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Poison is poison, even if it is called a rose or ACORN.
"Despite dissolving its national infrastructure and laying off most its staff, ACORN continues to operate below the radar. It plans to resurface under a new name after the upcoming elections, according to John Atlas, who recently wrote an institutional hagiography of ACORN titled "Seeds of Change." In the meantime, ACORN has rebranded its local operations in at least 13 states and the District of Columbia. Significantly, the state chapters are obtaining nonprofit status on their own as advocacy groups under Section 501c4 of the tax code. This is key because 501c4 status allows the new entities to largely conceal their financial activities.
One of ACORN's most active renamed state chapters is in Missouri. Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE) is led by veteran ACORN organizer Jeff Ordower. MORE is doing its part to sabotage the banking system by demanding a moratorium on mortgage foreclosures that banks need to carry out in order to remain solvent and in business. On July 21, the same day President Obama signed a sweeping financial regulatory bill into law, MORE incited a near-riot at a Chase bank office in a St. Louis suburb. Activists screamed "Predatory lender, criminal offender!" and demanded that banks not foreclose on defaulted mortgages. MORE also was trying to shake down Chase for some more money. JPMorgan Chase Foundation has given ACORN affiliates at least $7.6 million since 1998."
Good news is that a court has agreed that Congress can stop tax dollars going to ACORN--the bad news is that ACORN has changed its name, so Congress might have to note the new names as well.
"That's because in a startlingly unusual victory for common sense, a federal appeals court slapped down a bizarre ruling by Brooklyn-based federal Judge Nina Gershon. The life-tenured judge had determined that the U.S. government's spending power belongs to federal judges now, regardless of what that quaint little document called the U.S. Constitution says. Judge Gershon ruled that Congress had violated ACORN's "rights" and passed an unconstitutional "bill of attainder" punishing ACORN without trial when it decided to stop funding the group.
But the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Aug. 13 that Judge Gershon had overreached. The appellate court found that the "withholding of appropriations" is not punishment. "Congress's decision to withhold funds from ACORN and its affiliates constitutes neither imprisonment, banishment, nor death," the three-judge panel wrote. "In comparison to penalties levied against individuals, a temporary disqualification from funds or deprivation of property aimed at a corporation may be more an inconvenience than punishment."
It is time for ACORN to go to court, not take our money. It is time for them, whatever they call themselves to stop the extortion of businesses.
Thought you would like an update on the status of ACORN.
More...
"Despite dissolving its national infrastructure and laying off most its staff, ACORN continues to operate below the radar. It plans to resurface under a new name after the upcoming elections, according to John Atlas, who recently wrote an institutional hagiography of ACORN titled "Seeds of Change." In the meantime, ACORN has rebranded its local operations in at least 13 states and the District of Columbia. Significantly, the state chapters are obtaining nonprofit status on their own as advocacy groups under Section 501c4 of the tax code. This is key because 501c4 status allows the new entities to largely conceal their financial activities.
One of ACORN's most active renamed state chapters is in Missouri. Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE) is led by veteran ACORN organizer Jeff Ordower. MORE is doing its part to sabotage the banking system by demanding a moratorium on mortgage foreclosures that banks need to carry out in order to remain solvent and in business. On July 21, the same day President Obama signed a sweeping financial regulatory bill into law, MORE incited a near-riot at a Chase bank office in a St. Louis suburb. Activists screamed "Predatory lender, criminal offender!" and demanded that banks not foreclose on defaulted mortgages. MORE also was trying to shake down Chase for some more money. JPMorgan Chase Foundation has given ACORN affiliates at least $7.6 million since 1998."
Good news is that a court has agreed that Congress can stop tax dollars going to ACORN--the bad news is that ACORN has changed its name, so Congress might have to note the new names as well.
"That's because in a startlingly unusual victory for common sense, a federal appeals court slapped down a bizarre ruling by Brooklyn-based federal Judge Nina Gershon. The life-tenured judge had determined that the U.S. government's spending power belongs to federal judges now, regardless of what that quaint little document called the U.S. Constitution says. Judge Gershon ruled that Congress had violated ACORN's "rights" and passed an unconstitutional "bill of attainder" punishing ACORN without trial when it decided to stop funding the group.
But the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Aug. 13 that Judge Gershon had overreached. The appellate court found that the "withholding of appropriations" is not punishment. "Congress's decision to withhold funds from ACORN and its affiliates constitutes neither imprisonment, banishment, nor death," the three-judge panel wrote. "In comparison to penalties levied against individuals, a temporary disqualification from funds or deprivation of property aimed at a corporation may be more an inconvenience than punishment."
It is time for ACORN to go to court, not take our money. It is time for them, whatever they call themselves to stop the extortion of businesses.
Thought you would like an update on the status of ACORN.
More...