Wednesday, September 23, 2009


ACORN keeps falling
...Case in point: The Pelican Institute think tank in New Orleans keeps unearthing examples of federal and state tax liens against ACORN's national headquarters in the Crescent City. The institute's indefatigable research broke into national attention yesterday via a column by nationally syndicated writer Deroy Murdock in the New York Post. And freelance journalists and state attorneys general not aligned with ACORN are more than holding ACORN's collective feet to the fire. All of this makes a mockery of ACORN's self-selection of two "internal investigat[ors]" to report on where ACORN went wrong. ...

...Mr. Gansler is one of a number of state attorneys general supported by ACORN after receiving an "A" on ACORN's legislative scorecard, which perhaps explains why so many state AGs have been slow to crack down on ACORN's hijinks. The good news is that Attorney General Buddy Caldwell of Louisiana, ACORN's longtime home state, seems to be an independent actor. He got an "F" on the scorecard, and he started his own investigation back in January of 2008. Mr. Caldwell, a Democrat, has subpoenaed ACORN financial information going back to 1998.

Now the Pelican Institute has added to the story. Pelican investigator Steve Beatty found a Sept. 3 IRS filing for a $548,000 lien against ACORN for nonpayment of employment taxes and unemployment-insurance taxes. This follows another $1 million IRS lien against the group, since repaid, and $334,000 in liens from Louisiana tax officials. ...