Time to Get Real About the ACORN "Controversy"--and Republican Double Standards

[wndycty]

Time to Get Real About the ACORN "Controversy"--and Republican Double Standards

By Robert Creamer (Rep. Jan Schakowsky's husband)

It's time to get real about the Republican distraction de jour - the great ACORN controversy.

The bottom line is this: if the same standard used to prevent ACORN from receiving federal contracts were applied to many large corporations -- Boeing, financial institutions like AIG and CitiCorp, not to speak of private military contractors like Blackwater -- they would all have been barred as federal contractors long ago. But instead of being blacklisted, many of them actually received billions of taxpayer dollars to bail them out.

ACORN has worked for decades to organize a nationwide grass roots community organization with a mission of empowering poor and moderate income people. ACORN has never been one of those outfits that seeks just to "represent" the interests of the poor. Since its inception it has been made up of poor and moderate income people themselves. Its members pay dues, elect their leadership and choose the battles that they fight. Its executives don't make huge salaries and - in my experience - most of its organizers and staff are true believers who really care about the battle for social justice.

The Right wing has always hated ACORN. Partially that's because the organization has been effective - especially when it comes to its battles for better housing and its campaigns to empower the poor the way we should do it in a democracy - registering people to vote. The Right wing hates it when poor people vote.
-snip-

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-creamer/time-to-get-real-about-th_b_292923.html

[tblue]

1. The poor, black, and disenfranchised are always held to a much higher standard.

Of course it's not fair! But Obama and the Dems will abandon ACORN like it's the sinking Titanic. They can turn this around, but first they'll have to get a new Exec. Director and call themselves something else. The name ACORN is now tarnished beyond repair. It's so sad. They've done a lot of good and people need them.

[sonias]

2. I agree with Creamer 100%

If the Rs are going to scream about the problems at ACORN then they better look in their own back yard as well. The huge military industry that gets billions of public dollars with pretty much no accountability. In terms of rooting out the corruption in government funding - the bigger bang for the buck will be ending the bailouts to Wallstreet firms and cutting off the no-bid contracts to Halliburton, KBR and Blackwater.

Go after the real crooks.

Sonia

[T Wolf]

3. I wrote my DINO Congresswoman (Schwartz - PA13) and asked her that exact question after

she voted to cut out ACORN funding.

Not that I am expecting anything in response. She is totally worthless as a "representative" of Democrats. She does do a great job though, for the Rendell machine and corporate Amerika.

[dennis4868]

4. I have been waiting and waiting....

for someone in the media to question one of these repubs who are yelling at the top of their lungs about ACORN regarding Balckwater and Halliburton. Both these entities committed fraud against the people and the government and received federal funds. Where were these same Repubs when this was all happening? Why don't they give a shit about those scandals? To be a repub today you must be a HYPOCRITE!!!!