Changes

===2010 United States census===

===2010 United States census===

In March 2009, it was disclosed that ACORN would play a role in recruiting workers for the 2010 [[census]]. This raised several concerns regarding ACORN's past history of voter fraud and, along with oversight of the census being moved to White House Chief of Staff [[Rahm Emanuel]], raised questions about the fate of the census' historic non-partisan nature.<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/03/18/acorn-play-role-census.html ACORN to Play Role in 2010 Census], [[FOX News]]</ref>  

In March 2009, it was disclosed that ACORN would play a role in recruiting workers for the 2010 [[census]]. This raised several concerns regarding ACORN's past history of voter fraud and, along with oversight of the census being moved to White House Chief of Staff [[Rahm Emanuel]], raised questions about the fate of the census' historic non-partisan nature.<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/03/18/acorn-play-role-census.html ACORN to Play Role in 2010 Census], [[FOX News]]</ref>  

After a video surfaced showing ACORN members trying to cheat the IRS, the Census Bureau decided to cancel their involvement with the 2010 Census count. It is reported that the group will still receive funds from the government branch Housing & Urban Development.  

After a video surfaced showing ACORN members trying to cheat the IRS, the Census Bureau decided to cancel their involvement with the 2010 Census count. It is reported that the group will still receive funds from the government branch Housing & Urban Development.  

Flexible lending programs expanded even though they had higher default rates than loans with traditional standards. On the Web, you can still find CRA loans available via ACORN with "100 percent financing . . . no credit scores . . . undocumented income . . . even if you don't report it on your tax returns." Credit counselling is required, of course.

Flexible lending programs expanded even though they had higher default rates than loans with traditional standards. On the Web, you can still find CRA loans available via ACORN with "100 percent financing . . . no credit scores . . . undocumented income . . . even if you don't report it on your tax returns." Credit counselling is required, of course.

Ironically, an enthusiastic Fannie Mae Foundation report singled out one paragon of nondiscriminatory lending, which worked with community activists and followed "the most flexible underwriting criteria permitted." That lender's $1 billion commitment to low-income loans in 1992 had grown to $80 billion by 1999 and $600 billion by early 2003.<ref>[http://www.nationalreview.com/article/225898/planting-seeds-disaster-stanley-kurtz Planting Seeds of Disaster], [[National Review]]</ref>

Ironically, an enthusiastic Fannie Mae Foundation report singled out one paragon of nondiscriminatory lending, which worked with community activists and followed "the most flexible underwriting criteria permitted." That lender's $1 billion commitment to low-income loans in 1992 had grown to $80 billion by 1999 and $600 billion by early 2003.<ref>[https://www.nationalreview.com/article/225898/planting-seeds-disaster-stanley-kurtz Planting Seeds of Disaster], [[National Review]]</ref>

The lender they were speaking of was [[Countrywide]], which specialized in subprime lending and had a working relationship with ACORN.<ref>[http://www.inman.com/news/2008/02/1/countrywide-acorn-partner-foreclosure-prevention Countrywide, ACORN partner for foreclosure prevention]</ref>

The lender they were speaking of was [[Countrywide]], which specialized in subprime lending and had a working relationship with ACORN.<ref>[http://www.inman.com/news/2008/02/1/countrywide-acorn-partner-foreclosure-prevention Countrywide, ACORN partner for foreclosure prevention]</ref>

ACORN tried to help elect Obama in 2008, but nearly a third of the 1.3 million voters it registered were rejected as fraudulent.

ACORN tried to help elect Obama in 2008, but nearly a third of the 1.3 million voters it registered were rejected as fraudulent.

In Sept. 2009 Fox News showed videos from [[Andrew Breitbart]] of ACORN workers in several cities, including New York, Baltimore and Washington, giving advice to two conservative undercover investigators who posed as a prostitute and her pimp.  The two activists were [[James O'Keefe]] and [[Hannah Giles]]. During the sting, they said that they wanted to buy a house and run it as a brothel with underage teenage girls smuggled in from Central America.  Happy to help, ACORN staffers gave practical advice on how to evade taxes and conceal the nature of the illegal business. The result was Congress voted to defund the group, the Census cancelled their contract and ACORN eventually declared bankruptcy.<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/20/report-acorn-verge-bankruptcy/?test=latestnews Report: ACORN on the Verge of Bankruptcy, FOX News, March 20, 2010]</ref>

In Sept. 2009 Fox News showed videos from [[Andrew Breitbart]] of ACORN workers in several cities, including New York, Baltimore and Washington, giving advice to two conservative undercover investigators who posed as a prostitute and her pimp.  The two activists were [[James O'Keefe]] and [[Hannah Giles]]. During the sting, they said that they wanted to buy a house and run it as a brothel with underage teenage girls smuggled in from Central America.  Happy to help, ACORN staffers gave practical advice on how to evade taxes and conceal the nature of the illegal business. The result was Congress voted to defund the group, the Census cancelled their contract and ACORN eventually declared bankruptcy.<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/20/report-acorn-verge-bankruptcy/?test=latestnews Report: ACORN on the Verge of Bankruptcy, FOX News, March 20, 2010]</ref>

===Voter Fraud===

===Voter Fraud===

A group of dissident members has been seeking a federal investigation of ACORN for alleged criminal violations stemming from an embezzlement scheme that has rocked the organization since 2008. They call themselves The Acorn 8. On January 7, 2009, they released a 24-page document demanding federal investigators to look into fraud, embezzlement and conspiracy charges, and criminal civil rights violations in relation to the embezzlement of around $1 million from the accounts and an alleged cover-up of the theft for nearly a decade. This stems from a dispute within ACORN since disclosure in June that Dale Rathke, brother of ACORN co-founder and former Chief Organizer Wade Rathke, embezzled $948,000.<ref>[http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_606173.html Ousted ACORN members seek federal criminal investigation], Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, January 8, 2009</ref>

A group of dissident members has been seeking a federal investigation of ACORN for alleged criminal violations stemming from an embezzlement scheme that has rocked the organization since 2008. They call themselves The Acorn 8. On January 7, 2009, they released a 24-page document demanding federal investigators to look into fraud, embezzlement and conspiracy charges, and criminal civil rights violations in relation to the embezzlement of around $1 million from the accounts and an alleged cover-up of the theft for nearly a decade. This stems from a dispute within ACORN since disclosure in June that Dale Rathke, brother of ACORN co-founder and former Chief Organizer Wade Rathke, embezzled $948,000.<ref>[http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_606173.html Ousted ACORN members seek federal criminal investigation], Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, January 8, 2009</ref>

ACORN 8 members, however, have claimed the embezzlement is a sign of a deeper problems within the organization. They created a counter website to address the disputes they have with ACORN.<ref>[http://www.acorn-8.net/ Acorn 8 website]</ref> Marcel Reid, who is the D.C. Acorn Chair and member of the Acorn 8, has gone on [[Fox News]] to explain her story along with others.<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,520671,00.html Twists and Turns of ACORN's Finances], [[Fox News]], May 18, 2009</ref><ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,519834,00.html Former ACORN Board Members Speak Out], [[Fox News]], May 11, 2009</ref>

ACORN 8 members, however, have claimed the embezzlement is a sign of a deeper problems within the organization. They created a counter website to address the disputes they have with ACORN.<ref>[http://www.acorn-8.net/ Acorn 8 website]</ref> Marcel Reid, who is the D.C. Acorn Chair and member of the Acorn 8, has gone on [[Fox News]] to explain her story along with others.<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,520671,00.html Twists and Turns of ACORN's Finances], [[Fox News]], May 18, 2009</ref><ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,519834,00.html Former ACORN Board Members Speak Out], [[Fox News]], May 11, 2009</ref>

Anita MonCrief has been one of the most outspoken former employees of ACORN.  MonCrief testified in court that the Obama campaign had given ACORN their donor list and coordinated funding with them.<ref>[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122533169940482893.html An Acorn Whistleblower Testifies in Court]</ref> [[The New York Times]] had been investigating MonCrief's claims during the 2008 campaign, but when MonCrief offered to supply the Times with a copy of the Obama campaign's donor list, the Times killed the story.<ref>[http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/05/023580.php Killing a Story: How It's Done], [[Power Line]]</ref>  MonCrief has set up a blog <ref>[http://www.anitamoncrief.blogspot.com/ Anita MonCrief]</ref> and Twitter account <ref>[https://twitter.com/anitamoncrief @AnitaMonCrief]</ref> which she used to release internal ACORN documents to bloggers on May 21, 2009.<ref>[http://mitchellblatt.com/blog/2009/05/acorn-project-vote-registration An Inside Look at How ACORN Uses Project Vote Records to Register Members]</ref>

Anita MonCrief has been one of the most outspoken former employees of ACORN.  MonCrief testified in court that the Obama campaign had given ACORN their donor list and coordinated funding with them.<ref>[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122533169940482893.html An Acorn Whistleblower Testifies in Court]</ref> [[The New York Times]] had been investigating MonCrief's claims during the 2008 campaign, but when MonCrief offered to supply the Times with a copy of the Obama campaign's donor list, the Times killed the story.<ref>[http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2009/05/023580.php Killing a Story: How It's Done], [[Power Line]]</ref>  MonCrief has set up a blog <ref>[http://www.anitamoncrief.blogspot.com/ Anita MonCrief]</ref> and Twitter account <ref>[https://twitter.com/anitamoncrief @AnitaMonCrief]</ref> which she used to release internal ACORN documents to bloggers on May 21, 2009.<ref>[http://mitchellblatt.com/blog/2009/05/acorn-project-vote-registration An Inside Look at How ACORN Uses Project Vote Records to Register Members]</ref>

Amid a widening probe into voter registration fraud by the liberal group, House Republican Leader [[John Boehner]] (R-Ohio) said “All federal funding to ACORN must be stopped.” <ref name="cnsnews.com"/> In addition, "..further evidence that this group cannot be trusted with another dollar of the taxpayers’ money. House [[Republicans]] took at stand recently to cut off funding to an ACORN slush fund created by their [Democratic] allies...but now more must be done.” The congressman's Web site notes that in the recently passed financial [[bailout]] package, Republicans “stripped out special-interest earmarks for trial lawyers, labor bosses and thinly-veiled political organizations like ACORN..." [http://www.gop.com/obamaacorntree/ RNC Fact Sheet]

Amid a widening probe into voter registration fraud by the liberal group, House Republican Leader [[John Boehner]] (R-Ohio) said “All federal funding to ACORN must be stopped.” <ref name="cnsnews.com"/> In addition, "..further evidence that this group cannot be trusted with another dollar of the taxpayers’ money. House [[Republicans]] took at stand recently to cut off funding to an ACORN slush fund created by their [Democratic] allies...but now more must be done.” The congressman's Web site notes that in the recently passed financial [[bailout]] package, Republicans “stripped out special-interest earmarks for trial lawyers, labor bosses and thinly-veiled political organizations like ACORN..." [http://www.gop.com/obamaacorntree/ RNC Fact Sheet]

Reeling from revelations of systematic fraud in both election registration and community development programs, ACORN saw both Houses of Congress vote to cut off federal funds in the "Defund ACORN Act," and the Census Bureau reject its help. Many states and cities are considering similar punishment. It shuttered 40% of its centers in cities including Chicago, Salt Lake City, Atlanta and Omaha, and is not taking new clients in the centers that remain open in low-income neighborhoods.<ref>P.J. Huffstutter and Kate Linthicum, [http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-acorn19-2009sep19,0,6183518.story "ACORN scaling back or shutting down in many cities,"], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' Sep. 19, 2009</ref>  In an effort to regain some support, it sued to have the "Defund ACORN Act" enjoined as an unconstitutional [[bill of attainder]].  On December 11, the district court ruled in favor of ACORN, citing the precedent of [[United States v. Lovett]] to say that Congress cannot "declare that a single, named organization is barred from all federal funding in the absence of a trial." <ref>[http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/files/judge-gershon-12-11-2009-pi-order.pdf ACORN v. United States, full opinion]</ref>

Reeling from revelations of systematic fraud in both election registration and community development programs, ACORN saw both Houses of Congress vote to cut off federal funds in the "Defund ACORN Act," and the Census Bureau reject its help. Many states and cities are considering similar punishment. It shuttered 40% of its centers in cities including Chicago, Salt Lake City, Atlanta and Omaha, and is not taking new clients in the centers that remain open in low-income neighborhoods.<ref>P.J. Huffstutter and Kate Linthicum, [https://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-acorn19-2009sep19,0,6183518.story "ACORN scaling back or shutting down in many cities,"], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' Sep. 19, 2009</ref>  In an effort to regain some support, it sued to have the "Defund ACORN Act" enjoined as an unconstitutional [[bill of attainder]].  On December 11, the district court ruled in favor of ACORN, citing the precedent of [[United States v. Lovett]] to say that Congress cannot "declare that a single, named organization is barred from all federal funding in the absence of a trial." <ref>[http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/files/judge-gershon-12-11-2009-pi-order.pdf ACORN v. United States, full opinion]</ref>

===Convictions===

===Convictions===

* [http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NDZiMjkwMDczZWI5ODdjOWYxZTIzZGIyNzEyMjE0ODI= Inside Obama’s Acorn] National Review Online

* [http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NDZiMjkwMDczZWI5ODdjOWYxZTIzZGIyNzEyMjE0ODI= Inside Obama’s Acorn] National Review Online

* [http://www.city-journal.org/html/13_2_acorns_nutty_regime.html ACORN’s Nutty Regime for Cities] City-Journal

* [http://www.city-journal.org/html/13_2_acorns_nutty_regime.html ACORN’s Nutty Regime for Cities] City-Journal

* [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/17/house-votes-strip-acorn-federal-funding/ House Votes to Strip ACORN of Federal Funding]

* [https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/17/house-votes-strip-acorn-federal-funding/ House Votes to Strip ACORN of Federal Funding]

{{Liberalism}}

{{Liberalism}}