Changes

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.  

==Causes==

==Voter Fraud==

[[File:ACORN.jpg|right]]

[[File:ACORN.jpg|right]]

:{{See also|Ballot harvesting}}

:{{See also|Ballot harvesting}}

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===

* The Wall Street Journal noted: “In Ohio in 2004, a worker for one affiliate was given crack cocaine in exchange for fraudulent registrations that included underage voters, dead [[voters]] and pillars of the community named Mary Poppins, Dick Tracy and Jive Turkey. During a [[congressional]] hearing in Ohio in the aftermath of the 2004 election, officials from several counties in the state explained ACORN’s practice of dumping thousands of registration forms in their lap on the submission deadline, even though the forms had been collected months earlier.” Acorn workers have been convicted of fraud in Wisconsin and Colorado.<ref>[https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB116251922202112150 The Acorn Indictments], [[Wall Street Journal]]</ref>

* The Wall Street Journal noted: “In Ohio in 2004, a worker for one affiliate was given crack cocaine in exchange for fraudulent registrations that included underage voters, dead [[voters]] and pillars of the community named Mary Poppins, Dick Tracy and Jive Turkey. During a [[congressional]] hearing in Ohio in the aftermath of the 2004 election, officials from several counties in the state explained ACORN’s practice of dumping thousands of registration forms in their lap on the submission deadline, even though the forms had been collected months earlier.” Acorn workers have been convicted of fraud in Wisconsin and Colorado.<ref>[https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB116251922202112150 The Acorn Indictments], [[Wall Street Journal]]</ref>

* In 2004, ACORN registered illegal immigrant Nuradin Abdi. He was the suspected Ohio shopping mall bomb plotter from Somalia, according to the Columbus Dispatch.<ref>[https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/minutemen_illegal_voting/2008/10/30/145903.html Minutemen Muster Nationally to Foil Illegal Voting] [[NewsMax]], October 30, 2008</ref>

* In 2004, ACORN registered illegal immigrant Nuradin Abdi. He was the suspected Ohio shopping mall bomb plotter from Somalia, according to the Columbus Dispatch.<ref>[https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/minutemen_illegal_voting/2008/10/30/145903.html Minutemen Muster Nationally to Foil Illegal Voting] [[NewsMax]], October 30, 2008</ref>

====2008 presidential elections====

===2008 presidential elections===

When ACORN was questioned regarding their tactics, they reply with an attack of their own, [[voter suppression]]. Teresa James, an attorney for ACORN affiliate Project Vote says, "they don't have the resources," to catch all fraud. However, ACORN has the money to air commercials nationwide. In it, blaming racism and vote suppression, not ACORN.<ref>[http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/stories/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/122345478771640.xml&coll=2 Voter-registration can't be totally fraud-free, group says], [[The Plain Dealer]], October 08, 2008</ref>

When ACORN was questioned regarding their tactics, they reply with an attack of their own, [[voter suppression]]. Teresa James, an attorney for ACORN affiliate Project Vote says, "they don't have the resources," to catch all fraud. However, ACORN has the money to air commercials nationwide. In it, blaming racism and vote suppression, not ACORN.<ref>[http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/stories/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/122345478771640.xml&coll=2 Voter-registration can't be totally fraud-free, group says], [[The Plain Dealer]], October 08, 2008</ref>

ACORN has held frequent rallies in support of amnesty for [[illegal immigrants]] and against enforcement-only bills for dealing with the illegal immigration problem.  According to their official website they list four demands on immigration, the first of which is "A path to citizenship for the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States" (in other words, amnesty).<ref>[http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=16966 ACORN official website position on illegal immigration]</ref>  

ACORN has held frequent rallies in support of amnesty for [[illegal immigrants]] and against enforcement-only bills for dealing with the illegal immigration problem.  According to their official website they list four demands on immigration, the first of which is "A path to citizenship for the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States" (in other words, amnesty).<ref>[http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=16966 ACORN official website position on illegal immigration]</ref>  

===Hostility to capitalism===

==Marxism==

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.  

{{quotation|One is hard-pressed to find in the organization's many antipoverty initiatives any programs that address social dysfunctions like illegitimacy and single parenthood. Instead, as Acorn's executive director, Steven Kest, said several years ago, "We are more focused on [[corporate responsibility|irresponsible behavior]] in the corporate sector. I don't think [illegitimacy] comes anywhere close to the irresponsible behavior of people running the largest businesses in this country."<ref name=squash/> }}

{{quotation|One is hard-pressed to find in the organization's many antipoverty initiatives any programs that address social dysfunctions like illegitimacy and single parenthood. Instead, as Acorn's executive director, Steven Kest, said several years ago, "We are more focused on [[corporate responsibility|irresponsible behavior]] in the corporate sector. I don't think [illegitimacy] comes anywhere close to the irresponsible behavior of people running the largest businesses in this country."<ref name=squash/> }}

====Alleged 'consumer advocacy'====

===Alleged 'consumer advocacy'===

As of 2006, Acorn operated in more than 100 cities with a national budget of $37 million.<ref name=squash /> Also, chapters in 700 poor neighborhoods with dues-paying members exceeding 120,000.<ref name="ACORN’s Nutty Regime for Cities"/> Despite what is stated on its official website (''"To maintain independence, ACORN does not accept government funding and is not tax exempt"'' <ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081002063115/http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=12342 Who is ACORN?]</ref>), ACORN takes in 40 percent of its revenues from American taxpayers under the guise of consumer advocacy and has leveraged nearly four decades of government subsidies to fund affiliates that promote the welfare state and undermine capitalism and self-reliance.  The rest of its' money coming from left-wing heavyweights like billionaire [[George Soros]] and the [[Democracy Alliance]].<ref>[http://www.nypost.com/seven/10082008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/the_pro_barack_vote_fraud_drive_132618.htm?page=0 THE PRO-BARACK VOTE-FRAUD DRIVE] [[New York Post]], October 8, 2008</ref>

As of 2006, Acorn operated in more than 100 cities with a national budget of $37 million.<ref name=squash /> Also, chapters in 700 poor neighborhoods with dues-paying members exceeding 120,000.<ref name="ACORN’s Nutty Regime for Cities"/> Despite what is stated on its official website (''"To maintain independence, ACORN does not accept government funding and is not tax exempt"'' <ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081002063115/http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=12342 Who is ACORN?]</ref>), ACORN takes in 40 percent of its revenues from American taxpayers under the guise of consumer advocacy and has leveraged nearly four decades of government subsidies to fund affiliates that promote the welfare state and undermine capitalism and self-reliance.  The rest of its' money coming from left-wing heavyweights like billionaire [[George Soros]] and the [[Democracy Alliance]].<ref>[http://www.nypost.com/seven/10082008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/the_pro_barack_vote_fraud_drive_132618.htm?page=0 THE PRO-BARACK VOTE-FRAUD DRIVE] [[New York Post]], October 8, 2008</ref>

====Campaign to establish a 'living wage'====

===Campaign to establish a 'living wage'===

According to [[Steven Malanga]], a contributing editor at ''[[City Journal]]'', the "[[living wage]]" is the group's most successful local issue.<ref name=squash/>

According to [[Steven Malanga]], a contributing editor at ''[[City Journal]]'', the "[[living wage]]" is the group's most successful local issue.<ref name=squash/>