As the year draws to a close, Facing South is taking a look back at the big stories that shaped the region and the top 10 stories we did at FS that made a big splash. Here's #8:#8 - HOW ABOUT SOME REAL #ACORNFACTS?
When a November poll showed that 52% of Republicans nationally believe ACORN* stole the 2008 elections for Obama, progressives had some fun with it.
They immediately hijacked the Twitter feed "#acornfacts" and started brainstorming all the other crazy things conservatives might accuse ACORN of (faking the moon landing and hiding Sadam's WMD's, among other scandals; my personal contribution was "ACORN made Steve Perry feel like he was never part of the band Journey").
It would be funny if it wasn't so tragic: This year both the U.S. Senate and House voted to take away millions of dollars in federal funding for ACORN's housing and Census outreach programs, causing private funders to also pull out and damage the group's work in over 70 low-income communities.
Facing South quickly documented the hypocrisy. Sue Sturgis reported that 23 of the very same U.S. House members who voted to de-fund ACORN had declined to take action against another contractor, Blackwater, after it was implicated in the deaths of Iraqi civilians.
The Senate did it, too. I showed that 25 of the senators who cut off ACORN funds had voted AGAINST a 2006 contracting reform bill to heighten accountability over the use of government funds. I guess what's good for ACORN isn't good for Halliburton.
We also pointed out that the media's coverage of ACORN was hardly fair and balanced. And then there was that small issue of Sen. Vitter and prostitutes.
So you're probably not surprised that Facing South was also the first publication to give a first-hand analysis about a New York district court's injunction against Congress last week, declaring their cut-off of ACORN funding was likely unconstitutional.
ACORN clearly has had some internal organizational issues to address. But readers of Facing South were able to separate reality from hype, spot the hypocrisy -- and understand the true motives behind the attacks.
And that's an #acornfact.
* For our readers who inhabit caves (we love you!), ACORN = Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now
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"We also pointed out that the media's coverage of ACORN was hardly fair and balanced"...Exactly what was there to balance? Corruption, tax evasion, trafficing of children, prostitution, voter fraud, money laundering, destroying private documentation...in multiple states in multiple cities!! Balance it with all the good they do? Where are the millions that the taxpayers have put out? How much was spent campaigning for elections that they aren't allowed to do? How many companies did they shake down in the past year? If you are going to write the story...use those facts and don't muddy the water with examples of other companies. There is no comparison to Blackwater..nor Halliburton. That is quite a leap! Balance it yourself with ALL the good they have done. List it. Do you think people are stupid and can't see with their own eyes what is on the videos? Don't try to pass it off as oh they've had some internal problems...They are criminals. This is a criminal operation. The Republicans documented 87 pages of crimes...and those are just some internal problems? Those are before all of the videos surfaced. It is the people on the bottom that get hurt. Use that for the story line.
December 18, 2009 3:54 PM | Reply
Why does ACORN get money from every mortgage processed in the US? We are not stupid, we know they are corrupt.
December 18, 2009 5:40 PM | Reply
Bridgette : None of that actually happened. There was no voter fraud, there was no trafficking of children, there was no prostitution, and the videos have been revealed to be altered.
You're right that there's no comparison to Blackwater and Halliburton. Blackwater has committed mass murder while on the government payroll, and Halliburton repeatedly overcharged the government while covering up rapes by its employees and causing the death of at least one American soldier through their negligence. The fact that you think ACORN is somehow worse than that (which wouldn't be the case even if your false claims were true) shows how crazy-biased you are.
December 18, 2009 8:45 PM | Reply
Debbie writes: "Why does ACORN get money from every mortgage processed in the US?"
Umm, could we have your sourcing on this, Debbie? I've never heard this claim before, and it sounds kind of, well, far-out.
For more on the kinds of far-out claims made about ACORN, check out this piece by a former banking analyst, who rightly calls the (unconstitutional) legislation to eliminate federal funding for ACORN "class warfare":
http://yourmortgageoryourlife.wordpress.com/2008/10/16/the-facts-about-acorn-cra-programs-and-the-mortgage-crisis/
Now, I don't dispute the fact that individuals involved with ACORN have shown questionable judgment and engaged in wrongdoing, but that describes just about any large institution. Heck, that describes Congress. Is the right answer really just cutting off all their funds?
This zeal for cutting funds is awfully selective, isn't it? Employees of private military contractor Blackwater/Xe have massacred Iraqi civilians without cause and allegedly engaged in weapons smuggling, money laundering, tax evasion, illegal drug use and destruction of evidence. They also allegedly brought young Iraqi girls into their compound to give them blowjobs for $1. But Congress and Bridgette are apparently A-OK with keeping the money flowing to them.
As for what good ACORN has accomplished, it's brought class-action lawsuits against subprime lenders that resulted in multimillion-dollar settlements and the creation of a $72 million foreclosure avoidance program. It's provided loan counseling for numerous consumers. It's established housing trust funds to promote affordable housing. It's helped pass living wage ordinances in more than a dozen cities. It organized the Katrina Survivors Association to help Gulf residents in the disaster's aftermath and assisted thousands of homeowners after the storm. It fought public-school privatization schemes around the country. And it registered millions of voters, primarily poor and minority citizens.
No wonder they make right-wing, corporate ass-kissers so apoplectic.
December 18, 2009 9:29 PM | Reply