To those parties present herewith and all those interested, let it be known that proceedings regarding the matter of ACORN, AKA “Pot” vs. The Federal Government, AKA “Kettle” are now in session.

The sad part is that this incident is what caused all this to happen. I don’t see how such a small thing should have mattered. The real scandal is right there in ACORN’s mission statement.

From “Who is ACORN”

“Issue campaigns: Each ACORN office carries out multiple issue campaigns. ACORN members across the country work to raise the minimum wage or enact living wage policies; eliminate predatory financial practices by mortgage lenders, payday lenders, and tax preparation companies; win the development of affordable housing and community benefits agreements; improve the quality of and funding for urban public schools; rebuild New Orleans; and pass a federal and state ACORN Working Families Agenda, including paid sick leave for all full time workers.

A recent study shows that our issue campaign victories have delivered approximately $15 billion in direct monetary benefits to our membership and constituency over the past 10 years.

Service delivery: ACORN and its allied organizations provide extensive services to our members and constituency. These include free tax preparation focusing on the Earned Income Tax Credit; screening for eligibility for federal and state benefit programs; and, through the ACORN Housing Corporation, first time homeowner mortgage counseling and foreclosure prevention assistance, and low income housing development.”

Err, the government is giving money to a group that aggressively works to help its members to receive more money from the government? They turned $53 million in federal government funds into $15 billion in benefits for its members? And they call themselves a non-profit organization?

The word “attainder”, meaning “taintedness”, is part of English common law. Under English law, a criminal condemned for a serious crime, whether treason or felony (but not misdemeanor, which referred to less serious crimes), could be declared “attainted”, meaning that his civil rights were nullified: he could no longer own property or pass property to his family by will or testament.
I don’t believe any civil rights of ACORN were nullified. It can still own and rent property and each of its members can still vote (at least once, if not more than one time). It has not lost its incorporated status in any state and private concerns and state governments are still free to fund that organization and the federal government has not seized those fundings.
This lawsuit is so frivolous that ACORN and its lawyers should be sanctioned, oh but wait, that would be another bill of attainder by the court.

That, and the fact that Congress can fund or de-fund whatever program it so chooses.

I guess these ACORN PARASITES will simply have to beg, borrow, earn or steal their money from some place else besides the U.S. Treasury – just like everyone else.
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