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The most underreported story of this election season is the Association of Community Organizers For Reform Now, known by its acronym, ACORN.
ACORN grew out of what wins the prize hands-down for one of the silliest and most destructive advocacy groups America has ever known – the National Welfare Rights Organization.
Founded by George Wiley, the NWRO became an army of single minority mothers whom he sent out to disrupt welfare offices through sit-ins and demonstrations demanding an end to oppressive eligibility restrictions. His aim was to so flood welfare offices as to cause the system to burst, creating a crisis he hoped would correct America's "unjust capitalist society." From 1965 to 1974, the nation's welfare rolls more than doubled to 10.3 million during generally good economic times. Clearly, it was a winning tactic.
One of ACORN's later tactics was to flood banks and mortgage companies the same way, insisting that they do away with those pesky mortgage eligibility requirements.
ACORN was among those most responsible for the failure of the mortgage market and, astonishingly, until some sharp-eyed lawmaker noticed and stripped them out, ACORN was among those named as bailout recipients.
