State Legislators call for Investigation into ACORN Organizations
I joined a group of legislators last week in sending Governor Quinn an open letter requesting a full investigation into Illinois branches and affiliates of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or more commonly referred to as ACORN. Recent allegations leveled against ACORN came to light after a series of videos caught ACORN employees giving advice on a number of illegal practices, including child prostitution and money laundering.
Some of the hidden video footage shows ACORN workers giving detailed guidance about how to launder proceeds from child prostitution rings into a congressional campaign account, as well as suggestions to avoid paying taxes and even instructions on dealing with pimps. If any of the allegations contained in the videos are remotely true, then it is pretty clear that any and all state contracts to the organization be halted until a full investigation is completed by the Illinois Attorney General.
Reports indicate ACORN received $53 million in federal funding since 1994, prompting both the U.S. Senate and House to vote last week to strip remaining federal dollars from appropriations aimed toward the organization. As recently as 2008 Illinois ACORN received $100,000 is state allocations and an investigation to determine whether these funds were properly spent will show residents that the state is dedicated to transparent spending practices.
With the current troubled economy it is vital that all tax dollars are spent wisely and scrupulously. If these incidents are true, we must ensure that we protect the taxpayers and their money from groups who are not living up to their obligations. A single incident at one location could be considered a “bad apple,” a second incident at another location could be considered a coincidence, but three and four of the same incidents of illegal behavior all across the country clearly show a pattern of fraud and unlawful practices which your tax dollars should be nowhere near.
Only in Chicago
How do you avoid those pricey water bills? Well, in Chicago its simple, you become a building inspector with numerous friends in high places. Of course the majority of inspectors are great people who follow the law to a “t,” but every once in a while there are a few who try to bend (in this case break) the rules.
Richard Kus was a Chicago city inspector who built a new home in 2004 equipped with a nice new hot tub. The only problem was that Kus conveniently forgot (yea right) to install a water meter on the property. In January Kus installed a water meter at the residence and was subsequently charged over seven thousand dollars in overdue water bills. An investigation conducted by the city inspector general’s office concluded that Kus be fired from his city job. Apparently this isn’t all that uncommon in the windy city as one might think, because a federal investigation dubbed Operation Crooked Code found that fifteen city employees took gifts and bribes in exchange for ignoring building code violations. Only in Chicago!
