Obama favors investigation into ACORN scandal
Published: September 21, 2009
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says there should be an investigation into the hidden-camera video involving employees at the activist group ACORN and a couple posing as a prostitute and her pimp.
The two ACORN workers are seen apparently advising the couple to lie about her profession and launder her earnings to get housing aid.
The video is only the latest problem for the group, which had nearly $1 million embezzled by its founder’s brother and has been accused of voter registration fraud. The House and Senate voted last week to deny federal funds to ACORN.
Obama told ABC’s “This Week” in an interview broadcast Sunday that what he saw on the video “was certainly inappropriate and deserves to be investigated.“ But the president did not say who should investigate. And he said it is not a major national issue he pays much attention to.
“Frankly, it’s not really something I’ve followed closely,“ Obama said. “I didn’t even know that ACORN was getting a whole lot of federal money.“
Asked about the president calling for an investigation, ACORN chief executive Bertha Lewis said Sunday, “Well, that’s his opinion.“
ACORN said last week it would order its own investigation of the video scandal. Lewis, who had promised to name an independent auditor by Friday, told “Fox News Sunday” that the announcement would take place Monday. She would not reveal the auditor.
Later Sunday, Lewis issued a statement saying, “We agree with President Obama’s comments today that issues raised by the videos need to be investigated.“
In the meantime, the group has suspended the admission of new clients to its housing program.
“Over the next several weeks, you will see us working triple time to get this review right so that we can refocus attention on ACORN’s critical work for low- and moderate-income families,“ Lewis said in the statement.
The government is investigating ACORN’s activities, though the scope of its activity is unknown. Voter registration fraud cases involving ACORN workers are pending. The Housing and Urban Development Department’s inspector general has acknowledged an investigation is under way.
ACORN — short for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now — started in 1970 in Arkansas to help the poor and today is a national, multimillion-dollar conglomerate. ACORN’s political action committee endorsed Obama for president, and his campaign paid an ACORN subsidiary $832,000 to help get out the vote.
Obama, himself a former community organizer, has long-standing ties to the group, which he represented in 1995 in a lawsuit against the state of Illinois over the “motor-voter” law.
The group’s Democratic leanings and political work have make it a target of Republicans, who led the drive last week to deny it any further federal funds.
California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, pressed Lewis to reveal more about the group’s operations.
“The bottom line is, there’s no transparency in ACORN,“ said Issa, who also was on Fox.
“Here we have literally hundreds of organizations tied under the ACORN umbrella, and you can’t even find out what their incorporation is, whether they pay taxes, who makes what,“ Issa said.
Lewis said she has made sure, since becoming chief executive last year, that affiliates have “firewalls” between them. “I’ve completely overhauled all of our finances, all of our controls,“ she said.
She also said founder Wade Rathke was fired immediately after it was discovered his brother, Dale, stole nearly $1 million from the organization nine years ago. In fact, Wade Rathke learned of the embezzlement in 2000, told only a few people but failed to report the embezzlement to law enforcement. An anonymous donor compensated the group for the missing money.
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And then some——
Apparently the language used in the congressional anti-ACORN legislation was broad enough to include the myriad corruptions found in the defense industry as well. Contractors previously shielded from binding consequences by the PATRIOT Act and like protective measures are now presumably subject to losing their funding on the basis of perpetrated frauds.
I’ve always thought that ACORN’s misgivings were widely misconstrued for political purposes, that is, an exaggerated affect was attributed to an inherently disorganized organization. But it appears that the inflated activism has paid off in dividends if this broader interpretation of the bill survives.
(Briefly my skepticism of ACORN’s critics: There was the accusation that ACORN was the seed of a fascist security force ala the Turner Diaries. Ridiculous, but the implication seemingly seeks to draw out a violent impulse to revolt.)
Does this mean we can look forward to an investigation into how ACORN spent the $800,000 they reveived from the Obama camp during the presidential campaign? After all, voter fraud doesn’t come cheap.
“( GuidoMcGinty )I’m outraged at any level of waste but singling out ACORN is juvenile.“
You must be the only one in the free world to miss the video of ACORN. They singled themselves out. Now they should have all funding cut off. To do less is juvenile.
Proof positive Obama is a job creator. ACORN (The Alliance to Conserve Old Richmond Neighborhoods) now has to spend much needed resources to legally change their name and have reams full of stationary reprinted. Just so there is no confusion with the corrupt Obama’s ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now).
Think of all the lumberjacks, truckers, paper mill workers, printers, lawyers and bureaucrats that will be employed so this change can be made.
You guys are so emotional. Somebody has a broken heart, maybe? Anyways, you always hurt those closest to you.
From the local scene:
“In an email today, the Alliance to Conserve Old Richmond Neighborhoods announced that they will no longer use the ACORN acronym:
As the recent, unpleasant news about the national ACORN organization has been on and in the news, we have received phone calls and e-mail messages asking if we are part of– or affiliated with– that group. Unfortunately, we have received more than one ugly, unpleasant communication.
In an effort to avoid spending any more time explaining our non-association with the national entity, we have made the decision to stop using the “A.C.O.R.N.” acronym and will revert to our full, six-word name– which we hope will make our mission and work clear to the general public. The Alliance to Conserve Old Richmond Neighborhoods is proud of its history and mission and hope to continue to serve our city and its residents to make Richmond the best it can be for all of us. “
Gil from Mechanic:
President Obama continues to destroy his credibility with his statements on the subject. How could he not know when a half a billion dollars a year is ear marked to any organization. I think his denials are a little too convenient.
Is there a source for your number of $500MM per year? I’m showing that ACORN has received $53MM in fed funding since 1994, or $3.5MM per year on average. You’re off by a factor of 142.
Meanwhile, over $11,000,000,000,000 has been spent or pledged to various bailouts and stimulus measures. I’m outraged at any level of waste but singling out ACORN is juvenile.
12Step: Read the first paragraph of the article. If you want to quibble with someone, then take it up with the AP that chose to attempt to slant the story. I likewise think it’s disingenuous for the President to distance himself from ACORN when the record is pretty clear he has a ‘past’ with them. A reasonable person would be led to believe certain things, but an internal investigation by ACORN won’t clear the air. Last thing: Why are the state of Maryland and the City of Baltimore attempting to bring the couple who did the videos up on charges for invasion of privacy and entrapment? Sorry, the way Obama phrased his answer it can be spun either way, but I would expect a more clear-cut position from him on such a slimy story.
Dave, don’t you think that’s a little bit of a stretch and twist of the intent of the statement?
“what he saw on the video ‘was certainly inappropriate and deserves to be investigated.‘ “
... coupled with: “We agree with President Obama’s comments today that issues raised by the videos need to be investigated.“
A reasonable person would be led to believe the government would be investigating the actions of the ACORN employees and issues with ACORN itself, not the investigators who videotaped it.
Boy, this is “Breaking News”...... a week late.
Yes, we need an investigation—of the whistleblowers. The comment was beneath contempt. People speaking of opening brothels with underage illegal immigrants with ACORN offering advice and assistance, and the best we can get from Obama is that we should call into question the people exposing this.
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