
Shorter ACORN: "Never mind sitting at lunch counters -- now we wanna buy them -- with no money down. Or else!"
Who's to blame for the sub-prime economic meltdown? New President Barack Obama, for one:
In fact, intimidation tactics, public charges of racism and threats to use [the Community Reinvestment Act] to block business expansion have enabled ACORN to extract hundreds of millions of dollars in loans and contributions from Americas financial institutions .
The Woods Fund report makes it clear Obama was fully aware of the intimidation tactics used by ACORN's Madeline Talbott in her pioneering efforts to force banks to suspend their usual credit standards. Yet he supported Talbott in every conceivable way. He trained her personal staff and other aspiring ACORN leaders, he consulted with her extensively, and he arranged a major boost in foundation funding for her efforts.
Meanwhile, CitiBank -- one of ACORN's key targets -- is now planning to lay off at least 35,000 workers.
Old sayings -- the "Gods of the Copybook Headings" -- become old sayings for a reason, and we forget them at our peril. The road to hell is indeed paved with good intentions.