On Mike Wallace, FOX New Sunday Bertha Lewis passes off responsibility for failures to “stupid employees” in the ACORN outposts. Bertha Lewis explains “… all of our employees if they are too stupid to understand that they are not reaching professional standards, we terminate them...”. Or is this a case of  stupid is as stupid does starting with Congress.

The interview along with Congressman Darrell Issa of California covered issues troubling the ACORN organization.

A Faulty Firewall of Convenience

Wallace conveys the top listener question of how a non profit can engage in political activities.

CEO Lewis struggled to assure watchers that a firewall separates the parent ACORN organization and its hundreds of subsidiary organizations.

A Faulty Tax Record Keeping

Congressman Darrell Issa of California stated that the House Oversight committee cannot get information on salaries and movements of funds between the hundreds of ACORN organization as well as their organization papers.

Bertha Lewis Has Failed As CEO

Bertha explains her role since taking the CEO position was fostering policies and procedures to that would prevent problems. These policies and procedures have failed based on the current record evidence. The “housing for pimps” videos and voter fraud are primary examples of failure. These depict employees lacking direction to perform tasks to properly apply Federal funding as intended. They further reveal incentives to pad spending to the extent of illegal immigration and offering housing to pimping of 13 year old sex slave illegals.

Bertha Lewis and ACORN Board Must Step Down

ACORN is plagued with numerous organizational and leadership problems of ACORN including embezzlement from leadership and employees emboldened to promote illegal activities. Both the CEO and the ACORN board needs to step down.

NJ Democrats Supporting Continued ACORN Funding Failure Must Resign

In NJ 5 Democrat Congressmen, Albio Sires, Rush Holt, Donald Payne, Bill Pascrell and Frank Pallone voted to continue funding ACORN despite the latest egregious ACORN failings that hurt minor women. The misappropriation of funds also harms folks by reducing the funds intended to solve problems such as underwater mortgages and potential loss of housing due to the persistent unemployment not solved by the Federal $787 billion stimulus representing $10,500 per New Jersey family. These Congressmen also voted for this stimulus that has billions targeted for ACORN. They are handing out money to an organization injected with corruption  and the money is not properly getting to those needing help.

Congressman Albio Sires, Rush Hold, Donald Payne, Bill Pascrell and Frank Pallone resign for the sake of New Jersey’s reputation already tarnished by corruption.

NJ Democrat Congressmen Voting To Support Federal Funds Offered For Pimping Illegal 13 Year Old Women

Obama, July 2008 stated “If you get a federal grant, you can’t use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help …”

Five offices of ACORN demonstrates how big Government handouts harms those in need failing them due to proselytizing for political ambitions and political power. Money without constraints allowed its employees to engage untethered in hurtful activities.

ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis Halts Handouts Hurtful To Those In Need

CEO Bertha Lewis and ACORN Executive Committee Should Step Down

CEO Bertha Lewis, ACORN president has taken a stance about the harm caused by a handful of employees.

““As a result of the indefensible action of a handful of our employees, I am, in consultation with ACORN’s Executive Committee, immediately ordering a halt to any new intakes into ACORN’s service programs until completion of an independent review.  I have also communicated with ACORN’s independent Advisory Council, and they will assist ACORN in naming an independent auditor and investigator to conduct a thorough review of all of the organizations relevant systems and processes.  That reviewer, to be named within 48 hours, will make recommendations directly to me and to the full ACORN Board.  We enter this process with a commitment that all recommendations will be implemented.”

This is the quintessential too little too late syndrome. Money was doled out, printed by the Government, borrowed from foriegners like the Chinese at 6% and piled into bank accounts for any type of activity legal or not.

Bertha Lewis is now in crisis mode, back peddling due to a lack of accountability and auditing standards. It shows her lack of CEO ability and she should step down along with the Executive Committee.

Compare ACORN to a food franchise. First standards need to be in place. Training to meet those standards. Visits by upper executives to franchise offices to reinforce those standards. Then you repeat this over and over.

How Systemic Is The ACORN Corruption?

The housing for pimps videos show a handful of employees at 15% or more offices. These offices cover the full range of the US territority; sea to shining sea. We can only assume 15% of the offices contain corruption nationwide. That large number that raises the question about corruption at the next level of managment if there is any.

The videos do not reveal the ongoing actions of those employees and their predecessors. They are just a snapshot of the potential.

The willful complicity of those few to corrupt the most vulnerable, illegal teenage girls, represents how dumping piles of money into the hands of liberal organizations to solve social problems leads to harm of those in need.

These individuals were emboldened to engage corruptly without fear of retribution of meeting operational guidelines. This had to come from the organization’s culture nurtured from the top and not necessarily from written set of standards and mission statement.

Obama Proselytizing Those He Promised To Help

President Obama was helped by ACORN support and his party rewarded ACORN with grants under the guise the organization helps those in need and our nation’s mortgage crisis.

Yet in discussing faith based Government grants he warned against using the money to proselytize the people you help.

This statement creates many questions about ACORN. Has the President’s election ambitions taken advantage of the people he promised to help in his election rhetoric? Is ACORN more focused on political agendas of those who approved their grants rather than on the people it was intended to help? In an effort to spend all the money, was ACORN willing to engage in illegal activities that could harm those in need?

My conclusion is the latter. Government runs on the idea of spending a budget. This is necessary to justify the same money next time plus a bump for inflation. That is the necessary goal of Government funding – spend it at any cost.

Why Government Run ACORN Handouts Failed?

When funds are too far removed from the source, their accountability disappears. Consider money given to a local organization from local donors or locals who worked as volunteers to raise the money. There is a lot of care on how that money is used representing the effort it was obtained and the local scrutiny that follows its use. Eagerness to report back to donors the accomplishments is automatic.

With the Federal Government, the money is not associated with anyone, diminishing the value of the money and thus the care for its deployment. No one cares about reporting back to those who forfeited the money to the tax man.

The Bottom Line of the ACORN Failure

Millions are suffering from foreclosures and ACORN was granted funds to help and failed these and many more. This is the liberal way with other people’s money from the days of housing projects: destroying lives and families.