ACORN as corrupt, uncaring as most unprincipled representative

By Donna Volmerding
This article was published in the November 12, 2009, edition of The News-Sentinel newspaper.

Dear Terry Doran,
In your guest column, you asked Congress, “What could ACORN possibly do that is as bad as what you do?” While I certainly cannot defend this Congress — I believe it is corrupt and out-of-touch with real people who have real problems — I can’t defend ACORN (Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now!) either. It is easily as corrupt and uncaring as the most unprincipled member of Congress. Terry, you are only seeing the one foot above the water line, while the massive iceberg beneath the surface fills the state of Texas. Congress (and you and I) has given far more than mere millions to this organization. ACORN has its tentacles into literally hundreds of “front” companies and unions, illegal transactions, voter and housing fraud, degenerate activities and lots more.
ACORN is accused of playing a major role in the economic meltdown of the banks and lending companies in fall 2008. Some banks were pressured by Congress to lend mortgages, at a severely depressed interest rate, to people whom the banks knew would not be able to afford them. The Employment Policies Institute in Washington, D.C. explains that “Before ‘subprime’ became a household word, ACORN waded into the mortgage market, supporting policies that helped lay the groundwork for the catastrophic lending collapse of 2008. Working with another activist group, the Center for Responsible Lending, ACORN lobbied legislators and banks to ensure that any person, regardless of credit history, income or assets, would qualify for a mortgage. They mastered the art of pressuring banks – often through radical and controversial methods – to provide subprime loans to all comers. “It was many of these ‘toxic’ loans that defaulted and sparked the subprime mortgage crisis.”
The EPI adds, “ACORN calls itself a community group, but it is really a multimillion-dollar, multi-national conglomerate. Its political agenda is driven by a relative handful of political thugs for hire. ACORN spends millions promoting economic policies (such as raising the minimum wage), but doesn't always want to abide by them. In fact, ACORN sued the state of California to get out of paying its own employees the minimum wage, and even fought their efforts to create a union. “ACORN’s influence extends to the political sphere as well,” the EPI says. “The group is perhaps best known for its widely reported role in voter fraud across the country. During the last two election cycles, it was under investigation for election fraud and related offenses in nearly 20 states.”
ACORN has committed ballot fraud on a colossal scale. It has been indicted for falsifying voter registration cards (using names such as Mickey Mouse!), forging signatures, registering dead and nonexistent people, registering voters several times over and registering children under voting age. Under the guise of empowering “those who need it most badly — communities of color, low-income workers, people locked out of the American dream,” (in the words of Bertha Lewis, ACORN chief executive officer), ACORN has encouraged dependence among the poor and cheated the same people it professes to help. ACORN “received as much as $10 million in federal grants last year,” according to author, radio host and TV commentator Glenn Beck. The organization “operates 270 related corporations out of (a New Orleans funeral home) building that also houses Service Employees International Union’s New Orleans’ headquarters,” Beck says. He adds that SEIU donated $60.7 million to elect Barack Obama. Wade Rathke, a New Orleans resident, is founder of ACORN and founder and chief organizer of SEIU, Beck says. His brother, former ACORN chief financial officer Dale Rathke, has been accused of stealing at least a million, some say as much as five million, from Citizens Consulting Inc., an ACORN affiliate that handles its financial affairs. Other ACORN affiliates are Project Vote, Citizens Services Inc. and the American Institute for Social Justice Inc.
Terry, I am also a taxpayer. According to Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn, about 40 percent of ACORN’s funding comes from taxpayers. This organization and its hundreds of affiliates have swindled American taxpayers of, some estimate, billions of dollars. Think how far that would go to create jobs, help those in need and give back to hard-working Americans. ACORN’s involvement in the financial implosion of 2008, its extensive voter fraud that affects the free-election process, illegal political acts, corruption and deceit have put at grave risk our economic freedom, and our rights as a free people to fair and honest elections. To paraphrase you, I would say that ACORN “poses a grave threat to our safety and well-being.” Enough!