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[[File:ACORN.jpg|right]]

[[File:ACORN.jpg|right]]

The '''Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now''' ('''ACORN''') is a [[left-wing]] activist group supposedly geared to helping the poor achieve jobs and control over their communities. Founded in Arkansas in 1970, ACORN advocates for higher minimum wages, access to affordable housing and increased voter registration in low-income communities.   

The '''Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now''' ('''ACORN''') is a [[left-wing]] activist group supposedly ''"a non-profit, non-partisan social justice organization"'' <ref>[http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=12342 ACORN website]</ref> geared to helping the poor achieve jobs and control over their communities. Founded in Arkansas in 1970, ACORN advocates for higher minimum wages, access to affordable housing and increased voter registration in low-income communities.   

ACORN has been a top target for conservatives because of its liberal agenda. Stanley Kurtz calls it "the largest radical group in America,"<ref name=kurtz-inside> [http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NDZiMjkwMDczZWI5ODdjOWYxZTIzZGIyNzEyMjE0ODI= Inside Obama’s Acorn: By their fruits ye shall know them] - Stanley Kurtz</ref>

ACORN has been a top target for conservatives because of its liberal agenda. Stanley Kurtz calls it "the largest radical group in America,"<ref name=kurtz-inside> [http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NDZiMjkwMDczZWI5ODdjOWYxZTIzZGIyNzEyMjE0ODI= Inside Obama’s Acorn: By their fruits ye shall know them] - Stanley Kurtz</ref>

From 1992 to 2004, [[Barack Hussein Obama]] ran leadership training sessions<ref>[http://www.socialpolicy.org/index.php?id=838 Case Study: Chicago-The Barack Obama Campaign], By Toni Foulkes, ''Social Policy'', Winter 2003, Vol. 34, No. 2 Spring 2004, Vol. 34, No. 3.</ref> and served as an attorney for the group in Chicago. The group has been accused of dispensing advice on how to set up a prostitution ring involving more than a dozen underage illegal immigrant girls,<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/10/acorn.prostitution/ ACORN workers caught on tape allegedly advising on prostitution], ''[[CNN]]'', September 11, 2009.</ref> among other illegal activities.

From 1992 to 2004, [[Barack Hussein Obama]] ran leadership training sessions<ref>[http://www.socialpolicy.org/index.php?id=838 Case Study: Chicago-The Barack Obama Campaign], By Toni Foulkes, ''Social Policy'', Winter 2003, Vol. 34, No. 2 Spring 2004, Vol. 34, No. 3.</ref> and served as an attorney for the group in Chicago. The group has been accused of dispensing advice on how to set up a prostitution ring involving more than a dozen underage illegal immigrant girls,<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/10/acorn.prostitution/ ACORN workers caught on tape allegedly advising on prostitution], ''[[CNN]]'', September 11, 2009.</ref> among other illegal activities.

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>

[[File:ACORN banner.jpg|right]]

ACORN was founded by organizers of [[Saul Alinsky]]'s Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) <ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15363 Obama, ACORN, and the churches] SperoNews, October 7, 2008</ref>.

==Harassment of corporations==

George Wiley's community organization, National Welfare Rights Organization, forged an army of tens of thousands of single minority mothers. His aim: to flood the welfare system with so many clients that it would burst, creating a crisis that, he believed, would force a radical restructuring of [[America]]’s unjust capitalist economy. The flooding succeeded beyond Wiley’s wildest dreams. Wiley then sent one of his young lieutenants, Wade Rathke, to Little Rock, Arkansas, to launch a new community-organizing group: ACORN. At that time, ACORN stood for the Arkansas Community Organizations for Reform Now. Rathke expanded it into a national organization replacing Arkansas with Association. Their ''People's Platform'' reads, “We will continue our fight . . . until we have shared the wealth, until we have won our freedom . . . . We have nothing to show for the work of our hand, the tax of our labor.” <ref>[http://www.city-journal.org/html/13_2_acorns_nutty_regime.html ACORN’s Nutty Regime for Cities] City-journal.org, 2003</ref>

{{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/> }}

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>[http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/acorn_missing_money/2008/10/17/141481.html Missing ACORN Funds Spark Lawsuit, Power Struggle] AP, October 17, 2008</ref>

==Campaign to establish a "living wage"==

ACORN currently considers itself the nation’s largest community organization.  It is 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>

"Unfortunately, instead of helping workers, Acorn’s [[living-wage]] campaigns drive businesses out of the very neighborhoods where jobs are needed most."<ref name=kurtz-inside />

==Claims and ties==

==Public relations==

===Barack Obama===

It is, according to their [[website]], ''"a non-profit, non-partisan social justice organization"'' [http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=12342], yet has been mired in the controversy connected with the collapse of mortgage giants [[Fannie Mae]] and [[Freddie Mac]] in the fall of 2008.

Tom DeLay writing for the Washington Times says "Organizations like [[America Votes]] and ACORN are so closely tied to Democrat politics that they might as well be arms of the party apparatus." <ref>[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/nov/05/the-democrats-shadow-party/ DELAY: The Democrats' Shadow Party] Washington Times, November 5, 2008</ref>

===Cover story===

===2010 United States census===

ACORN was created as a community organization responsible for registering voters and soliciting donations.  

In March 2009, it was disclosed that ACORN would play a role in 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/2009/03/17/lawmakers-concerned-role-acorn-census/</ref>

==Claims and ties==

==Causes==

The group considers itself the nation’s largest community organization and has the full support of then [[Democratic]] Presidential candidate [[Barack Obama]]. ACORN is 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>

===Campaign to establish a "living wage"===

"Though Acorn touts living-wage laws as a way to lift the [[working poor]] into the [[middle class]], the vast body of academic work on [[wage laws]] shows that they end up hurting the poor by forcing businesses to eliminate some [[low-wage jobs]]. Acorn's own leadership understands this principle perfectly. When California regulators sued Acorn for not paying its own workers the minimum wage, Acorn argued that this would endanger its mission—because it would have to hire fewer workers."<ref name=squash>[http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/_wsj-acorn_squash.htm Manhattan Institute]]</ref>

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

"Unfortunately, instead of helping workers, Acorn’s [[living-wage]] campaigns drive businesses out of the very neighborhoods where jobs are needed most."<ref name=kurtz-inside />

George Wiley's community organization, National Welfare Rights Organization, forged an army of tens of thousands of single minority mothers. His aim: to flood the welfare system with so many clients that it would burst, creating a crisis that, he believed, would force a radical restructuring of [[America]]’s unjust capitalist economy. The flooding succeeded beyond Wiley’s wildest dreams. Wiley then sent one of his young lieutenants, Wade Rathke, to Little Rock, Arkansas, to launch a new community-organizing group: ACORN. At that time, ACORN stood for the Arkansas Community Organizations for Reform Now. Rathke expanded it into a national organization replacing Arkansas with Association. Their ''People's Platform'' reads, “We will continue our fight . . . until we have shared the wealth, until we have won our freedom . . . . We have nothing to show for the work of our hand, the tax of our labor.” <ref>[http://www.city-journal.org/html/13_2_acorns_nutty_regime.html ACORN’s Nutty Regime for Cities] City-journal.org, 2003</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>[http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/acorn_missing_money/2008/10/17/141481.html Missing ACORN Funds Spark Lawsuit, Power Struggle] AP, October 17, 2008</ref>

"Though Acorn touts living-wage laws as a way to lift the [[working poor]] into the [[middle class]], the vast body of academic work on [[wage laws]] shows that they end up hurting the poor by forcing businesses to eliminate some [[low-wage jobs]]. Acorn's own leadership understands this principle perfectly. When California regulators sued Acorn for not paying its own workers the minimum wage, Acorn argued that this would endanger its mission—because it would have to hire fewer workers."<ref name=squash>[http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/_wsj-acorn_squash.htm Manhattan Institute]]</ref>

==Consumer advocacy==

===Consumer advocacy===

Acorn now operates in more than 100 cities with a national budget of $37 million. <ref>[http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/_wsj-acorn_squash.htm Acorn Squash] WSJ, August 26, 2006</ref> Also, chapters in 700 poor neighborhoods with dues-paying members exceeding 120,000. <ref>[http://www.city-journal.org/html/13_2_acorns_nutty_regime.html ACORN’s Nutty Regime for Cities] City-journal.org, 2003</ref> Despite what is stated on its official website (''"To maintain independence, ACORN does not accept government funding and is not tax exempt"'' [http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=12342]), this left-wing [[liberal]] group 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] NY Post, October 8, 2008</ref>

Acorn now operates in more than 100 cities with a national budget of $37 million. <ref>[http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/_wsj-acorn_squash.htm Acorn Squash] WSJ, August 26, 2006</ref> Also, chapters in 700 poor neighborhoods with dues-paying members exceeding 120,000. <ref>[http://www.city-journal.org/html/13_2_acorns_nutty_regime.html ACORN’s Nutty Regime for Cities] City-journal.org, 2003</ref> Despite what is stated on its official website (''"To maintain independence, ACORN does not accept government funding and is not tax exempt"'' [http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=12342]), this left-wing [[liberal]] group 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] NY Post, October 8, 2008</ref>

==Support for gun control and illegal immigration==

===Support for gun control and illegal immigration===

ACORN legally intervened in an unsuccessful attempt to defend Jersey City, [[New Jersey]]'s local [[gun control]] ordinance, which was struck down December 13, 2006 in New Jersey state court as a violation of state law pre-empting stronger local gun ordinances.<ref>http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1166448999875 "N.J. Judge Voids City's Gun Control Law", Charles Toutant, ''New Jersey Law Journal'', December 20, 2006</ref>

ACORN legally intervened in an unsuccessful attempt to defend Jersey City, [[New Jersey]]'s local [[gun control]] ordinance, which was struck down December 13, 2006 in New Jersey state court as a violation of state law pre-empting stronger local gun ordinances.<ref>http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1166448999875 "N.J. Judge Voids City's Gun Control Law", Charles Toutant, ''New Jersey Law Journal'', December 20, 2006</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>  

==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. 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>[http://www.city-journal.org/html/13_2_acorns_nutty_regime.html ACORN’s Nutty Regime for Cities] City-journal.org, 2003</ref> 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>[http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/_wsj-acorn_squash.htm Acorn Squash] Wall Street Journal, August 26, 2006</ref> 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 real intentions is to help its public-sector union allies. ACORN argues for the "Living-wage." By artificially raising the cost of outsourcing until it is just as costly as work done by government employees, "the living-wage undercuts the incentive to privatize." This is a tactic used against Wal-Mart preventing the opening of stores in low-income Chicago neighborhoods. ACORN's living-wage campaign is more likely to benefit unions than the poor. <ref>[http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/_wsj-acorn_squash.htm Acorn Squash] Wall Street Journal, August 26, 2006</ref>

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>[http://www.city-journal.org/html/13_2_acorns_nutty_regime.html ACORN’s Nutty Regime for Cities] City-journal.org, 2003</ref> 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>[http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/_wsj-acorn_squash.htm Acorn Squash] Wall Street Journal, August 26, 2006</ref> 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 real intentions is to help its public-sector union allies. ACORN argues for the "Living-wage." By artificially raising the cost of outsourcing until it is just as costly as work done by government employees, "the living-wage undercuts the incentive to privatize." This is a tactic used against Wal-Mart preventing the opening of stores in low-income Chicago neighborhoods. ACORN's living-wage campaign is more likely to benefit unions than the poor. <ref>[http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/_wsj-acorn_squash.htm Acorn Squash] Wall Street Journal, August 26, 2006</ref>

==Subprime mortgage lending crisis==

{{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/> }}

 

 

==Connections to the subprime mortgage crisis==

:''Main article : [[Financial crisis of 2008]]''

:''Main article : [[Financial crisis of 2008]]''

In 1991 ACORN took over the House Banking Committee room for two days to protest efforts to scale back the Community Redevelopment Act (CRA). ACORN was the driving force behind a 1995 regulatory revision pushed through by the [[Clinton Administration]] that greatly expanded the CRA and laid the groundwork for the [[Fannie Mae]], [[Freddie Mac]] borne [[financial crisis of 2008]].  [[Barack Obama]] was the attorney representing ACORN in this effort. With this new authority, ACORN used its subsidiary, ACORN Housing, to promote subprime loans more aggressively.  As a ''[[New York Post]]'' article describes it:

In 1991 ACORN took over the House Banking Committee room for two days to protest efforts to scale back the Community Redevelopment Act (CRA). ACORN was the driving force behind a 1995 regulatory revision pushed through by the [[Clinton Administration]] that greatly expanded the CRA and laid the groundwork for the [[Fannie Mae]], [[Freddie Mac]] borne [[financial crisis of 2008]].  [[Barack Obama]] was the attorney representing ACORN in this effort. With this new authority, ACORN used its subsidiary, ACORN Housing, to promote subprime loans more aggressively.  As a ''[[New York Post]]'' article describes it:

==Barack Obama==

===Prostitution===

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>[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/10/obama-camp-downplays-ACORN-payments/ Obama camp downplays ACORN payments] Washington Times, October 10, 2008</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.

In Sept. 2009 FoxNEWS showed videos of ACORN workers in several cities, including New York, Baltimore and Washington, giving advice to two conservative investigators who posed as a prostitute and her pimp and 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.  

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>[http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=37232 De-Fund ACORN, Republican Leader Insists] CNSNews, October 10, 2008</ref> 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..."

===Voter Fraud===

 

==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.

===Past Issues===

====Past Issues====

* 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>http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009189</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>http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009189</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>[http://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>[http://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 is 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], Plain Dealer, October 08, 2008</ref>

When ACORN is 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], Plain Dealer, October 08, 2008</ref>

*The [[New York Times]] admitted in May 2009, that prior to the presidential election it killed a story involving corruption allegations with Acorn that might have hurt the Obama presidential campaign. The admission came from a column by Clark Hoyt, where he describe the allegations against the Obama campaign and Acorn as "nonsense." <ref>[http://spectator.org/blog/2009/05/18/new-york-times-finally-admits New York Times Finally Admits It Spiked Obama/ACORN Corruption Story]. The American Spectator May 18, 2009</ref>

*The [[New York Times]] admitted in May 2009, that prior to the presidential election it killed a story involving corruption allegations with Acorn that might have hurt the Obama presidential campaign. The admission came from a column by Clark Hoyt, where he describe the allegations against the Obama campaign and Acorn as "nonsense." <ref>[http://spectator.org/blog/2009/05/18/new-york-times-finally-admits New York Times Finally Admits It Spiked Obama/ACORN Corruption Story]. The American Spectator May 18, 2009</ref>

===FBI Investigation===

===FBI Investigation===

The FBI plans to investigate the group. "It's a matter we take very seriously," FBI spokeswoman Bridget Patton told the Associated Press. "It is against the law to register someone to vote who does not fall within the parameters to vote, or to put someone on there falsely." <ref>[http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=37232 De-Fund ACORN, Republican Leader Insists] CNSNews, October 10, 2008</ref>

The FBI plans to investigate the group. "It's a matter we take very seriously," FBI spokeswoman Bridget Patton told the Associated Press. "It is against the law to register someone to vote who does not fall within the parameters to vote, or to put someone on there falsely." <ref>[http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=37232 De-Fund ACORN, Republican Leader Insists] CNSNews, October 10, 2008</ref>

It was believed that ACORN has helped register over 1.27 million people nationwide. Michael Slater, executive director of Project Vote, told the [[New York Times]] that the real number of newly registered [[voters]] is closer to 450,000. About 400,000 registrations were rejected by election officials for a variety of reasons including fraud. <ref>[http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/acorn_numbers_exaggerated/2008/10/24/143773.html ACORN Numbers Vastly Exaggerated] NewsMax, October 24, 2008</ref>

It was believed that ACORN has helped register over 1.27 million people nationwide. Michael Slater, executive director of Project Vote, told the [[New York Times]] that the real number of newly registered [[voters]] is closer to 450,000. About 400,000 registrations were rejected by election officials for a variety of reasons including fraud. <ref>[http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/acorn_numbers_exaggerated/2008/10/24/143773.html ACORN Numbers Vastly Exaggerated] NewsMax, October 24, 2008</ref>

==Civil Suit==

===Civil Suit===

An Ohio civil suit filed by Buckeye Institute against ACORN and its Project Vote operation alleges that Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is regularly advised by ACORN on election strategy, and deprives voters “of the right to participate in an honest and effective elections process.” <ref>[http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/brunner_acorn/2009/02/19/183402.html Senate Candidate Brunner is ACORN Loyalist] NewsMax, February 19, 2009</ref>

An Ohio civil suit filed by Buckeye Institute against ACORN and its Project Vote operation alleges that Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is regularly advised by ACORN on election strategy, and deprives voters “of the right to participate in an honest and effective elections process.” <ref>[http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/brunner_acorn/2009/02/19/183402.html Senate Candidate Brunner is ACORN Loyalist] NewsMax, February 19, 2009</ref>

==ACORN 8==

===Defunding===

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>

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>[http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=37232 De-Fund ACORN, Republican Leader Insists] CNSNews, October 10, 2008</ref> 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]

 

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>

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]</ref>  MonCrief has set up a blog <ref>[http://www.anitamoncrief.blogspot.com/ Anita MonCrief]</ref> and Twitter account <ref> [http://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>

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>

 

In March 2009, it was disclosed that ACORN would play a role in 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/2009/03/17/lawmakers-concerned-role-acorn-census/</ref>  

 

==Tarnished Reputation==

===Name change===

Due to all the conservative press ACORN gets for fraud, Wade Rathke has approved changing their name to 'Community Organizations International'. <ref>[http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/ACORN-drops-tarnished-name-and-moves-to-silence-critics-48730537.html ACORN drops tarnished name and moves to silence critics] Washington Examiner, June 21, 2009</ref>

Due to all the conservative press ACORN gets for fraud, Wade Rathke has approved changing their name to 'Community Organizations International'. <ref>[http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/ACORN-drops-tarnished-name-and-moves-to-silence-critics-48730537.html ACORN drops tarnished name and moves to silence critics] Washington Examiner, June 21, 2009</ref>

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