Well, in its simplest form, here’s their tag line.
"ACORN is a non-profit, non-partisan social justice organization with national headquarters in New York, New Orleans and Washington, D.C."
Non-profit- Well, someone ought to look into their tax status
Non-partisan- Here’s the cover of a March 18th ACORN publication called “Hope on the Horizon.”
There's something about it that seems oddly partisan. I can't quite put my finger on it. Can you?
And there’s that phrase “social justice” again. Obama closed his speech on September 9th with that same phrase. From ACORN’s website we read what that really means:
Affordable Housing- Well, the uninitiated may think this means that communities ought to be balanced with apartments, duplexes, and bungalows; not just mansions. But make no mistake, they mean subsidized housing. They mean Section 8 housing.
Living Wage- In the grand tradition of capitalism minimum wage is not enough for ACORN. They protest in Chicago to force Walmart to pay $10 an hour PLUS another $3 in benefits or cash. They even teach seminars about blocking big box retailers in neighborhoods. (Ironically, they are also lobbying IN FAVOR OF a supermarket in a depressed Las Vegas neighborhood.)
More Katrina Kash- ACORN is a strong advocate for dumping more of our tax dollars into New Orleans.
Healthcare for All- ACORN is a big supporter of government-run health care. They also advocate for more charity care and write-downs of medical debts, yet also want to stop hospitals from leaving low-income neighborhoods. (They’re not asking much, are they?)
Immigration- Without ever using the word “illegal”, ACORN demands comprehensive federal immigration reform and a legal path to citizenship and helped block federal legislation making it a felony to aid undocumented immigrants or to be undocumented in the U.S.
Felon rights- They advocated for a statewide record-sealing law to help nonviolent ex-offenders find jobs in Illinois.
The police- Increased police accountability in neighborhoods in Contra Costa County, Calif., Portland, Ore., Jacksonville, Fla., San Antonio, Texas, and Lima, Peru.
(All of the above come from their 2006 Annual Report on their website. I was hoping their Annual Report might tell a little bit about their funding or even their board members, but it was more of a newsletter.)
Is it just me, or do you detect a lack of the American spirit of capitalism and self-reliance in ACORN’s activities?
Speaking of information on their website, there was a link to a pdf of the San Bernardino Police Report. I was hoping it was proof that on the day of taping the sting, someone at ACORN called the police and filed charges against the pimp and the prostitute. Alas, it was a police report dated 9/15/09 showing there was no proof that the ACORN rep actually killed her husband as she mentioned on the video.
Now, those are just the ACORN activities dressed up for church. There are those pesky negative stories that seem to surround ACORN. Like voter registration fraud, breaking into foreclosed homes, threatening bankers and their families at home, tax evasion advice, encouraging international child sex slave trafficking, advice on skirting immigration laws, and condoning prostitution.
Obama links to ACORN have been campaign issues in the past.
*We do know that as a young lawyer OBAMA helped them on a public housing case involving asbestos.
*He also was a key figure in getting motor voter implemented in Illinios.
*Obama also taught some sort of leadership training seminars for ACORN.
*Despite Obama’s claims during the campaign, Project Vote and ACORN are (and were) closely tied together.
Jake Taper tried to tell us three weeks before the election. Here’s the story:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/10/being-squirrell.html
Here are some of the members of the ACORN advisory board (I couldn’t find a complete list on their website.):
• John Podesta, President and CEO, Center for American Progress
• Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Board Member, RFK Foundation, former MD Lt. Governor (and Robert Kennedy’s firstborn)
• Andrew Stern, International President, Service Employees International Union
• Henry Cisneros, Executive Chairman, Cityview
• John Banks, Vice President of Government Relations Con Ed
• Eric Eve, Senior VP of Global Consumer Group, Community Relations, Citigroup
• Harvey Hirschfeld, President, Lawcash
• Dave Beckwith, Executive Director, Needmor Fund
So, there’s your “non-partisan” group of people charged with auditing ACORN. Good luck with that.
Affordable Housing- Well, the uninitiated may think this means that communities ought to be balanced with apartments, duplexes, and bungalows; not just mansions. But make no mistake, they mean subsidized housing. They mean Section 8 housing.
Living Wage- In the grand tradition of capitalism minimum wage is not enough for ACORN. They protest in Chicago to force Walmart to pay $10 an hour PLUS another $3 in benefits or cash. They even teach seminars about blocking big box retailers in neighborhoods. (Ironically, they are also lobbying IN FAVOR OF a supermarket in a depressed Las Vegas neighborhood.)
More Katrina Kash- ACORN is a strong advocate for dumping more of our tax dollars into New Orleans.
Healthcare for All- ACORN is a big supporter of government-run health care. They also advocate for more charity care and write-downs of medical debts, yet also want to stop hospitals from leaving low-income neighborhoods. (They’re not asking much, are they?)
Immigration- Without ever using the word “illegal”, ACORN demands comprehensive federal immigration reform and a legal path to citizenship and helped block federal legislation making it a felony to aid undocumented immigrants or to be undocumented in the U.S.
Felon rights- They advocated for a statewide record-sealing law to help nonviolent ex-offenders find jobs in Illinois.
The police- Increased police accountability in neighborhoods in Contra Costa County, Calif., Portland, Ore., Jacksonville, Fla., San Antonio, Texas, and Lima, Peru.
(All of the above come from their 2006 Annual Report on their website. I was hoping their Annual Report might tell a little bit about their funding or even their board members, but it was more of a newsletter.)
Is it just me, or do you detect a lack of the American spirit of capitalism and self-reliance in ACORN’s activities?
Speaking of information on their website, there was a link to a pdf of the San Bernardino Police Report. I was hoping it was proof that on the day of taping the sting, someone at ACORN called the police and filed charges against the pimp and the prostitute. Alas, it was a police report dated 9/15/09 showing there was no proof that the ACORN rep actually killed her husband as she mentioned on the video.
Now, those are just the ACORN activities dressed up for church. There are those pesky negative stories that seem to surround ACORN. Like voter registration fraud, breaking into foreclosed homes, threatening bankers and their families at home, tax evasion advice, encouraging international child sex slave trafficking, advice on skirting immigration laws, and condoning prostitution.
Obama links to ACORN have been campaign issues in the past.
*We do know that as a young lawyer OBAMA helped them on a public housing case involving asbestos.
*He also was a key figure in getting motor voter implemented in Illinios.
*Obama also taught some sort of leadership training seminars for ACORN.
*Despite Obama’s claims during the campaign, Project Vote and ACORN are (and were) closely tied together.
Jake Taper tried to tell us three weeks before the election. Here’s the story:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/10/being-squirrell.html
Here are some of the members of the ACORN advisory board (I couldn’t find a complete list on their website.):
• John Podesta, President and CEO, Center for American Progress
• Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Board Member, RFK Foundation, former MD Lt. Governor (and Robert Kennedy’s firstborn)
• Andrew Stern, International President, Service Employees International Union
• Henry Cisneros, Executive Chairman, Cityview
• John Banks, Vice President of Government Relations Con Ed
• Eric Eve, Senior VP of Global Consumer Group, Community Relations, Citigroup
• Harvey Hirschfeld, President, Lawcash
• Dave Beckwith, Executive Director, Needmor Fund
So, there’s your “non-partisan” group of people charged with auditing ACORN. Good luck with that.
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