ACORN Co-Founder Defends Group's Integrity, Blasts 'Unfair' Critics

[bijou]

ACORN is an institution of integrity that is getting an unfair rap from news outlets unwilling to look at the group's 38-year history of advocacy work, its co-founder says.

Wade Rathke, ACORN's co-founder and former chief organizer, blasted FOX News on Tuesday for its "unfair" coverage of a group he said has served as a champion for social justice since 1970. Rathke, in an interview, said FOX News should "be careful and fair about how it looks at the organization's work."

"It's a wonderful organization. I do nothing but wish for its success," he said. "You have to look at the motivation of some groups." ... Rathke formed the organization — along with co-founder Gary Delgado — in 1970 after he was sent to Little Rock, Ark., by the National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO) to help people on welfare get food and clothing. The campaign soon morphed into a movement called Arkansas Community Organizations for Reform Now — which later became ACORN.

Though Rathke declined to speak about the specific scandals involving the group, he said ACORN has never been convicted of a crime — despite various charges of voter fraud, embezzlement, and employee misconduct. ...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,550581,00.html

And a blast from the past ...

...ACORN is facing tough times after it was recently revealed that in 1999 and 2000 Dale Rathke, the brother of ACORN founder Wade Rathke, allegedly embezzled $948,507 in faulty credit card charges while working as comptroller of an organization that kept the books for all of the ACORN-affiliated groups around the country. When Wade Rathke was alerted of the fraud in 2001, he set up formal repayment schedule for his brother to repay the debt at a rate of about $30,000 a year. After $214,000 had been repaid on the debt, a California donor stepped in this summer and paid the rest....

http://theunionnews.blogspot.com/2008/10/acorn-embezzlement-case-delayed-for.html

Hmm, the Rathke's do seem to be credible and upstanding citizens. Not.

[Chris_]

Don't forget that the Rathke that made off with the ACORN funds is now head of the Service Employees International Union, and an unofficial advisor to the messiah..........once a crook, always a crook........

doc

[bijou]

Don't forget that the Rathke that made off with the ACORN funds is now head of the Service Employees International Union, and an unofficial advisor to the messiah..........once a crook, always a crook........

doc

And SEIU is a big donor to ACORN, which of course is a complete coincidence.   

[Ralph Wiggum]

Apparently ACORN is not an institution of math, however:

ACORN is an institution of integrity that is getting an unfair rap from news outlets unwilling to look at the group's 38-year history of advocacy work, its co-founder says.

Wade Rathke, ACORN's co-founder and former chief organizer, blasted FOX News on Tuesday for its "unfair" coverage of a group he said has served as a champion for social justice since 1970.

Started in 1970, it is now 2009....this would be their 40th year (or 39th, depends on how you count it).  Maybe they took a couple of years off?

[Chris_]

And SEIU is a big donor to ACORN, which of course is a complete coincidence.   

Perhaps that is how he is paying off the roughly one million that he absconded with.......libs always have to pay their debts with "other peoples money".......

doc