Free Republic

California's branch of ACORN is splitting off from its national organization to form a new entity called Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE). As of Tuesday, it says it is "running as an independent state-wide organization with no legal, financial or structural ties to ACORN." Why the split? As we told you a while back, because of all its implication in various scandals, ACORN has lost major credibility with local funders and foundations -- even here in the ACORN-luvin' liberal Bay Area. They had to cut staff and services to the working class and poor folks they serve. Even...

An outside review of the beleaguered community group ACORN has found “serious management challenges,” but no pattern of illegal activity. The review, commissioned by ACORN in the wake of a hidden video expose that showed a few of its employees appearing to offer tips on how to break the law, also largely absolved the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now’s current management, laying much of the blame on founder Wade Rathke for lax oversight and dangerously rapid growth. Scott Harshbarger, the former Massachusetts attorney who led the inquiry for the Proskauer Rose law firm, found that ACORN is not...