Tough Questions: It’s Time to Ask State Attorneys General and Governors Why They Haven’t Acted to Clamp Down on ACORN’s Criminal Activities in Their States
ByMark Fitzgibbons, an attorney with the conservative direct marketing firm American Target Advertising deserves credit for asking the toughest and most relevant questions of the week in a press release posted on ConservativeHQ.com:
“Despite years of warning signs about voter fraud, embezzlement and other potentially criminal behavior by and within the Association for Community Organizing and Reform Now (ACORN), only a handful of state attorneys general apparently didn’t need to be embarrassed by recent alternative media reporting and videos before taking some action against ACORN. Most state attorneys general have sat by idly, perhaps for political reasons with a trail quite probably leading to Washington, while ACORN has been busy racking up unchecked legal offenses.
“State attorneys general long ago should have investigated ACORN, and enforced various state laws against it. State attorneys general claim to have unique regulatory and enforcement authority over nonprofit organizations. Along with other state charitable oversight officials that require nonprofits to file information purportedly to prevent violations of law, state attorneys general have unique access to information that could have been used to take action against ACORN. Were they asleep, derelict in their duty, or worse?…
“Perhaps its time to investigate and review why so many state attorneys general failed to act, or act sooner, against ACORN. Attorneys general should begin by disclosing contributions received from, state taxpayer funding for, and attorneys’ general ties, meetings and financial affiliations with, ACORN and its vast network.”
You can read Fitzgibbons release in its entirety here. He lists the names of state attorneys general who have been awarded an A+ from ACORN. Even if yours didn’t receive highest marks, it’s not a bad idea to question whether they’ve been as tenacious as they could be.
Congress’ decision to defund ACORN is reason to celebrate, but it’s a victory in a battle and not the war. Mr. Fitzgibbons is correct about reluctance of state attorneys general to investigate and prosecute ACORN. We think that much of this has to do with the political ambitions of ambitious prosecutors. We hope that they will begin to understand that prosecuting ACORN in this climate is finally an activity in which the political benefits outweigh the risks.
We also hope that the public pressure aimed at ACORN will remain on ACORN even if ACORN changes its name, morphs, scatters, or reorganizes.
** Honorable mention in the war against ACORN goes to Governor Bobby Jindal for doing his part to defund ACORN at the state level.
