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The '''Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now''' ('''ACORN''') is the name of an umbrella group with offices under various names through the [[United States]].  These [[left-wing]] activist groups describe themselves in various cities as 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. The group purports to advocate higher minimum wages, access to affordable housing and increased voter registration in low-income communities, though many charge that they often focused on voter registration in swing political states like Ohio.   

The '''Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now''' ('''ACORN''') is the name of an umbrella group with offices under various names through the [[United States]].  These [[left-wing]] activist groups describe themselves in various cities as 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. The group purports to advocate higher minimum wages, access to affordable housing and increased voter registration in low-income communities, though many charge that they often focused on voter registration in swing political states like Ohio.   

ACORN was founded in [[Arkansas]] in 1970 by [[Wade Rathke]], a veteran of the [[Maoist]] oriented [[Students for a Democratic Society]] (SDS).  [[Bill Clinton]] helped promote the group in Arkansas across the nation in support his election bids. The group is famous for its institutionalized corruption.  From 1992 to 2004, [[Barack 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 Organization was one of the biggest supporters of the [[Occupy Wall Street]]-movement.  Some conservatives targeted ACORN 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, [[National Review]]</ref>

ACORN was founded in [[Arkansas]] in 1970 by [[Wade Rathke]], a veteran of the [[Maoist]] oriented [[Students for a Democratic Society]] (SDS).  [[Bill Clinton]] helped promote the group in Arkansas in the 1970s and 1980s and across the nation in the 1990s to support his election bids. The group is famous for its institutionalized corruption.  From 1992 to 2004, [[Barack 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 Organization was one of the biggest supporters of the [[Occupy Wall Street]]-movement.  Some conservatives targeted ACORN 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, [[National Review]]</ref>

working "to take over the system from within, rather than futilely try to overthrow it from without."<ref name=kurtz-inside-2>[http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NDZiMjkwMDczZWI5ODdjOWYxZTIzZGIyNzEyMjE0ODI=&w=MQ== Kurtz, page 2]</ref>  

working "to take over the system from within, rather than futilely try to overthrow it from without."<ref name=kurtz-inside-2>[http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NDZiMjkwMDczZWI5ODdjOWYxZTIzZGIyNzEyMjE0ODI=&w=MQ== Kurtz, page 2]</ref>