. . . that investigators have trouble identifying them all. One research organization numbers them at 174, but the Capital Research Center puts the number closer to 300. One blogger came up with 294 of them by running a Lexis/Nexis search of organizations registered to ACORN’s 1024 Elysian Fields address in New Orleans.

The core of ACORN’s fundraising started with a member-dues model. The group has used that money to leverage federal, state, and local government grants totaling tens of millions of dollars. It also receives union cash for organizing activities and political campaign funds for get-out-the-vote drives. It now runs radio stations, businesses like a furniture company, a magaz...

. . . that investigators have trouble identifying them all. One research organization numbers them at 174, but the Capital Research Center puts the number closer to 300. One blogger came up with 294 of them by running a Lexis/Nexis search of organizations registered to ACORN’s 1024 Elysian Fields address in New Orleans.

The core of ACORN’s fundraising started with a member-dues model. The group has used that money to leverage federal, state, and local government grants totaling tens of millions of dollars. It also receives union cash for organizing activities and political campaign funds for get-out-the-vote drives. It now runs radio stations, businesses like a furniture company, a magazine, mortgage counseling centers, schools, a consulting company that advises other nonprofits, and a lobbying outfit, all as profit centers. Only a small portion of its revenue now derives from dues.


ACORN is really a family business: Wade Rathke’s brother Dale was — until a recent embezzlement scandal — the financial guru. Dale was also a partner in many of the connected organizations, and he ran ACORN’s financial operation out of a related corporate entity called Citizens Consulting, Inc. (not to be confused with another ACORN subsidiary called Citizens Services, Inc., which got $832,000 from the Obama campaign).


On a bigger scale, ACORN orchestrates payments to the Rathkes through union groups. For instance, Hospitality, Hotel & Restaurant Organizing Council (HOTROC), a Rathke-controlled organ, received a $58,654 payment from the New Orleans local of Service Employees International Union, which Wade Rathke also heads, and which has many financial and business ties with ACORN. The ACORN affiliate Citizens Consulting, Inc., formerly headed by Dale Rathke, received over $500,000 from ACORN for “lobbying” over the last several years and even larger payments from Project Vote, which works with ACORN on voter registration.


[url=http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/election/467

No information appears to be available on the personal wealth or property of any of the Rathke family members.

One of the Rathke's methods of deriving personal profit went a little further than just obfuscation and secret deals. ACORN officials have recently admitted that Dale Rathke embezzled $948,607.50 from ACORN and its affiliated organizations in 1999 and 2000. However, ACORN insiders decided to keep the situation quiet and not alert law enforcement. Incredibly, Dale Rathke remained on ACORN's payroll until June of this year, when the scandal forced the resignation of both Dale and his brother Wade from ACORN. Two board members are now suing Wade Rathke for the coverup, and a criminal ...

No information appears to be available on the personal wealth or property of any of the Rathke family members.

One of the Rathke's methods of deriving personal profit went a little further than just obfuscation and secret deals. ACORN officials have recently admitted that Dale Rathke embezzled $948,607.50 from ACORN and its affiliated organizations in 1999 and 2000. However, ACORN insiders decided to keep the situation quiet and not alert law enforcement. Incredibly, Dale Rathke remained on ACORN's payroll until June of this year, when the scandal forced the resignation of both Dale and his brother Wade from ACORN. Two board members are now suing Wade Rathke for the coverup, and a criminal investigation is possible. Wade is, however, still working for an ACORN international affiliate.

A former chairwoman of ACORN, Dorothy Perkins, said ACORN is "run like a Jim Jones cult" Perkins complained that none of the money collected by ACORN was ever seen by the low-income individuals it claimed to represent, but ended up under the control of Wade Rathke himself. There is a resemblance to the slavish loyalty required of a cult in the official written policy of the ACORN 2006 Missouri wages campaign:

Organizers will be responsible for collecting petition signatures from registered Missouri voters. Organizers are responsible for collecting 200 petitions a day and working up to 80 hours over 7 days of work.... Grounds for termination include drug or alcohol abuse on the job and not meeting the quota.

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