Commerce Department’s Rejection of ACORN Application Belies Alternative Funding Sources

An ACORN affiliate that submitted applications totaling over $6 million in federal grant money for broadband projects has been declared ineligible as a result of guidance issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The ACORN Institute, a 501 (c) 3 group founded in 2000, submitted two separate applications to the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) earlier this year. One was in the amount of $3,172,042 and the other was for $2,999,903.

Funding for the grant program was included as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and was set up to “help bridge the technological divide and create jobs building Internet infrastructure,” according to the NTIA.

On its web site, the ACORN Institute (AI) describes itself as “a nationally respected provider of training and technical assistance in organizing principles and methods, a center for research and public policy development on issues of economic and social justice, and a provider of various services to low- to moderate-income individuals.” AI also includes an “experienced team” of “financial educators,” “tax preparers” and “benefits assistance specialists.”

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Tags: ACORN, ACORN federal funding, acorn scandal, Annie Casey Foundation, Capital Research Center
Posted Nov 10th 2009 at 11:23 am in ACORN, Big Labor, Congress, Politics, State Politics | 2835422 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/kmooney/2009/11/10/commerce-departments-rejection-of-acorn-application-belies-alternative-funding-sources/Commerce+Department%E2%80%99s+Rejection+of+ACORN+Application+Belies+Alternative+Funding+Sources2009-11-10+18%3A23%3A32Kevin+Mooney

Citigroup Executive Pulls Out of Sham ACORN Audit Under Pressure

Citigroup executive Eric Eve (pictured below) has resigned from ACORN’s phony, allegedly independent panel of inquiry, a move that removes one of the few people on the panel who could even remotely claim to actually be independent.

If you read between the lines, it also seems to mean Citigroup agrees the panel is a sham.

Eve, senior vice president of Global Consumer Group, Community Relations, at Citigroup, quit after the National Legal and Policy Center pressed Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit to cut ties with ACORN.

In a letter to NLPC president Peter Flaherty, Citigroup announced Eve’s resignation from the panel.

“We too are deeply concerned about the recent media reports regarding ACORN and, because of those reports, have suspended our charitable financial support and program relationships with ACORN, and we are awaiting the results of the independent audit of ACORN activities now underway,” wrote Natalie Abatemarco, Citigroup’s vice president, Global Community Relations.

“On a related topic, please be advised that Eric Eve has resigned his position on the ACORN Advisory Council,” she added.

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Tags: ACORN, ACORN 8, American Institute for Social Justice, Andrew Stern, Andy Stern
Posted Nov 5th 2009 at 6:01 pm in ACORN, News, Politics | 26186143 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/mvadum/2009/11/05/citigroup-executive-pulls-out-of-sham-acorn-audit-under-pressure/Citigroup+Executive+Pulls+Out+of+Sham+ACORN+Audit+Under+Pressure2009-11-06+01%3A01%3A15Matthew+Vadum

ACORN Paycheck Aside, Patrick Gaspard is a Radical

Several days ago, Capital Research Center’s Matthew Vadum published research here indicating an ACORN alumni in the White House (other than the president): Political Director Patrick Gaspard.  As I did three weeks prior at ACORNcracked.com, Matthew used a Wade Rathke blog as the source, which Rathke, the founder of ACORN,  immediately changed after Vadum’s report, citing “memory tricks.”  Politico led the way in poo-pooing the connection once Rathke played cover-up.

Rathke said it not only on his blog, but also at a book signing in New Orleans, which was recently covered in the Fox News Special: The Truth About ACORN.”  While we attended that book signing and were not able to get that portion on tape, the Fox documentary crew did.  Sadly, the remarks apparently ended up on the cutting room floor.

The fact is, Patrick Gaspard, Obama’s “Glue Man,” is more important than Van Jones ever hoped of being.  The fact is, one of the most critical and influential jobs in a White House, the Director of Political Affairs, is occupied by a former SEIU health care lobbyist and ACORN organizer.  To be exact, he was Executive Vice President–the #2–at SEIU 1199 in New York City.

After Gaspard was appointed to the White House, Carribbean Voice quoted him as saying, “I grew up in 1199…and I will always be an 1199er wherever I am.”  SEIU’s luxury is that now taxpayers are paying for it.

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Tags: 527 organization, ACORN, Al Sharpton, America Coming Together, Barack Obama
Posted Oct 5th 2009 at 8:45 am in ACORN, Big Labor, Obama | 1207028 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/kolson/2009/10/05/acorn-paycheck-aside-patrick-gaspard-is-a-radical/ACORN+Paycheck+Aside%2C+Patrick+Gaspard+is+a+Radical2009-10-05+15%3A45%3A36Kyle+Olson

ACORN’S Enron-Style Accounting: Playing Musical Chairs with Big Money

The activities of the radical, corrupt to the core, left-wing Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, which has tangled itself up in an infinitely complex web of deceit, thuggery, and questionable financial dealings, are long overdue for a RICO probe.

Recent well-publicized events that I need not recount here show ACORN’s criminal propensities. In a moment I’ll explain how ACORN’s financial affairs ought to raise a red flag for investigators at the U.S. Department of Justice, but first some background.

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, which was created to prosecute organized crime, allows the federal government to go after individuals who commit any two RICO-related crimes over a decade. The law allows courts to convict persons if it can be shown that they committed those crimes as part of an illegal enterprise and can order disgorgement of their ill-gotten gains from the enterprise.

RICO is the right tool for the job.

Perhaps it’s the only tool for the job because the ACORN network is deliberately structured to deter scrutiny. Its nebulous legal status and opaque corporate structure allow it to keep its activities largely hidden from public view.

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Tags: ACORN, ACORN International Inc., Affiliated Media/Foundation Movement, American Institute for Social Justice Inc., American Spectator
Posted Sep 25th 2009 at 7:10 am in ACORN, Big Labor, Obama | 797431 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/mvadum/2009/09/25/acorns-enron-style-accounting-playing-musical-chairs-with-big-money/ACORN%E2%80%99S+Enron-Style+Accounting%3A+Playing+Musical+Chairs+with+Big+Money2009-09-25+14%3A10%3A22Matthew+Vadum