership role in the Campaign for Better Schools.

The UFT paid ACORN $406,730 to help the union organize 28,000 child-care providers that contract with the city.

Earlier this month, ACORN also helped organize protests against the proposed phase-out of PS 194 in Harlem to make way for a charter school. The Department of Education eventually caved, and the school will not be closed.

Even smaller participants in the Campaign for Better Schools receive funds from the teachers' unions. The New York Immigration Coalition accepted $15,000 last year. Another immigrant rights group, Make the Road New York, was given $5,000.

Community groups aren't the only outsiders receiving money from the UFT and its state affiliate.

The union-backed Working Families Party received $1 million from New York State United Teachers for a media campaign last year. New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, a pro-union think tank and advocacy group, received $190,000.

"I would challenge anyone in New York to find when they [ACORN, the Working Families Party, and the Alliance for Quality Education] have opposed anything on the union's agenda," said Joe Williams, executive director of Democrats for Education Reform, an advocacy group funded by proponents of charter schools.

The last time the WFP organized a bus tour they didn't get too many people to show up, but they sure as heck got plenty of media attention.

'We Could Run Santa Claus Against Them, and We're Going To Win'

You might remember the Working Families Party, the goon squad that pulled that lame bus tour harassing employees of AIG several weeks ago. Well, to no surprise, they've become very cozy with Democrats and helped them gain control of the New York State Senate.

Now, however, they've become a bit of an albatross. Good luck distancing yourselves from them.

WRACKED by a wicked hangover after a binge of wild budgeting, Democrats in Albany have opened their eyes to the behemoth lying in their bed and refusing to leave.

It's the Working Families Party -- the left-wing coalition of organized labor and ACORN activists -- which seduced Democrats with its potent field operations and helped bring them to power in the Senate for the first time in generations.

Now, the WFP is demanding a long-term relationship -- to the alarm of Democrats, whose more moderate constituents back home are threatening to split. Democrats worry that the force behind their takeover of the Senate last year is sowing the seeds of their downfall.

Aww, isn't that a shame. Hey, you get in bed with socialists, then don't be surprised when they won't leave in the morning. In fact, they're not just not leaving, they're moving into your house and bringing their extended family (read: ACORN) with them.

Suckers!

Privately, they fear that the backlash against the WFP-orchestrated state budget -- with its 9 percent spending hike and $8 billion in new taxes and fees -- has jeopardized their hold on at least three upstate seats, giving Republicans a dangerous opening.

Returning to their districts in places like Buffalo and Syracuse, lawmakers were met with a surprisingly hostile reception from their local newspapers and Democratic activists.

"They're furious that our response to solving the problem is to raise taxes. They don't think we've cut enough, and they don't think we're doing things differently," says one Democratic lawmaker. "Now there's an arsenal of ammunition that the Republican minority will no doubt use to take back the Senate next year."

With voters pointing fingers at them, Democrats are pointing at the WFP. Says another Democratic lawmaker: "A lot of members were surprised by how much money we spent. There's going to be a backlash against some of the people who were advocating for these kinds of changes."

Republicans, naturally, agree. "We could run Santa Claus against them, and we're going to win. They are totally captive to an ultra-radical agenda," a GOP source told me.

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