Lisa Fithian–the radical organizer whose role in Occupy was first exposed at Big Government–has apparently confirmed that ACORN-linked organizations are leading the Occupy movement’s next major protest action against banks nationwide.

Fox News reported earlier today that remnants of ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), the radical community organizing group that collapsed after its corruption was exposed by Big Government, are playing a “behind the scenes” role in organizing the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations.

The Fox News investigation followed Matthew Vadum’s report two weeks ago at Big Government that ACORN was paying people to attend the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York through the Working Families Party, an ACORN front group.

Now, Big Government has learned that in an email (below) sent by Fithian to Occupy organizers and supporters on October 22, 2011, she reported that the “New Bottom Line”–an effort to move as much money out of major banks as possible on November 5th–is being led by several ACORN-linked organizations: “National People’s Action, National Pico Network, and Alliance for Just and Sustainable Economy and other key state groups like ACCE in CA, NYCC in NY, or MORE in St. Louis.”

Fithian New Bottom Line

ACCE (Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment), NYCC (New York Communities for Change), and MORE (Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment), are apparently nothing more than reconstituted ACORN branches.

National People’s Action, PICO National Network, and Alliance for a Just Society are all closely linked to ACORN. At the time of ACORN’s collapse, National People’s Action in particular vowed publicly to pick up where ACORN left off: “Organizations can come and go, but what’s important is that people who want to come together should have the opportunity to…identify their interests and work on them together.” These groups have also collaborated on similar ACORN-style campaigns against banks in the recent past.

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Even though the condition of the Oakland Unified School District is so bad that the state of California had to take it over, don’t expect the Oakland Education Association to be bothered with such trivialities.

So what if thousands of school children are trapped in lousy schools and will have few opportunities for success after they graduate? That’s not really what the Oakland teachers union is about, man. Providing students with a quality education isn’t really their bag.

You might say that the OEA has “progressed” beyond such things. These days the union is dedicating its time and energy to protesting. . .banks?

It’s sad but true.

Jack Gerson is one of the OEA’s most prominent leaders and a well-known radical agitator.  Recently Gerson explained that the union is partnering with the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) to protest banks over foreclosures and the bailout money, at a time when public school employees are being asked to make cuts. (Why does Gerson matter?  You’ll have to wait ‘til the end!)

Before going any further, it is important to note that ACCE is simply the newest incarnation of the old war horse ACORN. The same corrupt officials who oversaw ACORN are still in charge.

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Sometimes, the news coming out of Southern California is more entertaining than the movies coming out of Southern California.

Last week the  37,000-member California state chapter of ACORN broke away from its national organization to form a new nonprofit group called the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment. Amy Schur, executive director of ACORN ACCE in California, says the decision was made because “the level of controversy had become a significant distraction for us.”

So let me get this straight. The California ACORN chapter, which includes the San Bernardino group that was featured in the ACORN videos providing advice for human smuggling and prostitution, and the San Diego chapter, that conducted what looked like the world’s biggest document dump just before the AG’s agents arrived, wants to split off from the national organization because they say the national group has problems.

If anything, the national group should split off from the California group and beat them to the punch.

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The California chapter of ACORN has split from the group and changed its name.

Thousands of Californians who live in or close to poverty in the state have worked hard for decades to score victories that level the playing field. They’ve passed laws that increase affordable housing and raise the minimum wage, so they can provide for their families. They’ve also spent their personal time, which is in chronically short supply, pushing for better teachers and textbooks so the kids in their neighborhoods can have better opportunities. On these and other issues the odds have been against them, but these Californians leveraged their significant numbers with coordinated grassroots organizing to achieve victory.

Until now, they carried out this work as a chapter of the national organization ACORN. Until now, governance and financial management resided at the national level. In recent months it has become increasingly clear to the leadership, staff and members in California that the serious challenges ACORN is facing are jeopardizing the important work we are doing here in California.

The new entity will be called Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE). It will, on paper at least, be entirely separate now from ACORN. The relationship will be what Wade Rathke characterized the relationship between ACORN and ACORN Housing. ACORN is its own entity and ACCE is its own entity and the two are fighting for common goals.

It’s important to note that most, if not all, of the staff and board of ACORN in California will be kept on with the new company. In fact, at the bottom of the press release the contact person is Amy Schur. Schur, according to a source, was privvy to the knowledge that Dale Rathke had been involved in embezzlement from ACORN and kept that knowledge from the board.

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