There's been a lot of hoopla about secret hidden-camera videos of low-level employees of the anti-poverty group ACORN lately -- some of them quite embarrassing. I haven't seen any video yet from "real reporters" James O'Keefe or Hannah Giles of an ACORN employee who works in the agency's Charlotte, N.C., office by the name of Hector Vaca. And don't hold your breath waiting for Vaca to appear on the Fox News Channel anytime soon, because he doesn't fit the story line.
Vaca was one of eight ACORN employees in North Carolina who was just laid off because of funding problems -- problems closely related to the recent exposes by the right-wing media. His work had nothing to do with what millions of folks with the time and the money to be sitting on a couch watching TV at 5 p.m. when Glenn Beck comes around think ACORN mainly does, i.e., advising garishly dressed prostitutes and pimps. Vaca was actually helping folks in Charlotte who are battling the worst economic crisis in our lifetime and fighting for them to stay in their houses, a project so "radical" that Citigroup and Bank of America (just the kind of folks you'd expect to partner with ACORN in its vast "socialist" conspiracy) are backing it. It is work that is so important that Vaca is continuing to do it now, even without a paycheck:
In Charlotte, head organizer Hector Vaca spent time this week driving through neighborhoods, visiting homeowners who are struggling with their mortgage payments. The program, in partnership with Citi, aims to offer free advice to residents who could be facing foreclosure. Vaca, 35, said he hands out fliers and will offer his cell phone, too, to homeowners who want to call for free assistance right away.
Vaca, who said he grew up poor as the child of an immigrant, has been an ACORN organizer for three years."I love my job," he said. "I get to help people who have never been able to get the help they need."
This, in a (pardon the awful pun), nutshell, is what the ACORN scandal is really all about. Forget the videos, forget the "pimp." The reason that Hector Vaca loves what he does is the reason that Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and their dittoheads hate what Hector Vaca does. He is helping people who were have never been able to get the help they need...before he pulled up to their driveway.
Even in a media world where 24 hours of daily cable blather is so rarely tethered to the real-world concerns of Americans, the ACORN saga stands out as a story that everyone is talking about but no one is stepping back to even try and comprehend or place into any kind of rational perspective. The conservative dwellers of Glennbeckistan who've been flooding newsrooms across America -- including here at the Daily News -- with calls complaining that we're not covering the ACORN story know next to nothing about the anti-poverty group other than their belief that it single-handedly elected Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States (it didn't) and that it receives billions of dollars in taxpayer money (it doesn't).
At the same time, I would encourage the handful of fellow progressives who see the story solely as a Fox News witch hunt to acknowledge this part of the bigger picture: That ACORN is a large non-profit that is very poorly run, and in need of some major reform. It would be good, in a way, if that's what this story were really about -- making things work better. But conservatives don't want to reform ACORN, nor do they want another, better-run outfit to come along and do some of the things it does -- helping the urban poor find better housing or increasing voter registration. They want to destroy ACORN and the things it does. Period.
I'm not not going to bog this down with a long history of ACORN, which grew out of 1960s' activism working with welfare recipients in the nation's battered cities -- you can learn a little more about it here. The group has had a number of successes in areas that matter in American life, including fair-housing issues, voter registration (it was a key backer of the Motor Voter law), helping Hurricane Katrina victims and even fighting for Vietnam veterans during a time when that was not a popular issue. So why is it poorly run? Well, the videos now in heavy rotation on Fox show that some of its lower level workers are either under-trained or unethical or both, while ACORN has also been rocked by wrongdoing at the top of the organization. So have a number of well-known non-profits that aren't under regular assault from the right-wing media -- but that still doesn't make it right.
Beyond that, there is evidence of major structural flaws within ACORN -- generally, a group that has both an advocacy side and a political side that supports candidates is a recipe for trouble. Then there is the serial wrongdoing by workers that ACORN hired to do voter registration, the episodes that are regularly described as a "voter fraud scandal." But no actual voter fraud -- that is, people who were unlawfully registered casting real ballots and influencing the outcome of election (as happened in this case, for example) -- took place. In fact, it was ACORN itself that was defrauded by hiring workers who tried to get paid extra money by signing fake names like "Mickey Mouse," which may explain why it was ACORN officials who reported these crimes to the authorities. The significance of this scandal -- which is really more like embezzlement than voter fraud -- points back to the notion that ACORN needs to be better run...a lot better.
Yet this reality -- that ACORN is an established group with worthy goals and some success but also poor management -- is not what's driving the story. The folks who are spearheading this investigation of ACORN -- O'Keefe, Giles, Beck, and all the others -- aren't reporting this story because they want corrupt employees and bad managers weeded out, so that the taxpayers are getting the best return on the relatively minuscule amount of money -- just $53 million over the last 15 years -- that it's received from the feds. Nor will the "fair and balanced" network ever tell you that other ACORN employees turned away the bogus pimp and prostitute -- most notably right here in Philadelphia, where employees called the cops on O'Keefe -- or bother to explain the real work of ACORN, as done by decent people like Hector Vaca.
The real reason they are after ACORN is that they don't like its core mission -- siding with beleaguered homeowners over banks, and trying to register inner-city residents to vote at the same rates as the suburbanites who've dominated American politics since the 1980s. Taking down the group's mission of urban empowerment won't strengthen America, just the Republican Party. And you don't need a Ph.D. in social work or journalism to figure this out, since O'Keefe has made it clear that ACORN's success -- and not its corruption -- is what prompted him to launch his investigation. Here's what he told the Washington Post:
UPDATE: Corrected from earlier version. See this note for an explanation.
"Politicians are getting elected single-handedly due to this organization," he said. "No one was holding this organization accountable. No one in the media is putting pressure on them. We wanted to do a stunt and see what we could find."
But O'Keefe didn't go after the voter registration unit of ACORN. Maybe that's because real investigative journalism is hard work, but more likely it's because powerful people like U.S. Attorneys, who didn't even have to dress up like pimps because they have subpoena power, already tried that angle and didn't find one single bogus vote cast. Instead, the two young filmmakers and the deep-pocketed FNC are taking down ACORN through the back door, and if what has already happened in North Carolina is any indication, they will succeed.
You know, this is all so much like the "debate" over health care. No one disagrees that the medical system here is a mess, but one party, the Republicans, offers no serious plan whatsoever -- gambling for the raw political edge they might gain by a liberal-centrist failure to pass any bill. Likewise, there is no interest here whatsoever in ending housing discrimination, stopping predatory lending, or coming as close as possible to 100 percent participation on Election Day -- the kindof things that all Americans should be inclined to support, regardless of party or ideology.
James O'Keefe's America is one where powerful banks can continue to walk all over the working poor, and where demoralized urbanites don't bother to vote. The right-wing's attitude toward fighting poverty is exactly the same as Rush Limbaugh's attitude toward Barack Obama before he had yet served one day in the White House.
They want them to fail.
Typical Bunch. Doubting the authenticity of the "outrage" of "conservatives" over the crushing crime of voter fraud. I mean, sure, Fox News has deceptively been calling voter registration fraud "voter fraud" in an attempt to make illegitimate an agency that has registered some 1.5 million black voters. But if they really were to come across a case of voter fraud, I'm sure they'd be on it, 24/7, no matter what the politics were. I mean, Fox News is like, fair and balanced, and stuff. --snip-- The New York Daily News reports that Ann Coulter is under investigation by the Connecticut Elections Enforcement Commission for allegedly voting in that state while registered to vote in New York City. Officials are responding to a formal complaint filed by Coulterwatch.com blogger Dan Borchers. "For over 10 years, Ann Coulter has gotten away with illegal, immoral and unethical behavior, ranging from plagiarism to defamation, perjury to voter fraud," claims the conservative Borchers. Coulter declined to comment, but in the past has branded Borchers a stalker. He says the FBI has determined he poses no threat. Coulter was investigated and cleared of wrongdoing in 2006 for allegedly violating Florida's voter registration laws by voting in the wrong precinct. But Brad Friedman of BradBlog.com reports that Coulter was never actually cleared; the Florida Election Commission dropped the case after deciding that the two-year statute of limitations had run out. --snip--— Talking point sleuth- You really are a terrible person. Of course I feel bad for that man losing his job, but for you to say it was due to the young budding reporters or Glenn Beck is a complete joke. If he lost his job because of funding being cut to ACORN then the ACORN employees in those videos are to blame. Are we supposed to continue giving Federal money to an obviously corrupt organization because good people work there? What planet are you from? And before I hear the standard liberal retort that the Wall St. bailouts were far worse, I agree. Those crooks should not have gotten federal money either. Is common sense truly dead?— pjsz1261
- Couldn't agree with you more, pjsz. Come on, Will!!! What's the MATTER with you, you terrible person?!? When a handful of employees of an organization are doing unethical or illegal things, you take down the ENTIRE organization! You don't just investiage the individuals and take individual action, you defund the whole thing. What are you gonna do, stand there and make some lame excuse about a few "bad apples"?!? ...wait...what? You say that was the EXACT response of the Bush administration and the military to Abu Ghraib? Oops, my bad.— JLB
- Well stated Will. ACORN isn't perfect and should be improved but what's driving the witch hunt is racism pure and simple. Wish the poly-trickans would stand up to the bigots but they'll fold as usual.— ClarkU
- A organization is only as good as it's leaders, the leadership at ACORN is corrupt, so goes the organization.....— Dadair1
Good riddance corrupt liberal trash— PAEnglish- That sign should say "Stop Irresponsible Borrowing"— Mark Glaeser
- So Will..wouldn't you think that the Leader of the Free World, our President would be able to straighten this out pretty quick. On last Sundays talk circuit, where Obama appeared on every news network other than Fox, only one News organization asked him a question about the Acorn mess. His response " Frankly,it's not something I've followed closely". So our President suddenly has lost interest in a group that basically helped get him elected. Why would he distance himself from it? Maybe Mr. Vaca and you should be asking his question to Obama than throwing grenades from the sidelines over to the conservatives. After all,Pres Obama has had very close ties with this organization for 20 years. In 1991, he ran a ACORN voter registration drive called project hope that registered 135,000 voters(mostly fraudulant). Because of this ACORn success, Mr.Obama became the ultimate community organizer for ACORN. In 1995, he became ACORN's attorney. Hmmm..Will do you actually investigate what you report? While a lawyer for ACORN he foreced that State of Illinois to implement the federal Motor Voter Law. The law's loose voter registration requirements would later be exploited by ACORN employees to flood voter rolls with fake names.In 1996, Obama listed ACORN as his TOP supporter during his campain for Illinois senator. So Tell me Will??? Wh should have the answers to this ACORN smear? I believe you could look to your President for guidance, however he seems to have conveniently forgotten about his ACORN membership card.— blombard
"Even before U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis was sworn in, Big Labor insiders like AFL-CIO lawyer and Obama appointee Deborah Greenfield were busily dismantling useful union financial disclosures produced by former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao. It’s another Big Government – Big Labor partnership aimed at keeping individual workers, whom they claim to represent, in the dark. Why the hurry? Perhaps Union Bosses wanted to prevent the Virginia GOP and inquisitive people like Patrick Semmens from visiting DOL’s UnionReports.gov website that clearly reveals the Big Labor-ACORN collusion. Semmens discovered that teachers’ union bosses gave about $500,000 to the same Brooklyn ACORN office exposed on BigGovernment.com. Both the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) awarded ACORN service contracts. That’s right; union bosses gave teachers’ forced union dues to the same ACORN that appeared to have no problem facilitating child prostitution. No wonder Solis’ Big Labor friends want to shutdown financial disclosure! In fact, UnionReports.gov provides detailed union financial reports and is a primary source for many union members, reporters, columnists, bloggers, and researchers. But, the days of disclosure are numbered. Big Labor has commanded Labor Secretary Solis to shut it all down." ................... ACORN is a corrupt political organization, and along with the corrupt Chicago political machine, is the fever swamp from which President Obama emerged. The ACORN story has just started to be told. Any organization that touches ACORN should be investigated (by "journalists", of course) because there will be criminal and fraudulent activity. ACORN is staffed by a bunch of morons, and will be the weak link that will allow a glimpse into the pervasive criminal racketeering of the far left.— Mr. Smith- Will, ACORN HAS failed...without help from conservatives! They did it all by themselves.— Ken K
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- Oh Willy, that vacation break apparently long enough for you. Regardless of who looses their job at Acorn, the only ones who can be faulted are the leaders at all levels who allow this to happen.— camtheman
So we Conservatives hate that people who need help get help? That's so far off base that it takes Will completely out of the debate. No Will, we just hate your kind of help, which enslaves people into perpetually needing your kind of help.— jmc
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
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