Changes

In 2008, a lawsuit filed in August by two board members accuses ACORN founder and former chief organizer Wade Rathke of either concealing or failing to properly report that his brother Dale embezzled around $948,000 from [[New Orleans]]-based ACORN and affiliated charitable organizations in 1999 and 2000.<ref>[https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/acorn_missing_money/2008/10/17/141481.html Missing ACORN Funds Spark Lawsuit, Power Struggle] AP, October 17, 2008</ref>  Upon learning of the actions of Dale Rathke, ACORN received an anonymous donation of $1 million to cover the difference and keep ACORN functioning.  It was later learned that the donation came from Drummond Pike, the head of the [[Tides Foundation]] which is known for laundering money to left wing causes.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/us/17acorn.html Head of Foundation Bailed Out Nonprofit Group After Its Funds Were Embezzled], [[The New York Times]]</ref><ref>[http://netrightdaily.com/2012/07/how-tides-washes-the-lefts-money/ How Tides Washes the Left's Money]</ref>

In 2008, a lawsuit filed in August by two board members accuses ACORN founder and former chief organizer Wade Rathke of either concealing or failing to properly report that his brother Dale embezzled around $948,000 from [[New Orleans]]-based ACORN and affiliated charitable organizations in 1999 and 2000.<ref>[https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/acorn_missing_money/2008/10/17/141481.html Missing ACORN Funds Spark Lawsuit, Power Struggle] AP, October 17, 2008</ref>  Upon learning of the actions of Dale Rathke, ACORN received an anonymous donation of $1 million to cover the difference and keep ACORN functioning.  It was later learned that the donation came from Drummond Pike, the head of the [[Tides Foundation]] which is known for laundering money to left wing causes.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/us/17acorn.html Head of Foundation Bailed Out Nonprofit Group After Its Funds Were Embezzled], [[The New York Times]]</ref><ref>[http://netrightdaily.com/2012/07/how-tides-washes-the-lefts-money/ How Tides Washes the Left's Money]</ref>

ACORN considered itself the nation’s largest community organization.  It was a partner of the [[liberal]] coalition [[America Votes]].<ref>[http://www.americavotes.org/site/partner_summaries/ America Votes - Partners]</ref> American Votes is a coalition member of the [[Shadow Party]].<ref>[http://www.discoverthenetworks.com Discover The Networks]</ref>

ACORN considered itself the nation's largest community organization.  It was a partner of the [[liberal]] coalition [[America Votes]].<ref>[http://www.americavotes.org/site/partner_summaries/ America Votes - Partners]</ref> American Votes is a coalition member of the [[Shadow Party]].<ref>[http://www.discoverthenetworks.com Discover The Networks]</ref>

==Ties==

==Ties==

===Barack Obama===

===Barack Obama===

Liberal lawyer Sandy Newman founded Project Vote, a 501(c)(3) organization, to register voters in welfare offices and unemployment lines with the explicit goal of turning back the Reagan revolution. Newman hired Obama in 1992 to lead Project Vote efforts in [[Illinois]]. The effort's motto: "It's a Power Thing." Under Obama's leadership, he trained ACORN members in Chicago. According to ACORN, Obama trained its [[Chicago]] members in leadership seminars; in turn, ACORN volunteers worked on his campaigns. Obama also sat on the boards of the Woods Fund (with [[William Ayers]]) and the Joyce Foundation, both of which poured money into ACORN’s coffers. In 1996, Project Vote's tax returns show it paid ACORN more than $4.6 million for campaign services and Citizens Services more than $779,000 for legal and administrative services.<ref name="Obama camp downplays ACORN payments">[https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/10/obama-camp-downplays-ACORN-payments/ Obama camp downplays ACORN payments], [[Washington Times]], October 10, 2008</ref>

Liberal lawyer Sandy Newman founded Project Vote, a 501(c)(3) organization, to register voters in welfare offices and unemployment lines with the explicit goal of turning back the Reagan revolution. Newman hired Obama in 1992 to lead Project Vote efforts in [[Illinois]]. The effort's motto: "It's a Power Thing." Under Obama's leadership, he trained ACORN members in Chicago. According to ACORN, Obama trained its [[Chicago]] members in leadership seminars; in turn, ACORN volunteers worked on his campaigns. Obama also sat on the boards of the Woods Fund (with [[William Ayers]]) and the Joyce Foundation, both of which poured money into ACORN's coffers. In 1996, Project Vote's tax returns show it paid ACORN more than $4.6 million for campaign services and Citizens Services more than $779,000 for legal and administrative services.<ref name="Obama camp downplays ACORN payments">[https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/10/obama-camp-downplays-ACORN-payments/ Obama camp downplays ACORN payments], [[Washington Times]], October 10, 2008</ref>

Federal Election Commission reports show ACORN-affiliated Citizens Services Inc. got $832,598 from the Obama campaign for get-out-the-vote work during the primaries.<ref name="Obama camp downplays ACORN payments"/>

Federal Election Commission reports show ACORN-affiliated Citizens Services Inc. got $832,598 from the Obama campaign for get-out-the-vote work during the primaries.<ref name="Obama camp downplays ACORN payments"/>

===Hostility to big businesses===

===Hostility to big businesses===

ACORN opts for undisguised [[authoritarian]] [[socialism]], as when it proposes that “large companies which desire to leave the community” be forced to obtain “an exit visa from the community board signifying that the company has adequately compensated all its employees and the community at large for losses due to relocation." ACORN promotes ideas like “sustainable development,” which would limit the growth of suburbs—so businesses and individuals can’t flee just beyond the city limits.  

ACORN opts for undisguised [[authoritarian]] [[socialism]], as when it proposes that “large companies which desire to leave the community” be forced to obtain “an exit visa from the community board signifying that the company has adequately compensated all its employees and the community at large for losses due to relocation." ACORN promotes ideas like “sustainable development,” which would limit the growth of suburbs—so businesses and individuals can't flee just beyond the city limits.  

One of ACORN's highest targets is big businesses, dubbing them, “irresponsible.” This means any financial institutions that supposedly hinder the minority poor from getting the capital needed for home buying and business start-ups.<ref name="ACORN’s Nutty Regime for Cities"/> ACORN strongarms financial institutions into to providing risky loans to the undeserving. In 1998, Acorn activists disrupted Federal Reserve hearings on the proposed Citicorp merger with Travelers and then later protested Citigroup's acquisition of Associates First Capital Corp. Eventually Citigroup signed an agreement to provide mortgages through Acorn counseling centers, including home loans to undocumented aliens in California.<ref name=squash /> They protest and picket banks mergers until they are paid off. The banks see it as the cost of doing business.  

One of ACORN's highest targets is big businesses, dubbing them, “irresponsible.” This means any financial institutions that supposedly hinder the minority poor from getting the capital needed for home buying and business start-ups.<ref name="ACORN’s Nutty Regime for Cities"/> ACORN strongarms financial institutions into to providing risky loans to the undeserving. In 1998, Acorn activists disrupted Federal Reserve hearings on the proposed Citicorp merger with Travelers and then later protested Citigroup's acquisition of Associates First Capital Corp. Eventually Citigroup signed an agreement to provide mortgages through Acorn counseling centers, including home loans to undocumented aliens in California.<ref name=squash /> They protest and picket banks mergers until they are paid off. The banks see it as the cost of doing business.  

===Voter Fraud===

===Voter Fraud===

[[File:ACORN VOTER FRAUD.JPG|right|275px|thumb|Key: States in red where ACORN has been investigated for voter fraud.]]

[[File:ACORN VOTER FRAUD.JPG|right|275px|thumb|Key: States in red where ACORN has been investigated for voter fraud.]]

ACORN tactics are starting to reveal a pattern of unethical behavior across the country and they have been implicated in voter fraud schemes in [[Missouri]], [[Ohio]] and at least 12 other states. The group’s [[vandalism]] on electoral integrity is systemic.

ACORN tactics are starting to reveal a pattern of unethical behavior across the country and they have been implicated in voter fraud schemes in [[Missouri]], [[Ohio]] and at least 12 other states. The group's [[vandalism]] on electoral integrity is systemic.

====2004 elections====

====2004 elections====