ACORN Disbanding

[HuskyCaucasian]

From HuffPo-

The once mighty community activist group ACORN announced Monday it is folding amid falling revenues – six months after video footage emerged showing some of its workers giving tax tips to conservative activists posing as a pimp and prostitute.

 

"It's really declining revenue in the face of a series of attacks from partisan operatives and right-wing activists that have taken away our ability to raise the resources we need," ACORN spokesman Kevin Whelan said.

 

Several of its largest affiliates, including ACORN New York and ACORN California, broke away this year and changed their names in a bid to ditch the tarnished image of their parent organization and restore revenue that ran dry in the wake of the video scandal.

 

ACORN's financial situation and reputation went into free fall within days of the videos' release in September. Congress reacted by yanking ACORN's federal funding, private donors held back cash and scores of ACORN offices closed.

 

Earlier this month, a U.S. judge reiterated an earlier ruling that the federal law blacklisting ACORN and groups allied with it was unconstitutional because it singled them out. But that didn't mean any money would be automatically be restored.

 

Bertha Lewis, the CEO of ACORN, which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, alluded to financial hardships in a weekend statement as the group's board prepared to deliberate by phone.

 

"ACORN has faced a series of well-orchestrated, relentless, well-funded right wing attacks that are unprecedented since the McCarthy era," she said. "The videos were a manufactured, sensational story that led to rush to judgment and an unconstitutional act by Congress."

 

ACORN's board decided to close remaining state affiliates and field offices by April 1 because of falling revenues, with some national operations will continue operating for at least several weeks before shutting for good, Whelan said Monday.

 

For years, ACORN could draw on 400,000 members to lobby for liberal causes, such as raising the minimum wage or adopting universal health care. ACORN was arguably most successful at registering hundreds of thousands of low-income voters, though that mission was dogged by fraud allegations, including that some workers submitted forms signed by 'Mickey Mouse' or other cartoon characters.

[StrangeSox]

That's unfortunate. The Republican meme of vote rigging managed to stick along with that heavily-edited video tape with the "pimp".

[Y2HH]

That's unfortunate. The Republican meme of vote rigging managed to stick along with that heavily-edited video tape with the "pimp".

 

It's not unfortunate at all...they were a corrupt organization and I'm glad they're gone. There are plenty of other liberal organizations that aren't corrupted like Acorn was.

[Balta1701]

There are plenty of other liberal organizations that aren't corrupted like Acorn was.

And as soon as any of them try to register non-white people to vote, Fox News will declare them equally corrupt and an enemy of the state.

[Rex Kickass]

It's not unfortunate at all...they were a corrupt organization and I'm glad they're gone. There are plenty of other liberal organizations that aren't corrupted like Acorn was.

 

There were some corruption issues at ACORN, but there are many of the same issues at a lot of non-profits across the political spectrum, I'm sad to say. ACORN did a lot of good for the communities they worked with over the years, and for those people it's a sad day to see the organization that they helped build and benefitted from was essentially destroyed by some homeless guys not doing their temporary jobs properly and a 25 year old pseudo-activist playing dress up who possessed a video camera and some knowledge of editing.

[Y2HH]

And as soon as any of them try to register non-white people to vote, Fox News will declare them equally corrupt and an enemy of the state.

 

Oh please, just save it.

 

That's not why they were shut down and you know it. The entire congress, democrat and republican basically voted these f***ers down as corrupt, save the bulls*** and accept it please.

 

And stop blaming Fox news for exposing these f***ers.

 

Blame ACORN for operating the way they did, had they not done the things they were doing, this wouldn't have happened no matter what Fox news did.

 

You're smarter than this, so please, act like it.

[Y2HH]

There were some corruption issues at ACORN, but there are many of the same issues at a lot of non-profits across the political spectrum, I'm sad to say. ACORN did a lot of good for the communities they worked with over the years, and for those people it's a sad day to see the organization that they helped build and benefitted from was essentially destroyed by some homeless guys not doing their temporary jobs properly and a 25 year old pseudo-activist playing dress up who possessed a video camera and some knowledge of editing.

 

And they did a lot of bad, too. Which is why they are where they are.

[GoSox05]

And they did a lot of bad, too. Which is why they are where they are.

 

 

 

Yeah they helped poor black people. Can't have that.

[Y2HH]

Yeah they helped poor black people. Can't have that.

 

Yes, that's all they were doing, that's why they got shut down.

 

That's why Fox has been so successful shutting down the NAACP, and other black only organizations...

 

Oh wait...they haven't...BECAUSE THOSE OTHER ORGANIZATIONS AREN'T DOING TONS OF ILLEGAL s***.

 

Now take your head out of the sand.

 

All of you pro ACORN idiots, stop being ignorant now. Seriously. I don't mean to go personal, but ignoring the fact that your beloved organization was voted in a bi-partisan congress as doing illegal s*** yet you refuse to accept it is beyond ridiculous.

 

Remove your heads from your blind asses, you obviously can't see.

Edited March 23, 2010 by Y2HH

[bmags]

this is why i'm avoiding this thread.

 

but i will just add this. O'Keefe was NOT dressed up like a pimp during the videos with employees. Should I really post the examples of these heavy edited tactics showing responses to questions that weren't asked?

[Y2HH]

this is why i'm avoiding this thread.

 

but i will just add this. O'Keefe was NOT dressed up like a pimp during the videos with employees. Should I really post the examples of these heavy edited tactics showing responses to questions that weren't asked?

 

If they were truly innocent of wrong doing, they'd be fine. And that's all I have to say.

 

I'm sure congress believes every fake video sent to them to the point that they actually hold votes on the subject.

 

Oh, wait, they don't...

[bmags]

well, they weren't convicted of any wrongdoing. Their money was stripped before any investigations were done in the immediate aftermath.

[Y2HH]

well, they weren't convicted of any wrongdoing. Their money was stripped before any investigations were done in the immediate aftermath.

 

So, just so I'm clear here, rather than continuing to play the "I'm answering but not Tiger Woods game".

 

Are you saying Acorn is innocent of all wrong doing and they were a clean organization?

 

It's a two part yes or no question.

Edited March 23, 2010 by Y2HH

[bmags]

I don't know what you mean by wrong doing. Were homeless people just taking a paycheck without doing their job? Yes.

 

Was the organization ever convicted of illegal activities despite a whole political scandal in the US attorneys office to try and push taking down ACORN? No.

 

They were under a heavy microscope and never got taken down until a highly manipulated video, and in the investigation afterward, they said it was a highly manipulated video and no illegal activities were done. But some showed poor judgment.

 

SO no.

[Y2HH]

I don't know what you mean by wrong doing. Were homeless people just taking a paycheck without doing their job? Yes.

 

Was the organization ever convicted of illegal activities despite a whole political scandal in the US attorneys office to try and push taking down ACORN? No.

 

They were under a heavy microscope and never got taken down until a highly manipulated video, and in the investigation afterward, they said it was a highly manipulated video and no illegal activities were done. But some showed poor judgment.

 

SO no.

 

Ok, you're right...they were an innocent organization that never did anything wrong!

 

I have some land to sell you, too...it's on top of an oil field. You should buy it sight unseen.

 

When I see things like this, it leads me to believe you guys need to find some brains. Seriously. You make it hard to take anything you do seriously because of stupidity like this.

[Y2HH]

The saddest part is you are all smarter than this, but apparently it's not hard to pull the wool over your eyes.

 

Keep believing that ACORN is shutting down because of a vast right wing conspiracy.

 

BEYOND ridiculous.

[GoSox05]

Just give me some examples of illegal activities.

[bmags]

I guess I need convictions and illegal activities to show that an organization was illegal. The most illegal thing was the homeless people taking a check and not doing their jobs. No, mickey mouse was in fact, not voting.

 

So all these "ACORN WAS DELIVERING THE ELECTION FOR OBAMA" was not based in any sort of fact. They are just a target in the same way the census is, the more minority voters that are whipped together to vote, the more democratic votes there tends to be.

[BigSqwert]

The saddest part is you are all smarter than this, but apparently it's not hard to pull the wool over your eyes.

 

Keep believing that ACORN is shutting down because of a vast right wing conspiracy.

 

BEYOND ridiculous.

Your "I'm smarter than everyone else" attitude is getting a little tired.

[Y2HH]

Your "I'm smarter than everyone else" attitude is getting a little tired.

 

Then take a nap.

[southsider2k5]

Your "I'm smarter than everyone else" attitude is getting a little tired.

 

aka the Democratic thread...

[Texsox]

I think it is sad when a couple employees' actions cause an entire organization to fold. That is bad news for a lot of people. Imagine if today you lost your job because someone in a remote office ripped off a customer. No fault of your own, but you are as much out of work as the guilty person(s).

 

 

[Texsox]

The saddest part is you are all smarter than this, but apparently it's not hard to pull the wool over your eyes.

 

Keep believing that ACORN is shutting down because of a vast right wing conspiracy.

 

BEYOND ridiculous.

 

 

Not a vast conspiracy, but it was a right wing group that mounted the effort to stop ACORN. And let's not fool ourselves, they targeted ACORN based on ideology. They also used entrapment, a technique that is often criticized.

[Balta1701]

I think it is sad when a couple employees' actions cause an entire organization to fold. That is bad news for a lot of people. Imagine if today you lost your job because someone in a remote office ripped off a customer. No fault of your own, but you are as much out of work as the guilty person(s).

I think it's sad when those employees try to actually help the person out of the mess they're in, then they get demonized based on edited video.

 

Imagine if you lost your job because someone edited a video of you trying to do it.

[NorthSideSox72]

1. As I said in the Health Care thread, let's all settle down a bit. The passive comments about idiots and what not are going over the line. Cool it.

 

2. Can someone tell me - and I really would like to know - what exactly ACORN did that was illegal? I've seen the video, which as I understand, turns out to be highly edited. So I really have no idea how bad things really were.