[COMM-ORG] More on ACORN

[Discussion list for COMM-ORG]

From:     Steve Kest & Bertha Lewis <newsacorn at acorn.org>



Congressional report clears ACORN on voting and federal funds
 
 We want to make sure you have seen the good news that ran late last 
week:  a report by the Congressional Research Service has helped clear 
the air about partisan attacks against ACORN. The article which ran on 
the New York Times' website (below and at 
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/23/acorn-broke-no-laws ) 
"Report Finds Acorn Broke No Laws" summarizes the report's findings.
 
 Also worth adding to your holiday season reading is an insightful 
Huffington Post article by Peter Drier "Pass the Health Care Bill - Then 
Improve It" 
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-dreier/pass-the-bill---then-impr_b_403399.html 
). Drier argues that right wing attacks on community organizations have 
made it more difficult to pass serious health care reform; he credits 
organizing by the Health Care for America Now (HCAN) coalition for much 
the progress that has been made so far in the health care fight.
 
 For our part, we are proud to report that ACORN members in several key 
states have continued to work with allies to give a crucial push for for 
fair and effective health care reform right into the holiday season.
 
 Best wishes for the New Year,
 
 Steve Kest, ACORN Executive Director
 Bertha Lewis, ACORN CEO and Chief Organizer
 
 --------------
 New York Times
  http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/23/acorn-broke-no-laws/
  The Caucus:  The Politics and Government Blog of the Times
  DECEMBER 23, 2009
  Report Finds Acorn Broke No Laws
 
  By JANIE LORBER
  The controversial community organizing group Acorn has not broken any 
laws in the last five years, according to a Congressional Research 
Service report released Tuesday evening.
 
 The report, requested by Representative John Conyers, Democrat of 
Michigan, said that federal agencies, mainly the Departments of Justice 
and Housing and Urban Development, have awarded money to the group 48 
times since 2005. But, in none of those instances did Acorn violate the 
terms of their funding, the report said.
 
 Since the 2008 elections, the group, which works primarily to expand 
voter registration and affordable housing, has become a key Republican 
target. A series of scandals brought to light by conservative activists 
led to multiple Congressional hearings and repeated attempts to deny it 
taxpayer funding.
 
 Acorn has been the subject of scores of investigations-a total of 46 
inquiries by federal, state, and local agencies, including the FBI and 
the Treasury Department, and five by Congress as of October 2009, 
according to the report.
 
 The report found no evidence that voters attempting to cast ballots at 
the polls had been improperly registered by Acorn, a chief Republican 
accusation.
 
 The report also said that a sting-style effort to publicize the group's 
allegedly illegal activities, may have broken state laws. Two 
conservative activists set off a firestorm in September when they posed 
as a pimp and a prostitute seeking financial advice and secretly 
videotaped Acorn employees offering advice on how the couple could hide 
their illicit activities and avoid paying taxes.
 
 Also on Tuesday, a federal court in Brooklyn, New York, rejected the 
administration's request to reconsider its ruling that a House 
resolution barring the group from receiving federal funding was 
unconstitutional. Earlier this month a judge ruled that the law 
constituted a "bill of attainder," legislation intended to punish 
specific people or groups.
 
 In November the Justice Department also concluded that the Obama 
administration can legally pay the group.