Is ACORN DOA?: Blame The Board!
by Michael McCrayA pimp, prostitute, underage human trafficking and now a self-professed murderer; what could be next for the embattled Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now?!?
Margaret Williams, Maryland ACORN board member and Sonja Merchant-Jones, Baltimore ACORN President both reported that the low level ACORN employees caught on tape in the Baltimore office were immediately terminated for behaving unprofessionally; but yet, senior staff members who assisted and concealed a million dollar Rathke embezzlement remain employed.
The ACORN 8 commends these board members’s decisive action, but find it extremely ironic since the board of directors do not actually control ACORN employees. According to ACORN’s by-laws that authority is exclusively exercised by the “Chief Organizer,” formerly Wade Rathke and now Bertha Lewis. This fundamental disconnect between an actual functioning board of directors and senior management is the true problem and real scandal within ACORN. It causes low-income members and staff to become mere pawns of senior management.
Ultimately, ACORN’s low-income workers are simply trying to meet and fulfill unreasonable membership quotas set by senior staff. This undue management pressure results in fraudulent voter registrations, tax assistance for “pimps and prostitutes” or worse. Poor governance and lack of accountability are the real problems. Voter fraud or rather voter registration fraud are just symptoms of a far greater problem. And that is the lack of meaningful control and accountability by the membership. So don’t fault poor workers – blame the board!
If ACORN hopes to survive then the know-nothing, see-nothing, do-nothing board of directors must by replaced by individuals with the strength and capabilities to fulfill their fiduciary obligations and the courage to reign in corruption by ACORN’s senior management. If they fail, it is the low income communities which ACORN serves which will suffer the loss.
The damage to the ACORN brand and its overall effectiveness has been immeasurable due to poor governance, mismanagement and corruption within senior management. Consequently, the board of director’s missed the last best chance to save ACORN through reform. It seems apparent to all, except the most ardent and the culpable, that ACORN has been mortally wounded; and the only question now is who goes down with the ship?
But it may already be too late; ACORN had its chance to do the right thing following the million dollar Rathke embezzlement. There was a glimmer of hope when the board of directors appointed an interim management committee tasked to investigate the embezzlement and reorganize ACORN. But they were terminated for seeking a forensic audit.
From the very beginning, the ACORN 8 have always sought to reform – not destroy – the Association for Community Organizations for Reform Now. But now find it impossible to imagine that even this once venerable association can withstand the latest onslaught of negative publicity.
The Census Bureau and IRS recently severed ties with ACORN, and the U.S. Senate voted 83 to 7 to cut off funding for the embattled group. The House followed suit by a vote of 345 to 75. Unfortunately, this is yet another example of poor governance, mismanagement and corruption within the once venerable organization. ACORN cannot survive if it can’t raise any more money.
No More Charitable Donations: No tax exempt 501(c )(3) organization will donate money to ACORN under the present circumstances. Since they cannot prove that the 501(c )(3) funding was not commingled with partisan activities.
No More Federal Contracts: Likewise, the federal government has already begun to sever ties to ACORN and could not fund the association through CCI a registered lobbying organization.
No More Negotiated Settlements: ACORN no longer possesses the necessary moral authority to pressure corporations or any organization through public demonstrations or protests. Thus, even this revenue stream will be unavailable to ACORN.
ACORN has been hijacked by senior staff and executive leadership who are acting in their own personal interest and not the best interest of the association or its membership. Only one question remains. Is ACORN now dead on arrival?!?
ACORN has survived in the past as a surprisingly well funded, politically well connected, dictatorial operation which flew under the public’s radar. Ironically, the election of President Barack Obama was actually the worst thing that could happen to ACORN. The attention that the election of the first African-American and community organizer to the highest office in the land has made it impossible for ACORN to avoid real scrutiny as it has in the past. Ironically, President Obama’s ascent has turned into ACORN’s demise.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Michael Chavez, AZ grassroots. AZ grassroots said: Is ACORN DOA?: Blame The Board! http://bit.ly/28iPil #dripusa #ocra #tcot [...]
President Obama’s ascent has turned into ACORN’s demise.
Chalk up one accomplishment for the President! Now noone can say he's done nothing productive in his first nine months in office.
Good. Now, it's time to prosecute any and all criminal activities associated with those who permitted the Rathke family to steal such huge amounts. Additionally, a genuine audit must be conducted to see just how much private/federal money was diverted into partisan political operations and prosecute those who did so.
Least we forget, ACORN is just the scum that floated up to the top. As the corruption at the top has been revealed we can safely assume that their ties back to other organizations will show the same amount, if not more of the same corruption. Keep digging….
It is cliche manifestation that if bottom of your employees are corrupt, expect the top tier of power is corrupt. Time to clean up community organizer and imprison them for criminal activities if found guilty.
Not that it was ever glued together, but with so many people, besides Fox News calling Obama and his whole administration on the carpet, I think the White House is now officially coming unglued. Expect 10 times more deceit, corruption and lies coming from the White House. It's all about image to them, and they will do and say anything to keep an image going. I expect they will even kill for it.
Not that it was ever glued together, but with so many people, besides Fox News calling Obama and his whole administration on the carpet, I think the White House is now officially coming unglued. Expect 10 times more deceit, corruption and lies coming from the White House. It's all about image to them, and they will do and say anything to keep an image going. I expect they will even kill for it. I have an image of Obama will fangs and blood drooling out the corners of his mouth.
Not that it was ever glued together, but with so many people, besides Fox News calling Obama and his whole administration on the carpet, I think the White House is now officially coming unglued. Expect 10 times more deceit, corruption and lies coming from the White House. It's all about image to them, and they will do and say anything to keep an image going. I expect they will even kill for it. I have an image of Obama will fangs and blood drooling out the corners of his mouth. It's no wonder why that joker picture of Obama is so popular and widespread.
And let's not stop until Obama is in hand-cuffs.
this is all very good stuff but where oh where is HOLDER the FBI the IRS putting these people behind bars
And who was it that did the training, provided the course material and signed the pay slips of the trainers? The group is rotten to the core. The Democrats are running these groups, like ACORN, as if they were now their KKK lite. The race hustlers, like Jackson and Sharpton, are also on the Democrat plantation team keeping the plantation looking like it cares about black people. Same intimidation, same tactics, same results.
Think about it — The Democrats used the KKK for intimidation and terror, the lynchings were not that common. And when they did lynch someone, they were more likely to lynch a white political opposition person than they were to lynch blacks.
The blacks are still on the Democrat's plantation. You wonder when they are going to wake up.
Ultimately, ACORN’s low-income workers are simply trying to meet and fulfill unreasonable membership quotas set by senior staff. This undue management pressure results in fraudulent voter registrations, tax assistance for “pimps and prostitutes” or worse. Poor governance and lack of accountability are the real problems. Voter fraud or rather voter registration fraud are just symptoms of a far greater problem. And that is the lack of meaningful control and accountability by the membership. So don’t fault poor workers – blame the board! (Courtesy of Michael McCray)
It's true ACON 8 have some responsibility however, how about these low-income employees excersiing integrity? Shame on the ACON 8 for deriliction of duty but there is NO, absolutley NO excuse for these employees acting in this manner. They committed criminal acts that are punishable by law and should be Tried by a Trial of their Peers!
Not that it was ever glued together, but with so many people, besides Fox News calling Obama and his whole administration on the carpet, I think the White House is now officially coming unglued. Expect 10 times more deceit, corruption and lies coming from the White House. It's all about image to them, and they will do and say anything to keep an image going. I expect they will even kill for it. I have an image of Obama will fangs and blood drooling out the corners of his mouth. It's no wonder why that joker picture of Obama is so popular and widespread – people are not dumb.
When ACORN goes down have them take the rest of this corrupt adminstration with them!!
What I want to know is who is Drummond Pike? He is the "friend" who paid back about 75% of the $1 million first reported embezzled from ACORN. I have been able to determine that Pike is a Founder and CEO of the Tides Foudation, and both he and Wade Rathke are both directors at Tides. Tides is money funnel. If he paid Rathke's money back, he needs to be investigated, too. Tides and Pike are all part of the same shell game.
I don't care what window dressing clean-up that ACORN does under pressure because I don't want to see them survive.
ACORN's culture of corruption and duplicity has been rampant since their inception. Our state sponsored press was busy sanitizing them. And, what exactly does ACORN do that America needs done?? Nothing vital to society that I can see.
If you haven't the wherewithal or self-direction to register to vote on your own then please don't. Democracy doesn't require that every disengaged, uninformed person vote. It's really a disservice and undermines a democratic society. We don't need ACORN to bus warm bodies that otherwise aren't self-motivated to the polls.
I heard Michele Bachmann speak today on GB's radio program and she pointed out that the funding ACORN receives is only being stopped through October 31, 2009. After this date, the $$$$ will be flowing to them once again.
Americans must remain on top of this issue to ensure that ACORN DOES NOT RECEIVE A SINGLE PENNY OF TAXPAYER MONEY!!!!
Both George Soros and Teresa Heinz Kerry (Sen. John Kerry's (D) billionairess wife) are inextricably tied to the Tides Foundation. It's another Democrat Party laundromat.
The symptoms of this corrupt organization are the employees. The disease is the anti-American, pro-communist leadership that uses thug tactics to illegally register voters to steal elections for candidates who push thier socialistic agenda.
Holder, please, the DOJ dropped the case against the egregious Black Panther election intimidation caught on video no less. And, of course, it's a snoozefest with the state sponsored media folks. They can't bury ACORN fast enough at the administration's request.
I am willing to accept that there are many low-level employees and volunteers who got involved because they truly believed they could help better their communities. A bigger question though, is whether ACORN was hijacked by leadership, or whether leadership's original intent has simply been now exposed. An entity which claims to be an "Association" of "Organizations" has always seemed to be pretty monolithic to me. Of course corruption is much easier when all things are centrally controlled. And I would suggest that many mid-level supervisors figured out the scam, and rather than buck the system, simply joined in the party.
If ACORN 8 wants to vindicate their involvement, go for it. But I would agree, the ACORN brand has been irrevocably tarnished. And maybe that is not such a bad thing. Perhaps a new organization would be a better approach. You want to register voters? Great, but make sure people understand that they then have an obligation to be an informed voter. Want to encourage home ownership, and guide through the morass of financial forms and regulations? Wonderful, but then make sure people who have bought homes work to make their neighborhoods safe, because that will help ensure their value. While I don't accept that there is a "system" holding people down, I do accept that there may be that attitude in some communities. And I hope that whatever barriers there may be, in perception or actuality, may be removed. But once they are, the community still has the responsibility to maintain, or better, itself. To me, as an outsider, that is where the public ACORN vision failed. I'd hope you can do better there.
Charitable Contributions…received with fraudlent intent, those charitable givers have been betrayed for years.
Federal Funding….taxpayer money given to an organization for the purpose of purchasing government lackeys.
Negotiated Settlements…extortion on a grand scale. Poor people suckered into buying homes they couldn't afford.
ACORN…. dedicated to spreading the wealth and rigged elections. Every single member committed to the belief that those who earned property and wealth, owed them what they, themselves, hadn't earned.
Nope, members get no pass. They knew this was wrong and did it anyway. How much of the TARP is a direct result? How much damage this organization has done to the nation. Now they owe us.
"A pimp, prostitute, underage human trafficking and now a self-professed murderer;"
you guys realize those were all made up stories right? As in didn't actually happen ? I notice people are now writing about "acorn brothels" etc , as if they actually exist. You can tell the difference between reality and fantasy, right?
ACORN DOA?
No, no, and hell no!
They are reorganizing as we speak…………………..!
Imagine that; low income, mostly minority workers being used as pawns by the higher ups. And this by organization that is supposedly in business to help low income people (who happen to be mostly minorities because of where ACORN functions).
I just received a telephone "alert" from my son to watch South Park (they'll have a rerun in about 1 hour, 11 PM CST), as one of the kids sets up a "kissing" business, "pimping" the little school girls' kisses and then going into an ACORN office. Should be pretty funny, even if (like me) you think South Park is just too, too low humor.
About ACORN & its history though: Early 1980's, I was looking for some type of part-time work while my kids were in school and answered a Tribune (Chicago) ad. Vague, non-responsive answers to my telephone questions, so I went for an interview having gathered the work was some type of shopping-mall demonstrations or surveys. It turned out to be an ACORN office in the Chicago Loop, and the "job" — for pretty decent hourly pay — was paid "demonstrating" in street protests over housing "discrimination." I declined the job offer and concluded the funding for such an enterprise was likely from CPUSA (I haven't changed my mind on that).
MerryJ1
ACORN will not really go away, you watch! They will announce the end of ACORN and the people involved will reappear later under some other name. Same people, same corruption, same bribes to politicians, same shakedowns of businesses, just another name!
Well, unfortunately you have to sacrifice a few pawns to get to the king. It's a tough slog to the top of the organization and several heads will roll. It is doable if the right bulldog gets on it. Hope there is a bulldog out there in at least one of the states.
I've heard that O'Keefe, Giles and Breitbart haven't even been served with process yet. Wonder if ACORN is getting cold feet. They really don't want to get into being deposed.
82-3221 .
for attention thank you
"Voter fraud or rather voter registration fraud are just symptoms of a far greater problem. And that is the lack of meaningful control and accountability by the membership. So don’t fault poor workers – blame the board!"
I don't care how much I needed a job, I wouldn't do something illegal to keep from losing it…"The poor workers"? The "poor workers" didn't bat an eye when asked to help with trafficking underage girls into the country for prostitution or when scheming up a way to help them cheat on taxes. The "poor workers" were all too willing to break the law and even seemed very proud of their "clever" ideas to help. ACORN is a blight on this country and you-know-who trained a lot of them…!
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