Congress and ACORN

As much as I would like to extend my appreciation to Congress for its recent  in attempting to stop federal funding of the ACORN disgrace I cannot.

If it were not for the widespread, non mainstream media, coverage this organization has received as a result of the O'Keefe and Giles videos, nothing would have been done.

This widespread antipathy towards transgression on the part of the liberal left is made apparent by the fact that the United States House of Representatives Committee on Government Oversight and Reform issued a staff report entitled “Is ACORN Intentionally Structured as a Criminal Enterprise?” on July 23, 2009.

In the reports executive summary, the Committee states:

“The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has repeatedly and deliberately engaged in systemic fraud. Both structurally and operationally, ACORN hides behind a paper wall of non-profit corporate protections to conceal a criminal conspiracy on the part of its Directors, to launder federal money in order to pursue a partisan political agenda and to manipulate the American electorate."

The report cites five documented instances of criminal activity on the part of ACORN.

First:

ACORN has evaded taxes, obstructed justice, engaged in self dealing, and aided and abetted a cover up of embezzlement by Dale Rathke, the brother of ACORN founder Wade Rathke.

Second:

ACORN has committed investment fraud, deprived the public of its right to honest services and engaged in a racketeering enterprise affecting interstate commerce.

Third:

ACORN has committed a conspiracy to defraud the United States by using taxpayer funds for partisan political activities.

Fourth:

ACORN has submitted false filings to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Labor in addition to violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Fifth:

ACORN falsified and concealed facts concerning an illegal transaction between related parties in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

Now keep in mind that this Congressional report was issued prior to the release of the recent ACORN videos by James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles.

In light of the damning information contained in this report which was prepared by Congress – I am at a loss to exlain that organizations inactions. What the hell were they waiting for?

This is what drives me nuts. Our elected representatives document the corruption within the ACORN organization, issue a report on it, and then they sit back on their political butts and allow our tax dollars to continue to flow into this criminal enterprise doing nothing about it until James O'Keefe buys a pair of ridiculously oversized sunglasses and borrows his grandmothers fur jacket and his partner, Hannah Giles, wears "short-shorts" and both of them go and knock on ACORN office doors.

For those of you interested in reading the entire Congressional report you can link to it below.

Peter J. Mahon