ACORN May Lose Gov't Funds after Scandal

In Undercover Video, Employees Advised Actor Posing as a Prostitute on How to Avoid Paying Taxes

(CBS)  ACORN calls itself the nation's largest grassroots community organization, with more than 400,000 members.

It helps low-income Americans find affordable housing and it receives tens of millions in government funding. But, as CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers reports, that may be coming to an end, thanks to undercover videos that have sparked a huge scandal.

The videos reportedly recorded late July and early August appear to show ACORN employees in several big cities including Baltimore, Washington and New York, advising a couple posing as a pimp and prostitute.

The employees are heard telling the couple how to avoid paying taxes and how to qualify for a mortgage on a home the couple plan to use as a brothel.

"And if anyone asks you your business is a performing artist, which you are, okay, so you are not lying," says one of the ACORN workers caught on the tape. "Performing artist. So stop saying prostitution. Got it."

ACORN says the workers caught on tape were fired but contends the videos were illegally obtained, doctored and deceptive and is threatening legal action against the undercover filmmakers posing as the couple.

"We are experiencing the modern-day version of McCarthyism - 'Are you now or have you ever been associated with ACORN?'" said Bertha Lewis, ACORN's CEO.

But long-term damage to the reputation of the poverty rights organization may already be done. Monday night the Democratic-controlled Senate voted 83-7 to deny ACORN access to millions of dollars in federal housing funds.

"I don't believe it was accidental that this video caught ACORN employees delivering the same message in different cities," said Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb. "They magnify a troubling, systemic and a criminal pattern."

Last week the Census Bureau severed its ties with the organization, meaning ACORN workers won't be part of the 2010 census count. And now House Republicans are asking the IRS to cut ties to ACORN as well.

ACORN's brand of community activism was born out of the civil rights era to organize the poor and give them a bigger political voice. Last year ACORN registered 1.3 million new voters and helped hundreds of thousands of families to buy or keep homes, but critics point out it also faces fraud charges in nearly two dozen states.

"It has no business trying to organize voter registration because it has shown time and time again that it cannot be trusted to do that," said Steve Staneck, a research fellow at the conservative Heartland Institute.

According to a Web site for tracking government grants, ACORN has received 53 million tax dollars since 1994. Some are now questioning exactly where those millions wound up.

[Orlandojon]

Acorn lost funding after years of corruption which the fringe media refused to cover in the news. Now the media is upset because two college kids did what 60 minutes used to do so they are lashing out at Glen Beck for exposing it and the two young people that had the guts to break this scandal wide open. Chaulk one up for the good guys

[boatdocster]

Funny, Blackwater (now XE), Haliburton, KBR, etc, etc scam BILLIONS of dollars in shoddy work, over billing, and out right fraud to Uncle Sam and no one raises an eyebrow.

A few bad apple employees at ACORN are filmed by a FOX NEWS based and funded team, and the government wants to pull their funding. I'd say OK - as soon as Uncle Sam starts fining and pulling the funding from these other lawbreakers.

[shakesth3clown]

Those film's were funded by those kid's who scooped all the other new's media,Fox had nothing to do with the filming, they just aired it. The government HAS pulled all funding. All of this Bush's fault though, cause we all know "everything" is his fault!

[Weboozle]

Reminds me of what CBS stands for...

More truth found out at acorns video dot com.

[txlonghorn]

Why is this something I should worry about?
There are a hundred different frauds and scandals to chose from.
How about -
Pfizer shamed with $2.3 billion fine for marketing fraud
and
Early this month former AIG CEO Greenberg agreed to pay a $15 million fine to settle fraud charges that alleged the company had engaged in deceptive accounting practices
The only reasons to focus on one fairly insignificant possible fraud is because it helps make a partisan point, and it involves those darkskinned people.

[Corwin100Amber]

This doesn't make any partisan point. The undercover work brought to light some corruption within an organization that receives Federal funding. CBS and other 'purported' news agencies USED TO do this type of digging. They no longer do.

Why should you worry? If you don't pay taxes, you shouldn't worry. You shouldn't care about tax dollars being wasted.

As for your 'darkskinned people' comment - you've sunk yourself to a low point. I hope you can grow up.

[Corwin100Amber]

CBS was late in covering this story. But I'm glad to see that they are covering it. Of course they left out a few other facts. The article points out that:

"Last year ACORN registered 1.3 million new voters..."

However, around 400,000 of those registrations were either duplicates, fraudulent or incomplete.

The article also fails to cover the full scope of what these employees were wanting to assist - to smuggle in young, teenage girls for prostitution. They were listening to people say they were committing terrible crimes. Not petty theft, not jay-walking, not spitting on a side walk. If you were in their shoes, what would you do? Wouldn't you call the police - at least after the meeting? I would hope you would kick them out of the office - and call the police.

ACORN has a lot of bad apples. Irresponsible people. They have been getting some bad press for years. But it took these two, making undercover videos, to bring it to the media.

That's what the media USED TO do. CBS, ABC, and NBC have been dropping the ball. It was their role to uncover this sort of corruption. CBS should be embarrassed.

[fewregrets]

Scandal? What scandal? (loyal CBS viewer)

[Ferrell-2]

ACORN is a sleaze organization regardless of the good front they try to project. They are synonomous to THE MOB sans all the murders.

[arealamerican]

i think its about time you hold these people responcable for there deceict and they should have to pay for there garbage

[Roberto2884]

"ACORN" will soon be prosecuted under the RICO statute. This organization is a shakedown racket and it's about time someone brought then down. Unbelieveable that a group of organized criminals can exist and receive funding from our tax dollas in an age like this. Obama's got to go. He's next.

[hawkeyeted]

The folks who should be investigating this crap are deaf, dumb and blind. It took a pair of Twenty-Somethings to get someone to respond.

AG Eric Holder has done nothing. The FBI has done nothing. The media has done nothing. Why? Does the ACORN "nut trail" lead to the White House front steps?

[openyoureyespeople]

I closed this article and typed in www.cbsnews.com and had to really hunt to find the article again! What does that tell you about the importance of Acorn's story of corruption mean to CBS? :)

[leestauf]

D@m those EVIL right wing Fox guys! D@m them for reporting the truth and exposing left wing corruption! D@m them!!!

[leestauf]

CBS news! I have a breaking story! A large dirigible named Hindenberg has just crashed and burned at the Lakehurst Naval Station in New Jersey with loss of life!
Oh, never mind. Some young school kids broken the story for you!

[postingwithliars]

Notice the headline ACORN May Lose Gov't Funds after Scandal.

MAY? The Senate VOTED TWO DAYS AGO, SOMETHING LIKE 83 TO 7 TO STOP FUNDING ACORN.

In Seattle, where I'm from, ACORN worked the vote and thousands of illegal votes swung the governer's election and probably much more.

Remember, Obama said in a SPEECH TO ACORN, that they were not only instrumental in getting him elected, but THAT THEY WERE GOING TO HAVE A SEAT AT THE TABLE IN FRAMING UNITED STATES POLICY.

HE used to be the guy "COMMUNITY ORGANIZING".

To believe that in CHICAGO, where they vote once, vote often, that he would NOT have been aware of the depravity of this organization is ludicrous.

CBS - Change your name to "See...B.S." You and your mainstream media are so corrupt and in collusion with the democrat party.

People aren't blind. When they figure YOU out the way they are figuring out things like ACORN, you're through.

[shakesth3clown]

They only voted to stop the H.U.D. funding, they are still getting other gov. funding, and are set to receive 8 billion from the stimulus package. HOPEFULLY they wont get anything more after this story get's out more. Supposedly there are MANY more of these video's to come, we will see!

[dandmb50]

So does Gobson know about ACORN now?
Maybe it is time for him to retire?

Daniel ........... Toronto

[vinnie99999]

The politicians have us just where they want us, fighting each other instead of looking at them. Bush, Obama, Senate, House, all in the pocket of special interest. As long as they keep us busy fighting each other we arent looking for corruption. I'm a Republican and your a Democrat, so what, we are both Amreicans. Mark Sanford using taxpayer money to fly to Argentina to see his girlfriend, Charlie rangle forgetting about 500k in income. THEY are all crooks and do not have our best interests at heart. Is it a coincidence that ACORN and SEIU are run by brothers and are headquartered the same building along with 100+ shell corps? Obama has them helping him make policy. Was it a coincidence that Halyburton got the Iraq contracts and Cheney was VP. WASHINGTON IS CORRUPT, and until we quit fighting each other and boot all the crooks out we are in deep doo-doo

[4DeuceMortar]

Pointing fingers at Republicans you desperately wish to discredit by stooping to name-calling will not and cannot alter the fact that CBS, along with ABC and NBC, has abdicated any reasonable claim to objective news reporting. Not all that long ago, you would see on-air discussions debating whether or not their was political bias in the news media. If you think about it, that debate is no longer undertaken - becsause the fact of media bias is now so clearly apparent to all that to even broach the subject on-air is, for the major network news programs, reinforcing the fact that there is indeed a bias underlying network news. They do not have this debate anymore because each time they do they are furhter reinforcing what is already obvious to all. Anybody still educated in what used to be the basics of American childhood read fable, "The Emporers New Clothes" and these people cannot help but see and recognize this media political bais. The willingness of the networks to look away from the corrupt cultural trainwreck that is ACORN only furthers the reinforcement of the public's recognition of this now ingrained political bias. The credibility and journalistic integrity of CBS, along with ABC and NBC, is now in the terminal stage in the eyes of the American public. And all three are dying a death in the form of a "death from thoushand cuts", all self-inflicted by the network news operations themselves. Dan Rather's fabrications were not an abberation at all - just a larger, more ego-bloated manifestation of a single man's willingness to sell out his career craft for politicala motivation.

Name calling will not alter what the human eye sees. Such is only a distraction - but name calling, while loud and distracting, cannot cause any seeing to go blind.

[eco_delsol]

Ahhhhh! a breath of fresh air of truth enters the Government Pwned CBS Evening News. I've been watching these videos since Thursday a week ago. Yeah, yeah, I know ACORN news from the perspective of Congress and the Census Bureau news was covered. But those who only watch their favorite Evening News were unknowingly being denied the news about corrupt events taking place at ACORN in 4 or 5 offices across the nation. FYI, Big Government dot Com is a good news source on the net. You don't need to watch 24/7, but at least check it once in awhile.

[Mya63]

interesting bland article, at least it is not a copy of AP this time. All the Media is covering this now, maybe because of the Census Bureau, or Senate vote 83-7 in favor of cutting taxpayer funds. Or Maybe it is many states are now calling for an investigation into the organization! Or maybe just maybe they had enough time to figure out a way to do the story without causing the white house to much grief!

Either way lets not lose the point in all the republican vs Democrates crap. ACORN is a messed up organization to say the least and anyone that down plays what is on these tapes is just not all there in their heads.

I believe this past week is just the beginning of a journey to the bottom of the well! I can't wait to watch it unfold.

[thirtyincher]

Why doesn't CBS news ever report any news that might show Obama man and his crooks in his administration in a bad light. Maybe because it is not a real news channel anymore.It has become a hoorah channel for obama.That is why your ratings are so lowThe American people have a need for the reaL NEWS AND THE TRUTHFUL FACTS.tHAT IS WHY 75% OF THE COUNTRY WATCHES fox NEWS TO GET THE REAL FACTS.yOU GUYS ARE SO PHONY. lOOK OUT kATIE YOUR DRIBBLING AT THE MOUTH EVERY TIME YOU MENTION THE o MAN!