The American Spectator : Lien on Me

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Lien on Me

By Matthew Vadum on 10.28.08 @ 1:48PM

ACORN's squirrelly liberals agitate for higher taxes but don't like paying them.

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) and its affiliates are content to impose crippling big-government laws, regulations, and taxes on Americans, but when called upon to obey those same rules, ACORN's network of scofflaws and deadbeats simply refuses to comply.

The most egregious example is the fact that more than 200 federal, state, and local tax liens adding up to more than $3 million have been filed against the ACORN network since 1989. All of these liens, which are only issued by creditor tax agencies after a tax debt has become seriously delinquent, are associated with ACORN's 1024 Elysian Fields Avenue address in New Orleans, Louisiana. That address is the official headquarters for nearly 300 ACORN-affiliated groups.

The most recent lien ($23,383) was filed by the IRS against an ACORN affiliate, American Workers Associates Inc., on Sept. 9. The largest lien ($547,312) was filed against ACORN itself by the IRS on March 10.

You may remember that during this year's primaries, the presidential campaign of Barack Obama paid $832,598 to Citizens Services Inc., an ACORN affiliated nonprofit registered in Louisiana, for get-out-the-vote activities. My research determined that ACORN affiliate Project Vote (a.k.a. Voting for America Inc.) also paid ACORN affiliate Citizens Services Inc. a total of $1,206,942 in 2005 and 2006.

Despite these huge cash injections, Citizens Services Inc. still can't make ends meet. Two liens filed against it in 2007 by Arkansas ($568) and Maryland ($357) remain outstanding.

Federal tax laws make it virtually impossible to find out what kinds of taxes the ACORN affiliates didn't feel like paying. As IRS spokesman Anthony Burke told me, "federal tax law precludes federal employees from disclosing tax return information." An exception to this is a federal tax lien filed at a county court house. That information may be public but "anything beyond that would be protected by the disclosure provisions of the federal tax law," Burke said.

Even though it's unclear what kinds of taxes ACORN and its affiliates failed to pay, because almost all ACORN affiliates are nonprofits that are exempted from paying most or all taxes, it seems likely that the liens were issued for non-payment of employees' payroll taxes, which are not covered under the tax-exemption.

Several accountants confirmed this view, saying the tax debts are probably related to delinquent payroll taxes. If so, this would be the ultimate irony because payroll taxes fund the social programs and wealth redistribution schemes that ACORN so ardently supports. (See Foundation Watch (pdf), November 2008.)

But ACORN's refusal to pay taxes is just the tip of the iceberg. The group has used the courts to wage war on the same worker protections it publicly supports.

ACORN stoutly defends the right of workers to organize unions, but the group doesn't like it when its own workers try to organize. It has tried to stop its own employees from signing up with unions, and in 2003 the National Labor Relations Board determined it had unlawfully blocked its workers from organizing.

ACORN supports raising the minimum wage and enacting so-called living wage policies, and claims it organized community and labor coalitions that succeeded in enacting living wage laws in 41 cities by the end of the 1990s.

Yet a 2003 study of ACORN by the Employment Policies Institute found the group paid a wage of $5.67 per hour, which was "less than half the level demanded by many proposed 'living wage' ordinances that ACORN supports."

And in 2006, $250-a-week Baltimore ACORN intern Sandra Stewart told Baltimore City Paper that the Baltimore chapter hadn't bothered to pay her for her work. Three other former ACORN workers told the paper that the group failed to pay them back wages.

In 1995, ACORN sued California seeking an exemption from the state law that requires it to pay its own employees a minimum wage. ACORN, which argued that keeping its employees in poverty helps to boost their zeal to help the poor, lost.

Even though it supports the continued imposition of equal employment opportunity laws on the rest of America, it argued in a separate lawsuit that same year that it shouldn't have to comply with those laws. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had to sue ACORN to force it comply with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the crown jewel of the civil rights movement's legislative accomplishments. (See Labor Watch (pdf), November 2008.)

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topics:
Taxes

About the Author

Matthew Vadum is an award-winning investigative journalist at a conservative watchdog group in Washington, D.C. Vadum is also author of Subversion Inc: How Obama's ACORN Red Shirts are Still Terrorizing and Ripping Off American Taxpayers.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (25) | Leave a comment

Marc Jeric| 10.28.08 @ 2:53PM

ACORN and its affiliates are the shock troups of the revolutionary marxist movement engaged in voter registration fraud, actual voting fraud, voter intimidation, and illegal and violent demonstrations. Barack Obama is their actual and spiritual leader, financial benefactor, and advocate.

Joe Ironsides| 10.29.08 @ 10:20AM

Under Obama, patriotism will be measured using neuromodulation implants under the skin. We need to root out conservatist style patriotism everywhere and what better way than to require all pacemakers and other electrical implants - maybe even those nonelectrical - to be wired to detect the wrong kind of patriotism. The borders, language and culture kind. Once detected, easily corrected. This follows from the biggest implant of them all - Obama.

use logic| 10.29.08 @ 10:28AM

To Obama Rules: If you'll read your own Palin quote carefully, you should notice that she said paying HIGHER taxes was not patriotic, not that paying taxes was not patriotic.

Albert| 10.29.08 @ 11:02AM

Paying any taxes to a private foreign controlled United States corporation is NOT paytriotic. Patriotic means you support a private corporation called government, whether they are right or wrong. They could kill 10 million people and if you supported it, then you would be patriotic.I wish people would not be so ignorant of history to see they are but good little slaves when buying into this "patriotic" crap

Luke Gravely| 10.29.08 @ 11:36AM

I might believe that ACORN were working for voting rights if they were registering Republicans, Libertarians, etc. Problem is, they're only registering Democrats!
BHO's denials of affiliation with them is only more example of how the left accomplishes it's goals through lying. There has been very little truthful in his whole campaign except the slip with "Joe the Plumber"----"...share the wealth..." Those who sincerely want someone different are in the position of useful idiots. He is an ardent socialist/communist after all! Nothing he does or says has changed my views on that. He can promise all the great stuff he can--but it doesn't change the basics of his strategy--lie, smokescreen, cover-up, deny--and move on to the next dupe.
But, due to our ease of living and wonderful excess, we have become fat and lazy--ripe for the picking , as it were. So, we're getting what we deserve. Democracy requires practice to keep up one's skills--the very same as an athlete, and we have leaned the lazy-boy all the way back and paid attention to the circus!
God help us!
Luke

Yanni.Znaio| 10.29.08 @ 12:31PM

To: Obama Rules

When others make posts which counter your arguments, do you *always* answer them with talking points which are non sequitur to what they have said?

You'd best take a Ritalin, lest you forget to vote on Tuesday.

Or not.

David J| 10.29.08 @ 12:50PM

Paying our taxes is the second most patriotic thing we can do here "in the middle class of America." The most patriotic thing that I can think of is dying for the great freedoms of this country.
Well, Mr. Obama Lover, nobody is stopping you from paying the IRS all the money you would like to offer up! If you thing that makes you Patriotic, then go ahead. Just don't tell the rest of us (who have a different definition of "patriotism" than you) we have to believe as you do.
Patriotism is to love your country, and has nothing to do with Socialistic monitary policy.

Rickyb| 10.29.08 @ 3:05PM

Obama Rules, what do you really believe? Have you served in office? The military? Community organizing?

You stated earlier ." The most patriotic thing that I can think of is dying for the great freedoms of this country. " You have a lot of diatribe (arguments) but I am confused as to your motives...

roddog| 10.29.08 @ 3:37PM

This is amazing information that should be front and center on our network news, but alas they cover it up. Choosing instead to vilify a citizen that would dare ask Obama a hard question. Or destroy an news anchor for doing her job rather than worshiping at Obama's feet.

@ Obama Rules...your words tell your story. You are typical of all the liberals I know. Long on passion and vitriol, and extremely short on logic, common sense and intelligence.

Marco| 10.29.08 @ 3:39PM

"Obama Rules" your insults (to quote President Sarkozy in regards to Obama's infantile flailings on Iran) are "utterly immature" based on "formulations empty of all content". The next time you post on here please do yourself a favor; pop a few ADD pills, calm down, do some research, take a deep breath and think before you type. Thank you.

atlas collins| 10.29.08 @ 4:30PM

"But, alas, I am afraid, that the next posting will probably ridicule Obama as an "elitist, socialist, anti-American, who will ruin this country ..."

Exactly!

And he hates white people too.

rickyb| 10.29.08 @ 4:31PM

I am glad you responded Obama rules. I cannot go into all of the issues brought up but I like the idea of discussing things a little more slowly with thoght and without all the emotion. So much rhetoric and name calling by both sides muddies the water (so to speak). this election has most of us worried for good reason, but for most people to vote because of the economy is wrong. There are too many other important issues than money. I gave 21 years of my productive life to serve in the armed forces and had to give up many of my rights so others could have theirs. I am not bitter and don't hate either side, I believe however we should defend our freedoms which big government can easily take away.

ruth| 10.29.08 @ 4:57PM

Don't try to reason with Obomber Rules, he's off his meds.

Ms. Know| 10.30.08 @ 12:55AM

This can't come as a shock to anyone, they are a company built on fraud. Just imagine what they'll get away with their Ivy-League illuminati friends in control.

MPR| 9.15.09 @ 2:18PM

ACORN has been criminalizing the way in which the government and housing programs are supposed to work. ACORN has flexed it's muscles and made the possibility of Obama as president, almost in control of our census and commited fraud in about every way possible. Discuss it at www.speakoutforfreedom.com

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