Why the right wanted to destroy ACORN

[IndianaGreen]

Why the right wanted to destroy ACORN

Elizabeth Schulte explains how conservatives went after one of the largest community organizing groups in the country.

April 1, 2010

THE GRASSROOTS community organization Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has been forced to close down, in the wake of an all-out right-wing assault on the 40-year-old organization. But the casualties include more than ACORN itself.

They include tens of thousands of people who benefited from the group's organizing in cities across the country: the more than 150,000 low-income families who ACORN helped with their tax refunds to receive Earned Income Tax Credits; the 50,000 families who averted foreclosures with the help of ACORN, which was one of the first organizations to speak out about the dangers of predatory lending; and the well over a million poor people and people of color who could not vote until ACORN registered them.

These accomplishments--working to improve the lives of poor and largely minority people--are why ACORN became the target of a right-wing smear campaign.

The assault on ACORN recalled the days of the anti-communist witch-hunts of the 1950s, as conservative politicians and their Fox News partners went on a relentless assault against the organization. And just like Sen. Joseph McCarthy, waving a "list of the names of (your number here) known communists," the right-wing pundits repeated their lies over and over again, until the damage was done.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) used his position as a ranking Republican in the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to call ACORN a "criminal organization" at a December hearing. In February, Issa's committee issued a report arguing that ACORN "exploits the poor and vulnerable" for political gain.

Issa authored the "Defund ACORN Act," which passed the Senate and the House, with the help of members in both parties. The reality is that less than 10 percent of ACORN's budget came from federal grants. Over the past 15 years, ACORN has received just $53 million in federal funds, and much of it is for low-income housing.

http://socialistworker.org/2010/04/01/why-the-right-wanted-to-destroy-acorn

[Tony_FLADEM]

1. Every year the Republicans controlled Congress they appropriated money to ACORN

I wonder why no Democrat ever pointed this out.

[Deadgnome]

2. You Make a good point

[jotsy]

3. Overwhelming majorities of both parties in both halls sent the masses a message

Access to the dignity of relevance is to be reserved for the elite.

My own pretty progressive state's entire congressional delegation went along with the is rush to crush a voice independent of party alliance. I'll be letting them know what I think about that through open letters in the local papers.

Though I'm sure ACORN was supportive of democrats as compared to republicans, I wonder if there's a chance that, on the horizon, both parties saw a common enemy in a non profit organization that might encourage the masses representation outside the dominance and division of a two-party system.

I try not to fret, I know they're going to return. An organization like this has to be allowed to be if what ever we've ever been resembles what we can make it now and moving forward. Many other acronyms are operational on the same level, hopefully they will work together and insist that the soil of their own roots be resurrected.