Should ACORN Receive Any More Government Money?

Friday, March 20th at 5:09PM EST

6 Comments

Today, there was a hearing on the lessons learned from the 2008 elections and I was there to tell the unexamined story of ACORN.

Although ACORN has – routinely and repeatedly violated laws – it has been rewarded by the Democrats with up to $2 billion in taxpayer dollars. This is as outrageous as the bonuses AIG paid to the same executives who ran it into the ground.

If you reward bad behavior, you tend to encourage it – one shudders to think what ACORN would do with up to $2 billion, given the fraud and abuse it was engaged in prior to receiving stimulus money.

As background, ACORN, or the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is, despite its claims, a massive political enterprise that includes as many as 175 subsidiaries, including two labor union locals, and lobbying and political organizations.

ACORN, in violation of numerous laws, strongly supported then-Senator Obama’s presidential aspirations. Its political wing endorsed Obama, and during the 2008 primary, his campaign paid an ACORN affiliate more than $800,000 for political services.

It must be understood that ACORN has both official and unofficial programs called “Muscle for the Money.” The official “Muscle for Money” program is the ACORN political operation. Under this program, the Obama campaign paid an ACORN affiliate nearly $900,000 not only to register voters, but to also convert those voter registrations into votes at the polls. ACORN used employees of other subsidiaries, irrespective of the subsidiary’s tax status, to accomplish this objective.

ACORN also has a different, unofficial program also called “Muscle for the Money,” through which ACORN collects cash. It was called “Muscle for Money” because ACORN intimidates and protests – some would call their actions extortion – and those targeted in many cases ended up becoming corporate sponsors of ACORN’s activities.

What seems clear from sworn testimony by a former ACORN employee is that both the right and left hands of the organization knew exactly what they were doing. The coordination among dozens of ACORN affiliate and subsidiary organizations is so close that all the money for all the affiliates flows through one organization… using separate accounts.

And many in ACORN’s leadership, even lower level employees, act on behalf of different affiliates all at the same time.
First, ACORN appears to have violated federal tax laws, though the IRS has yet to investigate. Project Vote, an ACORN subsidiary, is a 501(c) (3) charitable organization. As such, it is prohibited from intervention in partisan campaign activities. Yet Project Vote employees were involved with the Obama campaign as part of their work at ACORN.

Second, ACORN appears to have violated federal campaign finance laws in several different ways, though the FEC has yet to investigate. Among other incidents, contributions to a campaign, such as Obama’s, are limited to $5,000 per calendar year and may not be accepted from corporations, such as ACORN, under any circumstances. Furthermore, expenditures made by an organization in coordination with a candidate or political committee are considered contributions to that committee and are subject to the $5,000 per election limit.

Finally, ACORN violated federal laws through its voter registration fraud. Here the U.S. Department of Justice began an investigation, but it seems to have come to a halt since Election Day. These violations, along with misreported use of federal grant funds, are documented in the testimony and exhibits.
Congress has been quick to call in AIG’s chairman to publicly testify and investigate the misuse of taxpayer dollars.

Yet, we have not seen any real or meaningful action on the part of Congress against ACORN – an organization receiving taxpayer dollars and investigated in states across the country for fraud.

Congress must address ACORN’s flagrant abuse of federal laws and misuse of taxpayer dollars. By investigating ACORN, auditing their activities, and rescinding its taxpayer funded “bonuses,” Congress can show it is serious about ethics and integrity in both how we conduct our elections and how we govern.

6 Comments Leave a comment

ACORN is the political engine of the DNC.

NeoKong (Diary) Friday, March 20th at 5:45PM EST (link)

Is that in doubt?
The payoffs are simply for the DNC and Obama to perpetuate their power.
This is the arrogance of Democrats in Congress.The blatantly payoff an organization that works exclusively for them with taxpayer money all the while bemoaning the monies paid to AIG as if the ACORN payouts aren’t just as sleazy.
Can you imagine the outrage if the GOP tried to give money to a right to life organization or a church group that was politically active?

Republicans had better wake up or they will only be known in history books.

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Thank you, Heather...

rbdwiggins (Diary) Friday, March 20th at 6:05PM EST (link)

for keeping the spotlight squarely focused on Obama’s favorite group of ~~criminals~~ community organizers.

For those that don’t know very much about Heather Heidelbaugh:
She’s a practicing attorney from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and specializes in election law. She just testified (March 19, 2009) before the House Judiciary – Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties where she, at a minimum, laid out a strong case for withholding all future funds earmarked for ACORN, and in my opinion, established a solid framework for the criminal prosecution of the group on fraud and racketeering charges.

Here’s the pdf link for her prepared statement:

Heather Heidelbaugh – Testimony
House Judiciary
Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties

Here’s a taste of what you’ll find in the prepared text. (Read the whole thing. It’s very important that we’re kept informed on such matters.)

On October 29, 2008, I represented a candidate, voters and the Republican State Committee of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in a preliminary injunction before the Commonwealth Court in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania against ACORN and The Secretary of the Commonwealth. The Complaint alleged violations of the Pennsylvania Election code, Fraud and Misrepresentation and Violation of Equal Protection and Due Process. The Complaint asked the Court to Order the Secretary of the Commonwealth, the state administrator of Elections, to make certain that the computer data base of registered voters mandated by HAVA, known in Pennsylvania as the SURE system, was running properly and was on line consistently to election workers throughout the Commonwealth. Further, the injunction requested that the Court direct the Secretary to require that all election officials comply with HAVA and request and receive identification from all first time registrants, as required by law. And lastly, the Complaint asked the Secretary to insure there were adequate amounts of provisional ballots printed and available at each polling place.

The injunctive requests against ACORN sought the Court’s Order that ACORN stop encouraging voting by individuals that they knew had falsely registered to vote, to provide to the Plaintiffs copies of the voter registration materials obtained by ACORN and known by ACORN to be false, that public service announcements be funded ACORN to educate first time voters that they would be required to provide identification at the polling place, and that ACORN be ordered to abide by the same terms to which ACORN had agreed with King County Washington prosecutors in the King County Settlement and Compliance Agreement to not fraudulently register individuals to vote. The Injunction was filed on October 17, 2008, based on information and facts obtained from Election workers and officials across the Commonwealth, and news reports about criminal activity of ACORN in the Commonwealth of PA. Four days later on October 21, I received a call from a woman I did not know. She informed me that she had worked for ACORN in their Washington, DC office for a number of years, had heard about the lawsuit I had filed, and had some information for me about ACORN. This individual, Ms. Anita Moncrief, agreed to testify in the court proceedings because, as she later testified under oath: “I contacted you once I heard about the lawsuit because I felt like this might be a chance for the truth actually to get out.” [page 81, lines 6-17].

The next day I traveled to Washington, DC and met for the first time Anita Moncrief, who is seated in the front row here today. I have spent hours talking to Ms. Moncrief about what she had learned about ACORN from her years in the ACORN DC office and Ms. Moncrief agreed to testify under oath, subject to the penalty of perjury.

“Well, the trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn’t so.” – Ronald Reagan

In answer to your title question

paulincolo (Diary) Friday, March 20th at 6:52PM EST (link)

No.

(thanks for your work, Heather.)

Where's

usrbinperl (Diary) Friday, March 20th at 7:43PM EST (link)

Patrick Fitzgerald when you need him?

Can anyone say “RICO?”

Thanks for posting

itrytobenice (Diary) Friday, March 20th at 10:19PM EST (link)

and for fighting for accurate elections. We need and appreciate people like you who are willing to stand up for the right thing.

Proper grammar saves lives.

Let’s eat Grandma.
Let’s eat, Grandma.

Activists Taking Action: Unified Patriots

ACORN vs. Veterans

ccrobbins Saturday, March 21st at 4:34AM EST (link)

ACORN receives $2 billion yet Obama wants to save $500 million by making injured veterans pay for their treatment through personal insurance! Somehow this seems reversed. How any veteran or active duty soldier/airman/sailor can support this inept Obama Administration is unfathomable. Even though he recanted, just having had the idea is such a travesty. ACORN gets the elevator and veterans get the shaft.