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* After three Illinois legislators last week demanded a halt to state funding for ACORN and a full investigation by the attorney general’s office, I called the governor’s office to see if the state was funding the group in any way.
The group apparently disbanded its Illinois chapter last year, and the guv’s office found nothing by way of Illinois grants or contracts. According to Doug Finke, the comptroller’s office came up empty as well…
The comptroller’s office handles state contracts and payments made under those contracts. It can’t find any payments made to ACORN going back two years.
The same information was readily available to any of those GOP lawmakers, of course. But, hey, it’s so much more fun to make insinuations, especially when there’s a chance to embarrass your political opposition.
* But it gets worse, if you can believe it. Sometime late Friday afternoon, state Sen. Kirk Dillard’s gubernatorial campaign sent out a press release with a gigantic headline. Somehow, I missed it until early this morning while I was searching my in-box for something else…
DILLARD CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE EXECUTIVE ORDER BANNING STATE FUNDS TO ACORN
LISLE, Ill- State Senator Kirk Dillard, Republican gubernatorial candidate, today called on Governor Quinn to issue an immediate Executive Order banning state funds to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). Recent news accounts show ACORN employees illegally misusing state tax dollars:
“Governor Quinn should issue an immediate Executive Order to ban state funds to ACORN until the Illinois Attorney General has conducted a full investigation on all ACORN practices.
“We should not be spending tax dollars to fund an organization like ACORN which continues to violate the public’s trust at a time when our state is in a budget crisis.”
Emphasis was added by me because I can’t find any “recent news accounts” showing that the group has illegally misused state tax dollars. Well, not this state’s tax dollars anyway.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 9:15 am
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Somehow the phrase “Earth to national media: get a clue” seems to apply here too. Goes for state media also.
And the way Dillard’s release is written it’s clear he’s talking about Illinois despite the lack of evidence for his claims.
Sounds familiar coming from Republicans on this issue: from California/Schwarzenegger to Minnesota/Pawlenty to Louisiana/Jindal to here.
Comment by Rob_N Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 9:33 am
And I call on Mayor Daley to stop all city funds from reaching ACORN!!! This is just an outrage!!!!!
If I put more exclamation marks, will the national media pay as much attention to me as they do these crackpot Republican Governors and wannabes?!!!!!!
Comment by Chicago Cynic Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 9:36 am
I’m starting to realize that whenever the far right get it’s panties in a bunch, the issue at hand is probably not near as dire as they make it out to be.
Comment by Deep South Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 9:41 am
The sad thing is that Dillard’s press release probably helps him with the knee jerk right wingers.
Comment by Small Town Liberal Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 9:42 am
===I’m starting to realize===
LOL. Good for you, but what took you so long?
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 9:42 am
Like I said last week regarding Illinois - if there is no there, there - move on!
Why is political overkill so popular nowadays?
Joe Wilson says two words, then we hear two weeks worth of emotional bloviating right down to Carter himself. Do these people realize that they destroy any moment for their party when they go hog wild like this?
Now we have the Illinois GOP doing something similar with ACORN. Desperate and stupid.
Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 9:44 am
standard fare for a fund-raising pitch. dillard can definitely build a mail piece out of this, and probably get an above-average roi…
Comment by bored now Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 9:44 am
===standard fare for a fund-raising pitch.===
Yeah, but this was a press release.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 9:47 am
Let me add my name to those calling for cutting off funding to all nuts everywhere.
Comment by perplexed & perturbed Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 9:47 am
ACORN has a local office in Chicago.
Chicago ACORN
4425 Montrose, Suite #8
Chicago, IL 60641
ilacorn@acorn.org
Phone: 773-205-4161
Fax: 773-205-4241
Comment by trafficmatt Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 9:51 am
I am not a Kirk Dillard fan but, in fairness to him, it would seem that Mr. Dillard simply should have inserted the words “any future funding” in his statement regarding ACORN until the organization has been thoroughly investigated. No big deal, just a minor oversight. It is always entertaining in politics as to how we all like “to pile on the other guy” when they make a blooper. Heh-heh
Comment by The Prophet Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 9:53 am
nice to see Acorn getting kicked. in the 90s they did one
protest stunt after another about housing funds in Illinois.
they reap what they sow.
Comment by Amalia Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 9:54 am
Deep South, There’s a difference between “not near as dire as they make it out to be” and “almost completely manufactured”.
The conservative guy who did the videos is named James O’Keefe. He was trained by the conservative Leadership Institute but was asked to leave because they thought earlier videos he made might jeopardize their tax status with the IRS.
Oh, and O’Keefe admitted “he went after ACORN because it registers minorities likely to vote against Republicans” (NY Times quote).
Let’s see… he gets kicked out of the conservatives’ Mecca for media manipulation, the Leadership Institute, because they think he goes too far and he did the creative editing against ACORN because they register minorities to vote.
And if you don’t think O’Keefe had some fun in the editing software, just read the full transcripts (part 1 and 2) and then watch the video.
That’s a real winner Dillard and the GOP Gang are hooking up with.
(And who the heck paid for O’Keefe and his “prostitute” to fly around the country and produce these videos??? Follow the money.)
Comment by Rob_N Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 9:55 am
trafficmatt, as I told somebody else last week, that number is disconnected.
You could’ve called it first before posting it here, y’know.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 9:56 am
Matt says, “ACORN has a local office in Chicago.”
And does it receive state funding. Did O’Keefe use his less-than-truthful creative editing in that office too?
Comment by Rob_N Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 9:56 am
Acorn Housing also has an office in the Sears Tower (strike that - the “Willis” Tower)
CHICAGO
ACORN Housing Corp
209 W. Jackson Blvd, 3rd Fl
Chicago, IL 60606
Phone: (312) 939-1611
Fax: (312) 939-4239
Comment by trafficmatt Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 9:57 am
Rich - it is on their web page. I assume when someone posts it on their web page, it is accurate information.
Comment by trafficmatt Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 9:57 am
Matt, Whether the office exists or not … the question remains: did they get state funding?
And, to rephrase my other question: is this the same ACORN organization that was set up by the conservatives’ James “Fun with Cut and Paste” O’Keefe?
There’s more than one kind of ACORN you know, and they’re separate and distinct organizations no longer related to each other.
Comment by Rob_N Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 10:10 am
The Montrose office is closed. The ACORN housing office down the block from the Sears Tower is indeed a separate entity and has nothing but a stellar record of helping working families in Illinois received first-time homebuyer and foreclosure prevention counseling. No tax advice for pimps here and no reason to cut funding. Several offices turned these folks away immediately, we just aren’t hearing those stories in the media. No need to punish families in Illinois at a time when getting folks a good mortgage that they can afford should be a top priority.
Comment by beth Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 10:14 am
Rob,
I was only responding to the issue of whether or not they have an office.
As to whether or not they are the same ACORN organization that was featured by James O’Keefe (who has put up full transcripts, not a cut and paste), that is a difficult question. Congressman Issa was on with the ACORN CEO this weekend. There are a lot of questions that the Congressman raised regarding the flow of money in between the various ACORN organizations and how they interact. My guess is that VERY few people understand the relationships because, as Congressman Issa outlined, that information has not been made transparent. Whether they are “separate and distinct” is up for debate.
Comment by trafficmatt Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 10:16 am
The really sad thing about Dillard’s press release is that, aside from you Rich, no one will bother doing any fact checking. The average news consumer will run with this and likely repeat it.
Comment by The Intern Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 10:18 am
And it’s not just the Republicans/right-wingers who think ACORN is operating in Illinois. If you run the video posted here last Friday of the idiot from Fox harassing Burris, you’ll hear Burris explain that he supports “ACORN in Illinois.”
Comment by Anon Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 10:20 am
==I assume when someone posts it on their web page, it is accurate information.==
[Sigh]
Comment by The Doc Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 10:25 am
I believe ACORN is a conglomerate of a bunch of organizations, not just one. If true, and note that “organizations” is part of their title, how do detractors and defenders know whether or not ACORN is receiving state money unless they untangle the web?
And maybe Illinois does need a comprehensive review of who receives grants in the state. There were some pretty shady items (items that wouldn’t sit well with voters) in the capital bill.
Comment by Greg B. Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 10:33 am
It’s pathetic to see all the uproar over ACORN while US continues to send millions of dollars to Halliburton where no “sting” is necessary to discover clear illegality, breach of contract, harm including death of service people overseas. Where is the outrage and Congressional action??
Comment by D.P. Gumby Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 10:38 am
I wonder if Jim Edgar would have done a press release like that without checking.
Comment by Amuzing Myself Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 10:42 am
Here’s what I’m seeing: Two conservative kiddies get the score of the century when they catch ACORN employees, live and on camera, trying to further a complicated web of state and federal felonies. The ACORN employees are dead wrong.
The kiddies go on to lie about what they did, exaggerating their accomplishments and concealing complexities.
Meanwhile, ACORN and its supporters go into a frenzy of trying to attack their attackers, investigating their family (see Media Matters) and associates (they studied at a conservative think-tank).
Neither side is handling this very well.
Comment by Thomas Westgard Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 10:46 am
Matt says, “As to whether or not they are the same ACORN organization that was featured by James O’Keefe (who has put up full transcripts, not a cut and paste), that is a difficult question.”
…As I noted, O’Keefe did put up full transcripts (I even linked to them).
If you read the transcripts it’s abundantly clear that what he cut/pasted and edited down were the videos. And the videos are the things that have everyone in a tizzy.
–
Greg, Yes and no. Several posters on Friday explained that ACORN started out as one entity and from there split into several branches which eventually peeled off into their own separate entities. Think AT&T and baby bells, without the eventual re-consolidation.
–
DP Gumby, Halliburton is supported by conservatives and they don’t “register minorities to vote” as the conservative who produced the anti-ACORN videos (O’Keefe) explained.
Comment by Rob_N Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 10:53 am
PS Matt, whether or not they have an office isn’t the issue.
Republicans are calling for state funding to be cut off … yet no one can find any evidence of any state funding in the first place (let alone evidence of any wrong-doing among any ACORN entities in Illinois).
You can pee on them all you want. Doesn’t mean this particular group deserves it.
Comment by Rob_N Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 10:55 am
That ACORN gets people wound up, doesn’t it? Must be the big government money they get.
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 11:24 am
Word, As explained, it’s not nearly as “big” as the money other groups get from the gubmint.
Comment by Rob_N Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 11:27 am
I’m shocked! Ron Stephens jumped on a band wagon, and helped appointed state senator McCarter climb on board with him.
Comment by Highland, IL Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 11:27 am
==no one will bother doing any fact checking.==
More likely is that no one else will bother reading it.
Comment by Bill Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 11:52 am
All of the HAVA Act of 2002 money has already long been spent, so ACORN found greener pasteurs it looks like. With complete anti-Democratic control in Illinois, ACORN had little left to offer Madigan and the machine and there just wasn’t enough graft money to be tossed around to them from Illinois taxpayers. After Obama’s election, half of the ACRON employees are probably on the federal payroll with an average salary of $114,000 a year for “public outreach” or some other wasteful, useless job. Maybe all the ACORN employees joined the armed forced to help Barack Obama quadruple the troops in Afghanistan that he failed to tell us about during his campaign. I’m sure those ACORN employees are willing to wage real war in support of their President, so ACORN employees must be flooding the military with new recruits to support their President’s war escalation efforts.
Comment by TaxMeMore Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 11:55 am
Rob N–That’s exactly the point, isn’t it. “Have you [they] no sense of shame” Oh, never mind.
Comment by D.P. Gumby Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 12:00 pm
Tax,
I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn and some ocean-front property in Arizona for ya.
Most of the epithets in your post deliver little more than a “huh?” but your claim that Obama didn’t mention a need to re-evaluate Afghanistan is off-the-wall false.
He specifically stated we may need to increase troops there. Gen. McChrystal is on record as recommending just that strategy but the Commander-in-Chief is holding him at bay as Obama also looks at the entire strategy and how best to incorporate the military strategy into it.
Now lay off the coo-coo cool aid.
Comment by Rob_N Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 12:01 pm
That ACORN gets people wound up, doesn’t it? Must be the big government money they get.
I don’t get it either. ACORN has been doing what it has been doing for a generation. For thirty years, most liberal arts graduates have had no problem with what ACORN does and represents. The Democrats have always sent it money - and no one had a problem with it. Over that same period, we went through five Republican presidents and ACORN got funding even during the Gingrich revolution. No one cared about it then.
But they went from being in the background in the inner cities to the front in 2008. That seems to be when they became a public target. With Obama’s public support and small employment role a while back, ACORN leadership seemed to think this was their big moment, and they started getting noticed and making demands. As we see, that didn’t work out very well for them.
If ACORN stayed in the shadows, this wouldn’t probably have happened. Even if these videos surfaced and these issues were brought to the surface, they could have survived if if they didn’t put themselves out there as they did.
As to attacking the video producer and the young lady who went around as pimp and prostitute - that seems to be nothing but attacking the messenger. Since ACORN didn’t police themselves enough, coupled with their growing sense of self-importance, they would have collapsed on their own. Blaming conservatives for doing this is nonsense.
It’s over. The facts are in. Coloring them with political sniping doesn’t change it. You don’t see these kinds of collapse if there wasn’t something ready to collapse within the organization to begin with.
Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 12:37 pm
So is Proft right on this or not?
Somebody has egg on their face about this issue. Was there state funds given to ACORN just last year?
Comment by Is Proft Right? Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 12:45 pm
As usual, Proft is using chicanery and trickery in his releases.
Dillard was correct in calling for a suspension of money to ACORN. The Governor used appropriated money to sent a grant to ACORN. here was no direct appropriation. Now you know why the director of IHDA (a former Blago person) resigned last week and was replaced.
Dillard and Brady did NOT vote to send money to ACORN and Proft knows it.
Comment by 4 percent Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 12:53 pm
Stuff from ten plus years ago. If they aren’t getting any tax money now, they certainly were a decade ago. So what happened with ACORN in Illinois? Did they succeed or fail? Their main focus in Illinois was to get low income people into houses and mortgages from Illinois banks. How did that turn out? Are you ready for the next wave of foreclosures?
“IL ACORN signs an innovative agreement offering reduce cost primary health care benefits to members of ACORN and SEIU Local 880.” - 1999
http://www.acorn.org/index.php?id=12448
“AHC arranged financing for the program through Bell Federal Savings Bank and Fannie Mae. AHC’s relationship with Bell Federal stemmed from ACORN of Illinois’ 1990 campaign to push Chicago banks to expand lending and services to low- and moderate-income areas. In September 1991, after a year of negotiations, Bell Federal agreed to provide $1.75 million in mortgages to individuals referred by AHC housing counselors, and a two-year, $200,000 line of credit for AHC to acquire and rehab homes in Englewood and North Lawndale. In June 1992, Bell Federal and Fannie Mae agreed to provide permanent financing for AHC’s lease-purchase program, and Bell Federal helped AHC convince Fannie Mae to modify the program and recognize alternative payment methods, such as 60 hours of sweat equity towards the downpayment.
…
As of August 1995, 42 homes were occupied and 13 were under construction as part of the homesteader program. No homesteaders had yet become owners, despite AHC’s goal of entering lease-to-own agreements with 75 families by the end of 1993. The pace of sales to date has been adequate “but needs to be greatly improved to have families lined up for …[each home] before construction is complete,” AHC acknowledged.
…
AHC provides pre-loan counseling and plans to provide post-loan counseling, if necessary. One FHLB official observed, “ACORN is really good at outreach. With very low income homebuyers, there is more than just the financial aspect – homeownership entails a level of responsibility many low income people have a hard time committing to. When you have an organization like AHC behind you…it’s reassuring.”
http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/90/homestead.html
Comment by TaxMeMore Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 1:20 pm
TaxMeMore, I would point out to you that all that was done under GOP administrations.
I would also ask your point, other than you know how to use teh Google.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 1:24 pm
So both the Republicans and Democrats are horribly mismanaging this state and country with failed policies demonstrated by ACORN of Illinois’ history, not just one party or the other. Good point Rich.
Comment by TaxMeMore Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 1:34 pm
James O’Keefe goes undercover with a camera and is derided by Democrats and lauded by Republicans. Michael Moore goes undercover with a camera and is lauded by Democrats and derided by Republicans.
Why can’t I get excited about this?
Comment by Louis G. Atsaves Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 1:35 pm
Louis,
Given his notoriety (not to mention his physical size) I find it odd that you would think Michael Moore “goes undercover”.
Comment by Rob_N Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 1:50 pm
I hate to play into the hype here, but it’s the folks who did NOT get counseling from AHC or any other HUD-Certified agency that got foreclosed on. The very existence of ACORN Housing and similar orgs was born from the need to have a third party advocating and getting involved to prevent predatory loans by acting as a liaison between working families and the lending industry who would have otherwise taken advantage of them.
I’m still waiting for some proof here for wrongdoing on the part of ACORN (housing or otherwise) in Illinois. I see a lot of fuzzy “you were around at the same time this guy was and he was no good” connections.
And yes, tactics of O’Keefe and Moore are similar, except Michael Moore makes it pretty obvious he is filming you, while O’Keefe had to go to illegal measures to get his evidence (taping someone without their permission or knowledge is against the law in Maryland). Again, not saying what those 6 (of thousands) ACORN employees did was right, but it wasn’t here in Illinois so irrelevant to this discussion about state funding.
Comment by beth Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 1:51 pm
The GOP platform for retaking IL is using ACORN funding as its foundation.
No wonder it is sinking into the sand. This should be a tossed grapefruit of an election for the GOP… but yet they are a swing and a miss.
Comment by Ghost Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 1:53 pm
=he did the creative editing against ACORN because they register minorities to vote.=
Did you just make this up?
Rob_N: Check your own source. That isn’t in the Scott Shane piece.
/end
Chicago Acorn, aka Illinois ACORN, aka ACORN of Illinois, aka Acorn Chicago, aka ACORN Tax Center closed down in the first quarter of 2008. Most of its staff just reorganized as ACTION NOW.
ACORN Housing Corporation Inc is a different legal entity. It’s not really all that different from ACORN. Like with many of the shell organizations that ACORN uses, they all share the same board members, the same seniors staffers, and the same accountants(Citizens Services Inc).
I doubt you’ll find State if Illinois, City of Chicago, or Cook County appropriations going to anything other than ACORN Housing in this state.
/end
The politics here at the State level are just posturing to me. This is really a federal matter. ACORN has been skating the law for a good 20 years now. Barack Obama’s primary campaign is how most of this material came to light when the national press starting asking questions after his primary campaign reported a few hundred thousand dollars in expenses to Citizens Services Inc for “lighting and stage management”(lol, pun for the ages). CSI is a book keeping operation. It’s also the house that Dale Rathke built and used to embezzle almost a million dollars from the for profit Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
As the President indicated on “This Week”. ACORN needs to be investigated.
Comment by Brennan Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 1:59 pm
=Again, not saying what those 6 (of thousands) ACORN employees did was right, but it wasn’t here in Illinois so irrelevant to this discussion about state funding.=
I agree. However, states like Ohio are taking swift action without any of the current reports linked to their state. I’ll guess it has to do with the fact the Ohio Governor, their Secretary of State, and Senator Sherrod Brown essentially old allies with the folks at ACORN.
Comment by Brennan Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 2:02 pm
Brennan: I’m sorry, how are Strickland, Brunner and Brown old allies of Ohio ACORN? On certain matters of policy (voting rights, minimum wage increases, accountability for payday lenders) they may have agreed and crossed paths, but I’m afraid you’ll have to show some evidence to support your claim that it goes beyond this (there are no PAC contributions or endorsements followed by field programs or in-kind donations for any of them by ACORN). And just to clarify, you think knee-jerk reactions to cut funding from service agencies because of problems with other groups in other states is a sound way to decide policy.
And ACORN Housing is not essentially the same as ACORN the community group because it is not organizing-based, it is service-based, they serve clients on housing matters.
Sorry, I’m done now.
Comment by beth Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 2:13 pm
=And ACORN Housing is not essentially the same as ACORN the community group because it is not organizing-based, it is service-based, they serve clients on housing matters.=
This is nonsense. The spokespersons for ACORN Housing Corporation are the same State Organizers and the same national level management for ACORN. Why do you think the ACORN CEO(she doesn’t work for AHC) handles the press for stories that targeted AHC offices, ACORN Tax offices, and ACORN(the original) in four different states?
When ACORN organizes a demo at a bank, or a mortgage lender, or a politician’s office, or a party headquarters for whom do you think they are organizing? The goals are explicit. Each demo is to steer state subsidy to the market in which AHC operates.
=And just to clarify, you think knee-jerk reactions to cut funding from service agencies because of problems with other groups in other states is a sound way to decide policy.=
Quoting the man himself. “Bite me”.
I think the evidence is strong enough to support suspending funding pending an investigation. I do not condone cutting funding without one.
Comment by Brennan Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 2:29 pm
=they may have agreed and crossed paths=
Do I need to go borrow George Stephanopolous’ Merriam-Webster’s dictionary to explain what a “tax” is to you as well as the word “allies”?
Comment by Brennan Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 2:31 pm
Brennan, did you follow the link I posted in the comment you’re complaining about?
I linked to an AP article by Sharon Theimer and Pete Yost. Not sure what you think Scott Shane had to do with the article I linked to which included the paragraph:
“James O’Keefe, one of the two filmmakers, said he went after ACORN because it registers minorities likely to vote against Republicans: “Politicians are getting elected single-handedly due to this organization,” O’Keefe told The Washington Post. “No one was holding this organization accountable.”"
Here’s another link to that AP article, this one housed on Yahoo News.
Comment by Rob_N Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 3:10 pm
Brennan says, “I think the evidence is strong enough to support suspending funding pending an investigation.”
…Here I thought we lived in a country where one is innocent until proven guilty.
Brennan and his conservative colleagues are pressing guilty until proving innocence, but no time allowed to prove that innocence, which means “suspending funding” and “cutting funding” are one and the same.
(I’m sorry, ma’am. Our funding has been suspended. Please stop trying to buy a house / educating your children / eating food / training for work / etc until our funding is un-suspended. Unless the funding is then cut once un-suspended. Then you’re still just as screwed as if it had been cut all along.)
Comment by Rob_N Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 3:20 pm
I’m sure that AHC will do just fine if 10% of their funding is suspended pending an investigation. In fact, their clients could just walk down a single flight of stairs at 209 W jackson from the 3rd floor to the 2nd floor to reach another market provider at ACTION Now.
Comment by Brennan Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 3:46 pm
Mike Madigan supports ACORN—lol–that’s the funniest thing I’ve read in days.
Madigan doesn’t like independent power bases and while it’s a stretch to suggest ACORN is a base of any sort of power, Madigan hates that kind of organization because they are independent.
====As to whether or not they are the same ACORN organization that was featured by James O’Keefe (who has put up full transcripts, not a cut and paste), that is a difficult question. Congressman Issa was on with the ACORN CEO this weekend. There are a lot of questions that the Congressman raised regarding the flow of money in between the various ACORN organizations and how they interact. My guess is that VERY few people understand the relationships because, as Congressman Issa outlined, that information has not been made transparent. Whether they are “separate and distinct” is up for debate.
Issa needs to get a clue. ACORN and ACORN Housing were forced by the feds in the mid to late 1990s to not comingle any funding or resources. Thus you do not find ACORN and ACORN Housing in the same offices. The legitimate concern back then was that ACORN was a political organization and ACORN Housing was a non-profit 501(c)3 and so if the resources are shared there is a violation of the 501(c)3 status. Since at least 1997, I believe, they are completely separate.
Comment by ArchPundit Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 4:15 pm
===This is nonsense. The spokespersons for ACORN Housing Corporation are the same State Organizers and the same national level management for ACORN. Why do you think the ACORN CEO(she doesn’t work for AHC) handles the press for stories that targeted AHC offices, ACORN Tax offices, and ACORN(the original) in four different states?
Because Bertha Lewis opens her mouth doesn’t mean she is responding for AHC. You might notice that Mike Shea responds for ACORN Housing
Comment by ArchPundit Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 4:24 pm
=Because Bertha Lewis opens her mouth doesn’t mean she is responding for AHC.=
I’ve asked Scott Levenson about this. 96 hours later and he’s still checking to verify.
Frankly, I don’t see them as the same. I see enough separation for my satisfaction. We’ll see how time constrains what Bertha Lewis says. She doesn’t appear to be very good at the PR game anyway.
Arch: Do you know how the Feds monitor the separation? I imagine that 1997 agreement has enforcement clauses.
Comment by Brennan Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 4:32 pm
It would be done the same was as most federal contracts work–through Inspectors General.
Comment by ArchPundit Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 4:40 pm
The irony here is that the title of the piece could just as well apply to the commenters that followed.
Comment by Thomas Westgard Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 4:41 pm
Thomas says, “The irony here is that the title of the piece could just as well apply to the commenters that followed.”
Perhaps you were in a cave last week and didn’t hear, read or see the news of the Congressional action against ACORN… action based on what is turning out to be a near wholesale manufactured game of gotcha complete with snipped and carefully edited videos, media echo machines, and, most recently, feigned disgust and hollow histrionics by state legislators and governors across our great country.
Comment by Rob_N Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 4:54 pm
The irony here is that the title of the piece could just as well apply to the commenters that followed.
Especially one guy who keeps repeating his pro-ACORN nonsense like it is the end of the world.
Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 4:58 pm
VM: Last Word Reflux. There’s a pill for it.
Comment by Brennan Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 5:32 pm
@Rob_N - I won’t claim I’ve seen every moment, especially since I haven’t watched any TV since the event broke, but I think I have the gist. What’s most striking to me is how each “side” is being so selective with their facts - what happened at ACORN was horribly wrong, but people either overlook that or pretend that it is the only thing ACORN ever did. Since both sides are being dishonest, everyone screams past each other and nothing will ever come of it.
Comment by Thomas Westgard Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 6:09 pm
This ACORN stuff cracks me up. You should be worried about the BUCKEYES. Those guys from Ohio take no prisoners.
There are troops in the field in Iraq and Afghanistan, right? I thought maybe they were home given all the attention to this ACORN scourge.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 7:27 pm
VanMan seems to be mistaking sticking up for a little honesty and truthfulness for being “pro-ACORN”.
–
Thomas, selective is as selective does, eh?
I’ve never said ACORN (or ACORN Housing, or ACORN this or ACORN that) was perfect. In fact I think I’ve said they need to fix what needs fixing.
But, if conservatives don’t want to hear that and are only willing to hear anything that will destroy their perceived enemy (in this case an organization that “registers minorities to vote”) then somebody has to at least point out, at bare minimum, some of the rest of the “whole truth and nothing but” to those moderates and independents out there (from any point on the political spectrum) who are willing to listen.
Comment by Rob_N Monday, Sep 21, 09 @ 11:03 pm