ACORN's Stimulus

By Matthew Vadum

With a new president ensconced in the White House, it's time to roll out the goodies for loyal supporters in left-of-center political advocacy groups such as ACORN.

The latest economic stimulus bill promises to do just that by providing a huge bailout --up to $5.2 billion in taxpayer funds -- for some of the same liberal groups that helped get Barack Obama elected.

The three relevant fiscal provisions are buried deep in the $825 billion monstrosity known as the proposed "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009."

Title XII of the spending legislation backed by the Democratic congressional leadership and the Obama administration would dole out $1 billion in old-fashioned slush funds for the Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) program. Local politicians love CDBG because it is flexible. The program gives them wide latitude when spending grant money and allows local leaders to use federal dollars on local projects that they wouldn't dream of spending their own local tax dollars on. ACORN loves CDBG because it is adept at lobbying for CDBG funds.

A separate $10 million is provided in the stimulus package to develop or rehabilitate low-income housing under the Self-Help and Assisted Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP).

But the biggest chunk of the $5.2 billion comes in the form of $4.19 billion for foreclosure relief through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

Although ACORN operatives usually get their hands on such funds only after they have first passed through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development or state and local governments, the new spending bill largely eliminates these dawdling middle men, making it easier to get Uncle Sam's largess directly into the hands of the same people who run ACORN's various vote fraud and extortion rackets. And the legislative package provides these funds without the usual prohibition on using government money for lobbying or political activities.

The current version of the stimulus package would allow nonprofit groups to compete with states and localities for $3.44 billion from the $4.19 billion Neighborhood Stabilization Program allocation. The remaining $750 million from the program plus the $10 million in SHOP funds would be set aside exclusively for nonprofit groups.

Probably chief among the groups to benefit from stimulus spending will be ACORN, the infamous network of 100-plus left-wing activist groups.

As everyone who hasn't been in a coma for the last year knows, ACORN and President Obama go way back.

You may remember in October when ACORN's CEO, "chief organizer" Bertha Lewis, appeared in a YouTube video in front of a banner reading "Working Families Party: Fighting for Jobs and Justice," and endorsed Obama for president. (The Working Families Party, a minor New York party, is an ACORN affiliate.) This plea to voters eliminated any doubts that the most diehard benefit-of-the-doubt-giving ACORN supporters may have been harboring that ACORN's voter-registration and get-out-the-vote drives were aimed at getting conservatives and Republicans to the polls.

ACORN's national political action committee, ACORN Votes, also endorsed Obama. ACORN national president Maude Hurd said Obama was "the candidate who best understands and can affect change on the issues ACORN cares about like stopping foreclosures."

You may also remember that during last year's primaries, the Obama campaign paid $832,598 to Citizens Services Inc., another ACORN affiliate, for get-out-the-vote activities. It's also well known that Obama led a voter drive for ACORN affiliate Project Vote, represented ACORN in court, and lectured at ACORN on organizing techniques.

Then-candidate Obama promised a gathering of community organizers in December 2007 that he would involve them in the policy process. "Before I even get inaugurated, during the transition, we're going to be calling all of you in to help us shape the agenda. We're going to be having meetings all across the country with community organizations so that you have input into the agenda for the next presidency of the United States of America."

Apparently President Obama is a man of his word.


Matthew Vadum is a senior editor at Capital Research Center, a Washington, D.C. think tank that studies the politics of philanthropy.

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Liberals are people that will believe anything twice.

very good post vi.did anyone expect anything else?

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everything i print write or show on here is a complete and utter lie..i cant help myself i am a terminal liar..all of this shit is just fiction and made up for entertainment purposes ONLY..

So ... here we are with the government gun at our heads, forcibly extracting funds from our paychecks, under the threat of violence, for the purpose of supporting Marxist organizations.

Who voted for this "Community Organizer" anyway? Any of you fools still proud of your vote?

By the way, where's Dr. Pot?


Vi

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Liberals are people that will believe anything twice.

the solution is simple.dont pay them tax and watch them go bankrupt.at this time there is NO INCENTIVE TO INVEST .if anyone who has two dimes in their pocket does not spend it.many people will be out of work.what i dont understand is obama has spouted his bull shit for a couple of years now on the camp trail.and no one but me and a few others noticed that investment money dried up.dems were blaming bush..and there is plenty of blame to go around.the economy is a direct reaction to the obama presidency.the government is taking over and buying companys.these people are without a doubt communists with no regaurd for the constitution .the only persons all this bull shit is going to do any good for is THEM.if this shit worked so good .the former soviet union would have worked out wonderfull.so wouldl cuba. and hugo chavez.his little house of cards os comming down.

his solution.print more money.that will make it better..post ww1 germany.the solution .print more money.every two bit african country such as zimbabwe ..solution .print money.what this has done has caused HYPER inflation.or a inflationary depression..the worst kind of depression .these obama genius's solution .print more money.this solution has been a complete failure through out history.and these fuckers are going to try it again.these people in government have just toped the stupidity charts above the carter and clinton admins.he hasnt been in office a month yet.

by the time these idiots are done with this country .they will make bush look like a rocket scientist

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everything i print write or show on here is a complete and utter lie..i cant help myself i am a terminal liar..all of this shit is just fiction and made up for entertainment purposes ONLY..

Wow, you two are bitter as lemons.

Sounds like quite a worthy way to spend tax money in my opinion, stopping people being made homeless, taking some stress off already struggling families.

I don't really see what the problem is...

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MONE¥ I$ D£BT.
No Victim No Crime Legalize

You are precisely right. There are a few on this site that are just selfish warthogs. The two above are prime examples. Everything left of the JBS are commie pinko liberal progressive pukes. I'd put them on Ignore, but I like to know what the enemy is up to.

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Life is good, the water is sweet. The ground keeps moving beneath my feet.

I though the right-wing types would be thrilled, given ACORN's history of union busting activity. They have refused pay overtime and minimum wage, harrassed and fired organizers, and brought in scabs. I thought you people loved that kind of stuff?

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— Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

Vi old buddy it's me the Duke.... Remember me from CW? Remember our debates over Gold vs. Real Estate? You told me Real Estate never loses it's value in your smug kinda way. I'm wondering what your take is now....LOL

owned.

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Problems on the forum? Contact me here!

Lets see, why do Conservatives hate ACORN

1. Pseudo-Terrorist Organization
2. Convicted of Fraudulent Behavior, but not upheld to the same standards as a regular corporation. Their 503C (or is it 501C?) status must make them some kind of magical entity that is "above" the law.
3. Whiny
4. Dishonest
5. Has a track record of using legal coercion to get there way.

All that makes them fan-boy bitches of big government. Easy to hate them.

Unions (IWW)

We don't really care about unions. You can belong in a union if you want, we don't give a damn. What we have a problem with is being asked to bail out your screwed up companies (GM, Chrysler) when due to the attitudes of a weak spineless management, and a belligerent all-grasping union they end up in that condition.

So, on the whole, both are great evils that use legal coercion (taxes, laws, regulations, etc.) to get their own way.

So if these two evil entities are fighting with each other, who gives a damn?

On the whole though, unions are not as bad as ACORN.

(Interesting quote about unions.)

A company gets the union that they deserve.

GM/Ford - Bad Management - Bad Union

Other Companies - Good Management - No Unions/Good Unions

The key here is that its only when related to GM and Chrysler are the tax payers of this country expected to pay union wages. In short the union is trying to steal from everyone else. That's why so many people have a problem with them right now.

ACORN on the other hand. Would not exist with out legalized graft.

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Libertas inaestimabilis res est - Liberty is a thing beyond all price. | Sic Semper Tyrannis