Last week, we learned that the Department of Justice wants the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) to continue
receiving taxpayer dollars in spite of ongoing criminal investigations into widespread fraud and other illegal activities on the part of
ACORN officers and employees. Somehow the Department of Justice missed the fact that Congress overwhelmingly passed -- and the President
signed -- unambiguous legislation to strip ACORN of its funding.
Almost as soon as Congress acted to defund ACORN, the whining of the liberal establishment commenced. ACORN helped poor people, we were told.
ACORN's services were needed by tens of thousands of unemployed families facing immediate home foreclosure and job loss. ACORN was the
lifeline for neighborhood assistance, political empowerment, and community stabilization for untold numbers of disaffected, disenfranchised,
and downtrodden people.
But has ACORN really carved out a monopoly on assisting the poor, registering voters, and empowering the powerless? Do poor Americans have
nowhere else to turn but a nationwide syndicate of criminal miscreants, prostitution consultants, and bogus voter registrants masquerading as
community organizers?
Of course not, and the facts bear this out.
Defunding ACORN does not create a void in services available to homeowners in need of counseling and other support. ACORN Housing's mortgage
counseling, assistance, and community development programs are duplicative of those offered by dozens of other highly rated national
organizations.
In fact, Charity Navigator, the nation's largest and most-utilized evaluator of charities, ranks 57 housing and community development
charities across 26 states as exceptional, thus earning them a four-star rating for outperforming most other charities in their cause. An
additional 42 housing and community development charities across 19 states and the District of Columbia have received a three-star rating.
None of these agencies, by the way, have demonstrated a tendency for criminal misconduct.
Among those rated highly by Charity Navigator is the United Way, whose Financial Stability Partnership was created to provide financial
education and counseling support to help lower-income individuals and families achieve the skills necessary to become financially
independent, maximize income, build savings, and gain assets.
receiving taxpayer dollars in spite of ongoing criminal investigations into widespread fraud and other illegal activities on the part of
ACORN officers and employees. Somehow the Department of Justice missed the fact that Congress overwhelmingly passed -- and the President
signed -- unambiguous legislation to strip ACORN of its funding.
Almost as soon as Congress acted to defund ACORN, the whining of the liberal establishment commenced. ACORN helped poor people, we were told.
ACORN's services were needed by tens of thousands of unemployed families facing immediate home foreclosure and job loss. ACORN was the
lifeline for neighborhood assistance, political empowerment, and community stabilization for untold numbers of disaffected, disenfranchised,
and downtrodden people.
But has ACORN really carved out a monopoly on assisting the poor, registering voters, and empowering the powerless? Do poor Americans have
nowhere else to turn but a nationwide syndicate of criminal miscreants, prostitution consultants, and bogus voter registrants masquerading as
community organizers?
Of course not, and the facts bear this out.
Defunding ACORN does not create a void in services available to homeowners in need of counseling and other support. ACORN Housing's mortgage
counseling, assistance, and community development programs are duplicative of those offered by dozens of other highly rated national
organizations.
In fact, Charity Navigator, the nation's largest and most-utilized evaluator of charities, ranks 57 housing and community development
charities across 26 states as exceptional, thus earning them a four-star rating for outperforming most other charities in their cause. An
additional 42 housing and community development charities across 19 states and the District of Columbia have received a three-star rating.
None of these agencies, by the way, have demonstrated a tendency for criminal misconduct.
Among those rated highly by Charity Navigator is the United Way, whose Financial Stability Partnership was created to provide financial
education and counseling support to help lower-income individuals and families achieve the skills necessary to become financially
independent, maximize income, build savings, and gain assets.
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