ACORN Filing for Bankruptcy

[DebtEnder]

Wow so now if we dislike Acorn we are racist and trying to keep the black man down? That was a leap that would make an Olympic track star proud.

[jacko]

You won't admit to it. Acorn did not deserve the treatment it got.

[Pandora]

Wow so now if we dislike Acorn we are racist and trying to keep the black man down? That was a leap that would make an Olympic track star proud.

Dont feed the trolls I'm taking the ignore approach, putting my momma's great advice of "ignorance breeds ignorance" into play.

[justbroke]

You won't admit to it. Acorn did not deserve the treatment it got.

While the national ACORN organization may not have deserved it, there were certainly more than several local ACORN agencies that crossed the line in many areas, based on what I have viewed. If that took down an otherwise legitimate organization, it's a shame, but it's also any organization's problem to correct internal or external problems. If ACORN showed that they were in any bit, as a national organization, complicit with some of the local shenanigans, then they would have received free counsel from organizations like the ACLU and/or AFL-CIO.

It's always unfortunate when an otherwise lawful and community-driven organization falls due to the ramblings and actions of several bad apples. It happens all the time. Unfortunately, ACORN could not figure out a way to divest itself of the issues it faced.

I'm sure that the dollars and grants that were provided to ACORN affiliates is not going to other community-based organizations, of which there are others.

In the end, there was a foul stench, and it stuck to ACORN as an organization. Whether it was deserving or not, we'll probably never know since it apparently won't be litigated.

And let me add that the House of Representatives voted 345-75 to stop funding of ACORN. This has nothing to do with the right-leaning people or news stations even mentioned in this thread. It was a shellacking, to use a very-recently used term. (The Senate voted 83-7 to stop funding of ACORN.) One would want to believe that the Democrats would have put up a fight if they thought ACORN was being unfairly targeted. It wasn't even a question in the Congress' mind, as to whether ACORN was engaging in questionable practices.

[keepinitreal]

You obviously did not know what Acorn is and did. Acorn dealt with folks who were living on the margin and provided a advocacy voice. Most who declared BK have gotten back on their feet and are not living on the sidewalks.

I am just astounded how viewers who watch the Fox shows are so uninformed and ignorant of our counties political system and the world we live in.

So far this year, at least 18 former workers have admitted guilt or been convicted on varying charges of election fraud. The punishment has ranged from probation to several months of prison time.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010...#ixzz16UAcycg4

Yes, Fox News lol

[WhatMoney]

So far this year, at least 18 former workers have admitted guilt or been convicted on varying charges of election fraud. The punishment has ranged from probation to several months of prison time.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010...#ixzz16UAcycg4

Yes, Fox News lol

Read the article carefully. Almost all charged with fraud were the minimum wage part-time canvassers who forged names to increase their registration count, so they would get paid. Often these were drifters and drug addicts who took the temp job as an easy way to get money. I fail to see how this indicts Acorn the organization. Acorn actually inspected and rejected the phony registration forms, and reported them to the state. None of the phony registrations actually showed up at the polls and voted - they were filtered out. Mickey Mouse and Abe Lincoln would need some identity and proof of address if they showed up to vote. Apparently Acorn should have only employed attorneys, and other highly paid professionals as their on-the-street in-the-ghetto voter registration people.

[justbroke]

WhatMoney, it has indicted ACORN all the way to Congress. That's the problem with any organization that doesn't very very carefully screen their employees. Employees act as agent of the company and many corporations have been in very serious litigation because of an employee who was either not properly screened, or was offered inducements (call it bonuses or commission) when there is some underlying political and legal issues underneath them.

I worked for a company long ago, and we would hire college students to make calls to people. This was part of a government based lawsuit which the company had previously lost so we were calling all our customers to tell them what the new rules were and that we wanted them to stay with us despite the federal ruling. We had incentive programs where are people made "extra" money by being top producers.

Well, we had people who lied and cheated and did things that we didn't expect. We were sued again and lost millions! We then instituted "monitoring" programs where we watched the people by monitoring at least 2% of the work produced and they STILL figured out how to beat the system. We then went to more aggressive monitoring (20%) and that finally curved about 90% of the issues, while removing the "incentive" program.

Was that the company's direct fault? Yes! The company was responsible. Whenever you use incentive driven "sales" or productivity, it will yield cheaters. Your company MUST be responsible, step up, and say we did it wrong. This isn't an old problem with ACORN and is not a new problem for any company or organization with that type of incentive model. Since this is repetitive and the problem didn't appear like ACORN was doing anything or could do anything to stop it... the Congress removed the funding.

As an organization dealing with something highly political and dealing with federal law, they should have done a lot more, a lot sooner. I personally believe that it was the leadership of ACORN that let the people down. You can't blame this on anyone else... even the "low paid" person who's a crack head that ACORN hired. Yes... just a few people can take a company down through lies, deception and law breaking.

We don't condone it when it's a corporation, and I won't condone ACORN's inability to put stricter standards, rules, guidelines, and whatchamacallits... in place and in place sooner.

I remember taking drug testing and being subject to routine screening where I worked on things that were sensitive to state and federal laws and jurisdiction. Maybe times have changed? Maybe it's a violation of my rights that my employer requires that I be drug free, honest, and law abiding? Where's the ACLU?

[WhatMoney]

We don't condone it when it's a corporation, and I won't condone ACORN's inability to put stricter standards, rules, guidelines, and whatchamacallits... in place and in place sooner.

So far FOX news claims 18 low level ACORN workers have been convicted of registration card fraud.

But in 2008 ACORN had over 350,000 workers in the election, organized into more than 850 neighborhood chapters in more than 100 cities across the United States. So that is a registration fraud rate of about 0.005%. I'll bet most companies that hire minimum wage workers part-time would die for an employee theft rate of only 0.005%.

And of course the charge is registration card fraud, NOT voter fraud. All the phony registration cards were caught by ACORN officials or the county registration office. When ACORN submitted all the cards, with the bad cards separated out for inspection, as required by law, the politicians jumped on that as a reason ACORN was not doing their job.

We all know why the Republicans hate ACORN - they register minorities and poor people who tend to vote Democrat. I'm not impressed with the hate campaign against ACORN - it's just dirty politics.

[helpme2010]

I hate to see any organization that helps the poor and struggling run into problems. I'm sure most every non-profit organization, including those that help the rich or poor have some that commit illegal activities. Hey look at the former republican whip that just got convicted for illegally funneling money to republican elections.

I used to be a huge fox fan, I used to listen to Sean Hannity on ABC talk radio as well as Bill O'Reilleys show. The second half of Bush's presidency and all the problems Bush created helped me convert to CNN & MSNBC for my news. Those at Fox would never admit all the mistakes of Bush, but would continue to support the agenda.

The election between McCain and Obama really frightened me and several other people I know to change to democrats. Imagine Palin possibly running for president. This is really frightening.

[blkbenz08]

and this affects me HOW??

[justbroke]

We all know why the Republicans hate ACORN - they register minorities and poor people who tend to vote Democrat. I'm not impressed with the hate campaign against ACORN - it's just dirty politics.

I didn't know that. Besides, my point was exactly what you wrote above. It's political (period). And, if it is merely dirty politics and nothing but partisan bickering... why did a super-majority remove funds from ACORN and no one, not even the ACLU is there to help?

As I stated earlier, it's unfortunate that perhaps a good organization or company goes down in flames because of a small number of people, but it doesn't matter if it's 0.000000001% or 10%. The fact is that there are irregularities showing and the organization didn't handle the situation well, in my book.

If I were running it, I would have immediately called for a suspension of all political aspects of the organization and stick to delivering aid to the poor. I would revamp the entire political arm of the organization and weed out the drug addicts. Sure, it would cost money to test everyone, but I -- in my current capacity -- can't work without being tested and being subjected to random screening. In the end, some will say that the cost of such would eat into the aid to the poor... but how about being shut down and not being able to provide ANY aid to the poor. There are organizations like the Salvation Army and American Red Cross that don't seem to have this issue because they tend to stay away from politics. If you want to play politics... you have to play by a different set of rules, however unfortunate that is.

At least that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

[WhatMoney]

Originally Posted by WhatMoney View Post
We all know why the Republicans hate ACORN - they register minorities and poor people who tend to vote Democrat. I'm not impressed with the hate campaign against ACORN - it's just dirty politics

I didn't know that.

You didn't know that FOX news and right-wing talk radio ala Rush Limbaugh had been lying and distorting the facts about ACORN in a concerted smear campaign to discredit them for several years? Are you kidding me?

why did a super-majority remove funds from ACORN and no one, not even the ACLU is there to help?

Because they were influenced by the media campaign to discredit ACORN, including the distorted right-wing operatives "sting" videos above. Once FOX had spread enough lies about ACORN to the public, few Democrat Senators were willing to investigate or risk their re-election chances by going against the public sentiment that the Republican operatives had created. And what does the ACLU have to do with Congress?

As I stated earlier, it's unfortunate that perhaps a good organization or company goes down in flames because of a small number of people, but it doesn't matter if it's 0.000000001% or 10%. The fact is that there are irregularities showing and the organization didn't handle the situation well, in my book.

Percentages don't count? Are you serious? This must have been a joke and I missed it.

If I were running it, I would have immediately called for a suspension of all political aspects of the organization and stick to delivering aid to the poor. I would revamp the entire political arm of the organization and weed out the drug addicts. Sure, it would cost money to test everyone, but I -- in my current capacity -- can't work without being tested and being subjected to random screening. In the end, some will say that the cost of such would eat into the aid to the poor... but how about being shut down and not being able to provide ANY aid to the poor. There are organizations like the Salvation Army and American Red Cross that don't seem to have this issue because they tend to stay away from politics. If you want to play politics... you have to play by a different set of rules, however unfortunate that is.

Such high-minded comments. That could apply to IBM employees, or FBI employees, or even Wal-Mart employees, but you obviously have never worked for a non-profit in an urban ghetto. Of course you would like to remove the voter registration division of ACORN. They register Democrats...

[justbroke]

You didn't know that FOX news and right-wing talk radio had been lying and distorting the facts about ACORN in a concerted campaign to discredit them for several years? Are you kidding me?

No... since I don't watch Fox news and don't listen to the radio either.

Because they were influenced by the media campaign to discredit ACORN, including the distorted right-wing "sting" videos above.

I have never witnessed the Congress ever "that" distorted by media... ever.

Percentages don't count? Are you serious? This must have been a joke and I missed it.

Yes. When laws are broken, that has nothing to do with percentages (period). I guess I'm just a black and white person. Something either is, or isn't. I don't go by, he only lied 0.0001% of the time, so I trust him. It's that simple and yes I am serious. Once you have that type of issue, you need to go WAY beyond just telling people that it was only a small percentage. You have to restore trust.

Such high-minded comments. That could apply to IBM employees, or FBI employees, or even Wal-Mart employees, but you obviously have never worked for a non-profit in an urban ghetto. Of course you would like to remove the voter registration division of ACORN. They register Democrats...

Obviously you don't know where I have worked or lived. Your statement couldn't be any further from the truth. Fact is, not only have I worked in non-profits, I have run a non-profit in not only the inner city but in economically disadvantaged areas. That has nothing to do with what I wrote anyhow.

Besides, naming IBM, the FBI and WalMart is irrelevant to this conversation. None of those organizations are involved, under their own name and standing, in voter registration. So it's unfair to even mention them in this context.

If you re-read my post(ings), you'll see that I recommended that ACORN could fix the problem by temporarily stopping their voter registration portion and then implementing "controls" that would restore faith in the organization. Without such controls any organization, including ACORN, should not be involved in such a highly political and sensitive area of politics.

And let me add this. What if I told you that my uncle and mother run an Urban League chapter in our city? Would that make anything that I wrote more true or less true? What if I told you that I'm on the leadership team of an International Mission to Africa established in South Affrica, Malwai, Cameroon and other countries on the African continent, fighting aids and poverty? Would that make anything that I wrote more or less true? How about I told you that I make over $100K a year? Would that make anything that I wrote more or less true? What if I told you that I ran free programs at a Boys and Girls Club in the heart of the ghetto in my city? Would that make anything that I wrote more or less true?

It should not matter what my background is or what I've done. It should matter that I take the objective data, analyze it for myself, and reach a personal conclusion. Given the data and the acts of the Congress, I can only say that ACORN did it to themselves. Everyone loves to blame the media, and they are a contributor, but when you are not controlling your organization and have no sense of control, this is what happens.

Unfortunate, yes... the right thing... absolutely.

[WhatMoney]

If you re-read my post(ings), you'll see that I recommended that ACORN could fix the problem by temporarily stopping their voter registration portion and then implementing "controls" that would restore faith in the organization. Without such controls any organization, including ACORN, should not be involved in such a highly political and sensitive area of politics.

You are not the first to suggest ACORN should get out of the "Project Vote" program. That was the same program Obama was a part of in the late 1980's. But if an organization dedicated to improving the economic status of a disadvantaged or underrepresented minority, was to eliminate voter registration drives, how are these people going to participate in a democracy by electing politicians that represent their interests?

If ACORN can improve their controls then of course they should do so. But from the reports I have read, they DID catch the phony registration cards by employees who were attempting to defraud ACORN. They did report the bad registrations as required. So your suggestion is they do better background screening of their temporary street workers? That can only go so far. And what do you do with Republican workers that sign up for ACORN to deliberately issue fake registration cards? That has happened too.

There was opposition to the registration of black voters in the South in the 1960's, including a few murders of northern volunteers by the southern whites who wanted to maintain the status quo of white rule in counties where there was a large black majority. It is a sad story that hasn't exactly gone away today. The opposition to ACORN today by conservative Republicans is not all that different.
There is a reason why ACORN has been targeted by conservative Republicans, and it is not because of 0.005% registration fraud by a few temp workers, or "sting" operations by Republican operatives. I can tell you have not been following the ACORN smear campaign that has been going on for years. It has of course been successful - so why are the Republicans still bragging about their smear campaign? ACORN is bankrupt and powerless. The wealthy win again.

[keepinitreal]

Whether you love ACORN or hate ACORN, they're not going anywhere. Most of the 20 chapters of ACORN are organizing under new names.

The groups are keeping the same employees and the same tax identification numbers. Affordable Housing Centers of America was formerly ACORN Housing. The new corporation has the same tax ID and employee identification number as ACORN Housing, which received millions of dollars in funding from the Department of Housing Urban and Development. The Chicago office seems to have at one time been the headquarters for ACORN Housing.

On its Web site, the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment takes pains to distinguish itself from ACORN, saying it has no legal, financial or structural ties to ACORN, but the executive director of the group, Amy Schur, is the former executive director of California ACORN, and Edgar Hilbert, a member of the group's interim board of directors, is a former member of the ACORN state chapter.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/25/similar-groups-acorns-place-republicans-foul/#ixzz16rcGcVp9