Robert Creamer: Time to Get Real About ACORN Controversy

[Louisiana1976]

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.

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

[BlooInBloo]

1. I'm still trying to figure out what it is about ACORN that gets DUers and Beck on the same side.

[Louisiana1976]

2. Me, too!

[NoSheep]

4. Racism?

[Enthusiast]

5. The misinformation campaign?

Seems to have been effective.

[applegrove]

3. IMPORTANT POST!!! Thanks for posting this. It cannot be said enough.