Berna Lewis is Shocked…

Shocked!

Outraged” by the behavior of her employees, ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis said, “all of our employees, if they’re too stupid to understand that they’re not reaching professional standards, we terminate them.”

One might wonder, given ACORN’s history of trying to avoid paying even the minimum wage to its employees, whether inadequate training expenditures combined with exemplary executive thievery were more to blame than staff stupidity. One should wonder how management could hire so many stupid employees, from New York City to San Diego, and then blame the employees for stupidity. One is compelled to wonder what Ms Lewis means by “professional standards.” Does that simply mean “the ability to get away with it?”

The question arises because this “fired if they’re too stupid to reach professional standards” criterion was not applied to Dale Rathke, brother of ACORN founder Wayne Rathke. Dale embezzled a million dollars from ACORN, and Wayne covered it up for 8 years. When the board was informed, some directors demanded a comprehensive investigation. They were fired. They have their own website, ACORN 8, founded to help bring some accountability to ACORN.

Ms Lewis promised that ACORN would announce the identity of a “independent investigator” today. This has not worked well in the past, so perhaps she can tell him or her to start here (RTWT):

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 nonprofit 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.

Emerging accounts of widespread deceit and corruption raise the need for a criminal investigation of ACORN. By intentionally blurring the legal distinctions between 361 tax-exempt and non-exempt entities, ACORN diverts taxpayer and tax-exempt monies into partisan political activities. Since 1994, more than $53 million in federal funds have been pumped into ACORN, and under the Obama administration, ACORN stands to receive a whopping $8.5 billion in available stimulus funds.

Operationally, ACORN is a shell game played in 120 cities, 43 states and the District of Columbia through a complex structure designed to conceal illegal activities, to use taxpayer and tax-exempt dollars for partisan political purposes, and to distract investigators. Structurally, ACORN is a chess game in which senior management is shielded from accountability by multiple layers of volunteers and compensated employees who serve as pawns to take the fall for every bad act.

The report that follows presents evidence obtained from former ACORN insiders that completes the picture of a criminal enterprise.

…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).

Reading that paper would give an independent investigator a leg up in figuring out why 5 ACORN offices felt that they were not only qualified, but that it was their duty, to give advice on the specific lies necessary to get Federal funds for the purchase of a house where 13 year old illegal aliens would be used as sex slaves – and to avoid taxes on the proceeds.

The leadership is outraged at the staffers? Why aren’t they handing out bonuses?

Insufficently COI

COI is another acronym for ACORN.

The fact that ACORN employees in Baltimore MD, Washington DC, Brooklyn NY and San Bernardino, CA all gave the same advice to a couple looking for a housing loan is not surprising and is certainly evidence of organizational practice and preference.

If the New York Times is your news source, or if you watch any of the TV networks for news, you would not know the couple were openly posing as pimp and madam looking for a loan to open a brothel, using underage illegal immigrants and to avoid taxes on the proceeds. In all 4 cities ACORN reps gave essentially the same advice: Lie on the loan application, lie about the nature of your business, lie to the IRS, and avoid certain behaviors likely to attract the attention of immigration authorities or vice squads looking for sex slave operations. Not one ACORN rep questioned the morality of the business plan, or even demurred on the concept.

In light of these revelations ACORN has taken several actions. First, they fired the employees who were exposed. This is consistent with the “ACORN defense,” established in the dozen or so cases where they are charged with voter registration fraud: “It was individual employees, not the organization.” This is SOP.

Second, they accused the people who did the filming and anyone who reported it of “smearing” ACORN. The “vast right-wing conspiracy,” don’t you know, tends to be racist. This is a standard ACORN response.

Third, ACORN says workers conduct ‘indefensible’
Suspends, plans audit, in wake of videos

ACORN, calling the actions of some of its employees “indefensible,” has suspended advising new clients as part of its service programs and is setting up an independent review to see what happened.

ACORN chief executive Bertha Lewis said in a written statement that she was “ordering a halt to any new intakes into ACORN’s service programs until completion of an independent review.”

The actions were taken, she said, “as a result of indefensible action of a handful of our employees.”

Videos of ACORN workers giving tax advice to people posing as prostitutes and other revelations have led to growing criticism of the organization in recent days.

Now, I think I’d suspend operations, too. But it would not be because I thought any reasonable observer (even the Senate has voted 83-7 to withhold funding from ACORN) would think an “independent investigation” would change organizational practices extending from New York to California, or even identify organizational practices as a problem. If that were the result of such an investigation, the “ACORN defense” disappears.

No, I would do it because I wouldn’t want any more of my employees caught on tape telling people how to obtain funding for a prostitution ring using underage illegal immigrants, avoid the law and cheat on taxes – or dispensing extra-credit advice about how to murder a husband and get away with it.

For the children

“Posterity — you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it.”
–John Quincy Adams

Today, we must put this differently:

“Posterity — you will never finish paying the costs I incurred in order to promote community organizing as THE national priority. I hope you will make good on your involuntary servitude.”
–Barack Hussein Obama

ACORN gets COI

ACORN is changing their name to Community Organizations International.

ACORN drops tarnished name and moves to silence critics

Sort of like changing “Global Warming” to “Climate Change.” Or “Liberal” to “Progressive.” Or “Terrorism” to “Man Caused Disaster.” Or “Extraordinary Rendition” to “Friends Helping Friends Executive Order.”

New brand. Get rid of the baggage.

I think they missed a bet with BHOGUS, myself. The GUS could be Gutting the United States, for example. A little work might improve that.

If they had to have COI, though, they could have picked from several better expansions –

  • Conflict Of Interest
  • Confluence Of Idiotarians
  • Congress Of Indigents
  • Chicago Oligarchy Imperative

or my personal favorite:

  • Comrade Obama Internationale

And if they’d asked me I could have saved them some money on redoing the signs. Community Organizations Respecting Nothing only requires selling a vowel. It stays in the vegetable kingdom too, instead of rhyming with pampered fish.

Well, here’s to publicizing the fact that ACORN is becoming COI. A nut by any other name…

Update 24-Jun, 7:54PM
Nice related graphic here.