Lets put some perspective on ACORN

I was listening to Friday's Rachel Maddow show, and I am soooo glad she is covering this ACORN thing and will continue to do so over the coming days.

Here a summery of what was discussed and said. Her guest on this segment was Jeremy Scahill, correspondent for "The Nation" and author of the book "Blackwater, the Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army"

Firstly, going after or singling out one individual organization is against Article one of the constitution. Its called the "Bill of attainder" and just means that you can´t target one individual or one specific group.

So, the DEFUND ACORN ACT, the Republicans and some Democrats staunchly support, has a bill of attainder problem. You can't pass legislation that targets one individual or one specific group. The congressional research service has looked into this DEFUND ACORN ACT, and well, they found probable cause that it does. So, it looks like, this act, which the jokers at Fox News just love screaming about to their sheep herd, is unconstitutional.

Basically, it means, if the Republicans want to use this Defund Acorn Act as their platform in the run up to the 2010 elections, they have to go after everyone. If they want to cut off funding for any organization who has ever violated government regulations or filed fraudulent paperwork with any government agency, that can´t only be enforced against Acorn.

Lets put some perspective on all of this.

What does ACORN actually do:
(there is an excellent op ed by Harold Meyerson, of the Washington Post, shedding more light on this community organization):

- ACORN is the nation's largest community organizing group

- working to raise the minimum wage

- working to limit the interest and fees that banks charge homeowners

- working to expand the electorate (they registered 1.4 million voters for the 2007-2008 electorate campaign)

ACORN has received $53 million over the past 15 years government funding. In comparison, Halliburton gets $53 million every single day for the war in Iraq.

Now, lets take a look at the other 600 War corporations on the government payroll.

Fraud: Blackwater (they defrauded the government to the tune of 55 Million dollars under one contract and they have several contracts with the government)
Murder: 5 Blackwater contractors have been charged with murder of US troops.
electrocuting 17 US troops: KBR

running a prostitution ring out of Bosnia: Din Corp. They were never defunded - in fact they received a new contract from the US Air force to the tune of $200 million (on top of the$ 915 million contract they already have)

It gets better:

KBR: has just been awarded a new contract despite the deaths of US soldiers in Iraq (and an ongoing investigation)

All the above continue to receive "spectacularly lucrative contracts".

All of the above are not at all worried about being cut off from government funding

Its all political, its not about upholding the law.

To reiterate, Acorn registered 1.4 million people to vote, has 400,000 workers across the US. They work with and for the poor and working class. They have no lobbying power in the form of massive campaign contributing powers.

ACORN has continuously been charged with bogus allegations of voter fraud. All of them unsubstantiated.

What is an actual election scandal? 25 - 40 cents of every dollar spent on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan (thats 2.5 billion per week) go directly to these defense contractor corporations. And they in turn contribute campaign dollars to the Republicans and the Democrats. They in turn continue to fund their operations.

You want to hold individuals accountable for heinous crimes? Look no further than Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld and the crimes against humanity that have been committed in the form of do-it-yourself-change-the-law-to-make-torture-legal memos. Or Erik Prince, the head of Blackwater and crusader against Muslims.

Members of these corporations are responsible for murder, child prostitution and gross misconduct.

The crimes of ACORN pale in comparison. The workers that fell for the right wing conservative sting - the pimp and prostitute thing - have been dismissed for their misconduct. I say thats enough punishment. Besides, as long as the war corporations continue to go un-confronted - this ACORN attack is a farce and ridiculous.

Going after ACORN is like a bully kicking a puppy and make a big detour around the growling doberman pincher with the blood still dripping from his chops.

Its cowardly and despicable.