The American Spectator : ACORN's California Makeover

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ACORN's California Makeover

By Matthew Vadum on 1.21.10 @ 6:07AM

The largest state chapter in ACORN's dubious empire finds a cynical way to keep the money coming in.

With help from docile Democratic politicians and journalists, ACORN is attempting to perpetrate yet another spectacular fraud on the American people.

After the American public saw the true face of ACORN last year, hidden camera videos showing its workers across the nation bending over backwards to facilitate underage prostitution, fraud, immigrant smuggling, and tax evasion in the name of social justice, ACORN realized it needed to take emergency action to protect its revenue streams.

So among other measures the embattled radical advocacy group is changing the name of its largest state chapter in an effort to keep tax dollars and foundation grants flowing into its coffers. ACORN feels it needs to do this because California ACORN is a critical component of the ACORN empire, boasting 37,000 dues-paying members.

With the fallout from the hidden camera videos, congressional funding of ACORN's election fraud and racketeering business is no longer guaranteed, so ACORN decided to reconstitute its California operation as the "new" group Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE).

ACCE claims that it is "up and running as an independent state-wide organization with no legal, financial or structural ties to ACORN."

Of course we know that ACCE is lying. How do we know this?

For starters, because ACCE's new executive director is Amy Schur. Schur is a loyal 20-year-plus ACORN employee who has shown her willingness to get her hands dirty for the cause.

Marcel Reid, a former member of ACORN's national board, said Schur is corrupt and hopelessly tainted. "If there was true reform, why would Amy Schur be the head of ACCE?" she said.

Reid, who with other ACORN whistleblowers formed a group called ACORN 8, was expelled from ACORN in 2008 when she tried to investigate a nearly $1 million embezzlement by founder Wade Rathke's brother.

According to the ACORN 8, Schur participated in an eight-year long cover-up of the theft whose exposure in 2008 led to Rathke's ouster.

ACORN insiders say Schur has intimate knowledge of how ACORN operates. Schur has been in charge of the group's national campaigns and is likely to testify later this year in Nevada when ACORN goes on trial for illegally paying canvassers to register Nevada voters in the 2008 presidential campaign. Her testimony could be devastating to ACORN because it could publicly air many of the group's skeletons.

Then there's the fact that ACCE registered with the California secretary of state's office on Dec. 8, the day after the so-called independent review of ACORN by former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger that claimed to clear ACORN of wrongdoing.

ACCE's office address is shown in the registration as 3655 S. Grand Ave., Suite 250, Los Angeles 90007. That address just so happens to be the address of California ACORN's headquarters too.

A new splinter group trying to make a clean break with the original group would presumably have the good sense not to operate out of the original group's office.

Or not.

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topics:
ACORN, Political Corruption

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 (15) | Leave a comment

metin2 yang| 1.21.10 @ 6:41AM

Good thing I'm not a youngin', otherwise that figure would skyrocket.

I agree.

Ret. Marine| 1.21.10 @ 7:12AM

You know what they say "you can put lipstick on a pig but, it's still a pig". Maybe ol'e big bertha has something to hide. Skeletons anyone?

rhonda welsch| 1.23.10 @ 11:09PM

http://michellemalkin.com/2009.....hagen-e...

Let's start following the cheaters and their money- this is blatant manipulation and Obama should be impeached for giving this criminal a voice in our Nation's affairs. Soros states clearly that The United States Congress is a problem because they must agree to the Green Energy Manifesto-he said. “All that is lacking is the political will. Unfortunately the political will will be difficult to gather because of the mere fact that it requires congressional approval in the United States.” Soros said he had “informal discussions” with Obama administration officials and they recognized the difficulty of getting congressional approval. But he said the issue was too important to sweep aside. That would support the little O's big numerous actions to usurp the authority away from our congress so as to fulfill Soros' agenda. Please read Malkin's article first and then this and feel free to contribute to the discussion.

I want to be positive and I must say I am absolutely positive that the corruption in our government knows no boundaries and the only hope we have is in the complete replacement of all incumbents and their staff. It is time to shut down this government as it no longer represents the will of We the People, and is therefore a Tyrannical misrepresentation of our governments original intent. The Law of the land must be restored immediately and the criminal elites- aka "the progressives" must be exposed and called out. That goes for "all" the progressives no matter what aisle they sit on. The political agenda which abounds at this time if left unchecked,will bring certain destruction to our nation and all in power now should be suspect!
I hate to sound preachy, but God only knows how we will survive this.
The commitment and sacrifice that will be required on the part of all citizens is going to be very significant and we had better prepare for what will truly be required.
MADE in the USA should be a voluntary mandate- that will help reduce our debt. No more deficit spending-period. Our children and grandchildren will not be able to survive the unsustainable financial burden we are imposing on them and it is about time "We the People" exercise our 1st amendment rights publicly and refuse to adhere to the constraints of political correctness. It will be the absolute Death of Liberty if we do not address this issue head on in this election cycle.
O and Holder are Treasonous enemies of the State and their own words and deeds since elected prove it. Impeachment should be the first order of business after the elections. Someone needs to write thr orders now!
I withdraw consent and will exercise my 2nd amendment right as a birth right God gave me. I have the right to defend my country, my children, and myself against Tyranny. America's only guarantee of freedom is through this right. If it is lost all will be lost. Guns do not kill people, dirty politicians and other violent criminals do!
The three strikes rule must apply to politicians too- when they violate their oath of office time and time again it is imperative that we do what we are obligated to do: Defend our Mother country and kick the bastards out!
The United States of America came with a blessing from God and much blood shed- let us never forget the blood! Jesus sure didn't! We must put the welfare of our nation and her future first for if we do not we will be exterminated. It is now or never and all True Americans must get engaged. Silence and apathy are no longer options! Nov.2nd, 2010 vote the incumbent out!!!!!!

S.L. Toddard| 1.21.10 @ 8:25AM

mon⋅o⋅ma⋅ni⋅a
–noun
1. (no longer in technical use) a psychosis characterized by thoughts confined to one idea or group of ideas.
2. an inordinate or obsessive zeal for or interest in a single thing, idea, subject, or the like.

MOS was 71331| 1.21.10 @ 10:11AM

Can't these advertising posts be removed? They have no relevance to the discussion.

Dustoff| 1.21.10 @ 9:37AM

Time to DE-fund these crooks.

Ken (Old Texican)| 1.21.10 @ 9:57AM

Matthew,

Thanks for the head's up! We appreciate it.

Pete| 1.21.10 @ 1:02PM

Why is there no vocal Republican champion of this issue? Someone who is in front of a camera with some frequency needs to be on this like a pit-bull.

Tim| 1.21.10 @ 4:05PM

The tree doesn't fall far from the acorn does it?

Osamas Pajamas| 1.22.10 @ 12:06AM

There has to be a way to destroy these bloodsuckers. There's no reason why taxpayers should pay even one cent to government or private organizations to fund "empowerment" or "community organizing" or "get out the vote drives." Choke off their supply of hijacked funds and boycott any corporations which fund them with private money. Run all of these creeps head first into a stone wall.

Marc Jeric| 1.22.10 @ 4:36PM

It is a big mistake to underestimate ACORN brownshirts. They constitute a system of local soviets (community organizations were called soviets in the USSR), headed by Obama, our Community Organizer-in-Chief. They are in charge of the 2010 census - they will register illegal aliens as voters, ignore white Republicans, redefine election limits, and lie,lie,lie.

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Converse| 8.11.11 @ 10:51PM

is good

Jamie| 9.27.11 @ 12:37PM

If the standard for affiliation is that an executive used to work somewhere else, then every company in the Fortune 500 is effectively part of the same conglomerate, having played a game of unending musical chairs among the C-suite staff for decades.