Posted on 04/21/2010 10:36:14 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
The head of activist group ACORN came to a federal court Tuesday to observe a legal fight over its funding and said the group was on "life support" after waves of bad publicity and an attempt by Congress to cut off its money.
Bertha Lewis, the chief executive officer for the group, said ACORN was getting by on about $4 million annually rather than its one-time $25 million budget and had reduced its staff to four, down from between 350 and 600 employees.
"We're still alive. We're limping along. We're on life support," Lewis said in an interview just after a government lawyer asked a federal appeals court to temporarily block a judge's ruling that it was unconstitutional for Congress to cut funding to ACORN.
A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan did not immediately rule on the request after hearing arguments. If granted, a stay of the lower-court order would remain in place until full arguments on the issue can be heard during the summer.
Attorney Mark Stern argued for the Justice Department that Congress did nothing wrong when it took action last year against ACORN after it identified "widespread mismanagement."
Attorney Jules Lobel of the Center for Constitutional Rights said that funding for economically distressed people who receive government subsidies for homes was being blocked and that the money needed to be freed or some people would be homeless.
U.S. District Judge Nina Gershon has ruled twice in the past six months that the funding cutoff was unconstitutional.
The Brooklyn judge said ACORN was punished by Congress without having gone through processes to decide whether money had been handled inappropriately.
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
I wish literally.
“Bertha Lewis, the chief executive officer for the group, said ACORN was getting by on about $4 million annually rather than its one-time $25 million budget and had reduced its staff to four, down from between 350 and 600 employees. “
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350-600, that’s a big gap on numbers—surley she can get closer to accurate, if she’s truly a CEO worth her salt.
What, did they give themselves a raise?
25 million split between 600 is what? 41,000 or so and 350 is 71,000 or so? (I suck at math)
Now 4 split 4 million, a million each?
Hells bells, it hasn’t been a year since they were cut off the gov’t teat, either.
Whole lotta bullsheet going on with that whine!
(she didn’t mention overhead) but still—it appears they either paid themselves like royalty and the minions made jack—or they gave themselves a huge raise.
ACORN has already renamed itself with so many designations that I’m sure that we are funding them in one way or another.
Sounds like a death panel decision to me. LOL
Give them the same treatment given Terry Schiavo.
4 million a year for 4 employees?????? Poor things must be starving.
Thankyou Andrew Breitbart, Giles and O’Keefe!
“...or some people would be homeless”.
And I can only hope it’s bertha and her merry band of ACORN criminals.
Pull the plug!!!!!!!!!
Hurry, someone pull the plug!
“The Brooklyn judge said ACORN was punished by Congress without having gone through processes to decide whether money had been handled inappropriately.”
Since when does ACORN have a “right” to taxpayers money??
Pull the damn plug already!!!
“ACORN CEO outside court: ‘We’re on life support’”
I hope it fails.
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