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08/21/2013

Statement: Cause of Action responds to Rep. Levin and Cummings on IRS investigating ACORN-related groups

Yesterday, the House Ways and Means Committee released new documents claiming “IRS Scrutiny of Progressive Groups,” by highlighting the IRS’ attention to ACORN and its successors.

Dan Epstein, Cause of Action’s executive director responded:

Rep. Levin and Rep. Cummings are claiming that the IRS targeted ACORN in the same fashion as pro-liberty groups.  The difference, however, as Cause of Action demonstrated one year ago, is that ACORN and its successors engaged in potentially illegal activity, so of course its successors, such as New York Communities for Change, Texas Organizing Project, and Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, should be on the ‘Be on the Lookout’ lists. Two problems exist: First, we see no evidence that the IRS is actually conducting a diligent oversight of rebranded ACORN groups, and secondly there is no evidence that Tea Party groups engaged in illegal activities.

To compare a law-breaking organization like ACORN to True to the Vote is not only illogical, it’s unethical.

For more information on Cause of Action’s investigations into the IRS, click here.

 

 

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08/28/2012

The Washington Free Beacon: Report: 170 ACORN-affiliated groups still active

Read the full article here. Washington Free Beacon

“Cause of Action, a nonprofit government watchdog group, recently identified 174 active or rebranded ACORN affiliates, as well as organizations that share former ACORN staff. The groups shared the same physical location, leadership or staff, or tax ID number as old ACORN chapters, Cause of Action said.

 

At least two of the groups, Affordable Housing Centers of America (AHCOA) and Mutual Housing Association of New York (MHANY), have received federal dollars. According to MHANY, it receives funds from the Federal Home Loan Bank, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Fannie Mae. “It’s a serious concern because, as we stated in our letter to the IRS, it has been engaging in political activity,” Cause of Action executive director Dan Epstein told the Free Beacon. “We have concerns that these rebranded groups are using the same model that ACORN essentially trademarked: getting tax-exempt funds and using them for political purposes…”

 

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08/27/2012

174 Hidden ACORN Chapters Still Exist

After the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN) was shut down in 2010, was there really an end to the scandals and abuse of taxpayer funding for which the organization had become known? Cause of Action recently published a list of “still-active ACORN entities, ACORN allies, and rebranded ACORN organizations.” This list included 174 different entities that have connections to ACORN and may be engaged in the same type of activities.

Read what others are saying about this list and what these re-branded ACORN groups’ existence mean:

Breitbart.com

TheBlaze.com

American Political Blogs

PatDollard.com

Free North Carolina

Sodahead.com

The Daily Blogster

Capitalresearch.org

 

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08/22/2012

Washington Examiner: Report: ACORN network still active under new names

Read the full story here. Washington Examiner

“But that doesn’t mean it vanished from the landscape altogether. The nonprofit watchdog group Cause of Action published a list today of “still-active ACORN entities, ACORN allies, and rebranded ACORN organizations.”

 

The connections between these groups and the old ACORN groups include: having the same physical location, sharing leadership or staff or having the same tax ID number. “For some of these groups, all they did was legally change their name. Nothing else changed. The corporate structure, leadership and staff are the same,” said Karen Groen Olea, Cause of Action’s chief counsel. “At least two of the groups, Affordable Housing Centers of America and Mutual Housing Association of New York, have received federal dollars”, Cause of Action said…”

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08/22/2012

CoA Uncovers Still-Active ACORN Entities, ACORN Allies, and Rebranded ACORN Organizations

 

List of Still-Active ACORN Entities, ACORN Allies, and Rebranded ACORN Organizations

  1. 1825 Atlantic MHANY, Inc.
  2. 4415 San Jacinto Street Corporation
  3. 5301 McDougall Corporation
  4. 730 Rockaway MHANY, Inc.
  5. A Community Voice (ACV)
  6. ACORN Community Land Association of Pennsylvania
  7. ACORN Community Land Association, Inc.
  8. ACORN Global Enterprises, L3C
  9. ACORN Loan Program
  10. Action NC
  11. Action Now
  12. Action Now Institute
  13. Action United
  14. Action United Education Fund
  15. Action United Political Action Committee
  16. Advancement Project
  17. Advancement Project California
  18. Advocates and Actions
  19. Affiliated Media Foundation Movement, Inc.
  20. Affordable Housing Centers of America (AHCOA)
  21. Affordable Housing Centers of Pennsylvania
  22. Agape Broadcasting Foundation, Inc.
  23. Alliance for Justice (AFJ)
  24. Alliance for Justice Action Campaign
  25. Alliance Institute
  26. Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment
  27. Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment Institute
  28. American Home Day Care Workers Association, Inc.
  29. Applied Research Center
  30. Arizona Center for Empowerment
  31. Arkansas Broadcasting Foundation, Inc.
  32. Arkansas Community Institute
  33. Arkansas Community Organizations (ACO)
  34. ASI Community Center
  35. Association for Rights of Citizens, Inc.
  36. Association for Union Democracy
  37. Austin Organizing and Support Center, Inc.
  38. Baltimore Organizing and Support Center, Inc.
  39. Baton Rouge Association of School Employees
  40. Broad Street Corporation
  41. Catalist LLC
  42. Center for Labor Education and Research, Inc.
  43. Center on Policy Initiatives (CPI)
  44. Chicago Organizing and Support Center, Inc.
  45. Chief Organizer Fund, Inc.
  46. Chincoteague Cultural Alliance, Inc.
  47. Citizens Consulting Inc.
  48. Citizens Services, Inc.
  49. Communities United
  50. Communities United New Jersey
  51. Communities United Training and Education Fund
  52. Communities Voting Together
  53. Community Asset Development Redefining Education
  54. Community Empowerment Education Fund
  55. Community Labor Administrative Services, Inc.
  56. Community Organizations International
  57. Community Voices Together
  58. Connecticut Working Families Party
  59. Dallas Monthly Meeting of Friends, Inc.
  60. Delaware Alliance for Community Advancement, Inc.
  61. Delawareans for Social and Economic Justice (DSEJ)
  62. Elysian Fields Corporation
  63. Elysian Fields Partnership
  64. Fifteenth Street Corporation
  65. Flagstaff Broadcasting Foundation, Inc.
  66. Florida Institute for Reform and Empowerment (FIRE)
  67. Florida Watch Action, Inc.
  68. Floridians for All PAC
  69. Forefront Organizing
  70. Good Jobs = Great Houston
  71. Good Jobs Now, Inc
  72. Good Jobs, Better Baltimore
  73. Greenwell Springs Corporation
  74. Hammurabi Fund, Inc.
  75. Health Care for America Now
  76. Home Defenders League
  77. Housing Here and Now
  78. Houston Organizing and Support Center, Inc.
  79. Impact Restoration Community Development
  80. Institute for Neighborhood Action
  81. Jobs With Justice
  82. Jobs With Justice Education Fund
  83. KABF Radio
  84. KNON
  85. Labor Education and Research Project
  86. Labor Neighbor Research and Training Center
  87. Leadership Center for the Common Good
  88. Leadership Center for the Common Good Action Fund
  89. Living United for Change in Arizona
  90. Massachusetts Jobs With Justice
  91. McLellan Multi-Family Corporation
  92. MHANY 1 Associates, L.P.
  93. MHANY 1 Inc.
  94. MHANY 1999 Housing Development Fund Corporation
  95. MHANY 1999 II Housing Development Fund Corporation
  96. MHANY 2 Associates, L.P.
  97. MHANY 2, Inc.
  98. MHANY 2002 Housing Development Fund Corporation
  99. MHANY 2003 Housing Development Fund Corporation
  100. MHANY 2004 Housing Development Fund Corporation
  101. MHANY 2005 Housing Development Fund Corporation
  102. MHANY 2007 Housing Development Fund Corporation
  103. MHANY 2011 Housing Development Fund Corporation
  104. MHANY 2012 Housing Development Fund Corporation
  105. MHANY 2012 II Housing Development Fund Corporation
  106. MHANY 3 Associates, L.P.
  107. MHANY 3, Inc.
  108. MHANY 4 Associates, L.P.
  109. MHANY 4, Inc.
  110. MHANY Bristol Housing Development Fund Corporation
  111. MHANY Bristol, Inc.
  112. MHANY Holdings 2012 LLC
  113. MHANY Management Inc.
  114. Middle South Home Day Care Workers Association, Inc.
  115. Minnesota Neighborhoods Organizing for Change (MNOC)
  116. Missouri Progressive Vote Coalition
  117. Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE)
  118. Montana People’s Action
  119. Mutual Housing Association of New York (MHANY)
  120. National Housing Resource Center
  121. New England United for Justice (NEU4J)
  122. New Jersey Working Families Alliance
  123. New Majority Education Fund
  124. New Mexico Organizing and Support Center, Inc.
  125. New York Agency for Community Affairs (NYACA)
  126. New York City Parent Organizing Consortium
  127. New York Communities for Change (NYCC)
  128. New York Communities Organizing Consultants, Inc.
  129. New York Communities Organizing Fund (NYCOF)
  130. New York Organizing and Support Center
  131. North Carolina Social Justice Project
  132. Nwannedinamba of Columbus, Ohio
  133. OLE Parents Association
  134. Organization United for Reform Washington (OUR Washington)
  135. Organize Now
  136. Organizing for Action California
  137. Organizing in the Land of Enchantment (OLE)
  138. Our City, Our Schools
  139. Our D.C.
  140. Pennsylvania Communities Organizing for Change (PCOC)
  141. Pennsylvania Institute for Community Affairs, Inc.
  142. Pennsylvania Neighborhoods for Social Justice (PNSJ)
  143. People’s Equipment Resource Corporation
  144. Phoenix Estates Housing Development Fund Corporation
  145. Phoenix Hunts Point Corporation
  146. Phoenix Organizing and Support Center, Inc.
  147. Progressive Future Education Fund
  148. Progressive Maryland Education Fund
  149. Progressive Maryland, Inc.
  150. Project Vote
  151. Public Services for the Public Good
  152. Radio New Mexico
  153. San Francisco Labor Council
  154. Sankofa Community Development Corporation
  155. SEIU 1199
  156. SEIU Healthcare Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas
  157. SEIU Local 21 LA
  158. Services Employees International Union
  159. Sixth Avenue Corporation
  160. Southern Training Center
  161. St. Louis Organizing and Support Center
  162. St. Louis Tax Reform Group
  163. Start Corporation
  164. Texas Organizing Project (TOP)
  165. Texas Organizing Project Education Fund (TOP ED)
  166. Texas United City-County Employees Inc.
  167. The Black Institute
  168. United Family Corporation, LLC
  169. United Labor Foundation of Greater New Orleans, Inc.
  170. Voter Alliance to Improve Democracy
  171. Wal Mart Alliance for Reform Now, Inc.
  172. Working Families Association, Inc.
  173. Working Families Party
  174. World Owerri People’s Congress Inc., Columbus/Franklin County Ohio Chapter

 

 

 

Click here for sources and explanations of each organization’s connections with ACORN and each other.

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07/23/2012

Breitbart.com: Watchdog Group Calls on IRS to Investigate Re-Branded TX ACORN Branch

Read the full article here. Breitbart

“The latest, according to the taxpayer watchdog group Cause of Action, is ACORN’s former Texas chapter, which is using “a new name and a scheme to collect donations and divert them for political use in a way that abuses tax laws governing charitable organizations.” Cause of Action has called on the I.R.S. to formally investigate the Texas Organizing Project Education Fund (TOP ED) for funneling money to the Texas Organizing Project (TOP), the former ACORN chapter, that was used to fund political activity, like soliciting support for Democrats in Texas who are running for office like Mary Ann Perez, as reported by FOX News. This, according to Cause of Action, potentially violates the group’s tax exempt status, which forbids them from engaging in any direct political activity.

In a letter to the I.R.S., Cause of Action officials wrote that “TOP is the reconstituted ACORN in Texas,” and formed “after ACORN became subject to public scrutiny, and eventually filed for bankruptcy.” According to Cause of Action, ACORN “re-branded many of its state chapters in order that those organizations could continue pursuing ACORN’s goals…”

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07/19/2012

Fox News: Taxpayer watchdog calls on IRS to probe re-branded Texas ACORN branch

Read the full story here/ Fox News

“Cause of Action, a nonprofit taxpayer watchdog, charged in a letter to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration that the tax-exempt Texas Organizing Project (TOP), formed from the ashes of scandal-ridden ACORN, is using money funneled to it by a closely associated group called the Texas Organizing Project Education Fund for political activity.

The fund gave nearly 80 percent of its revenues — approximately $640,000 — to the advocacy group in 2010, leading Cause of Action officials to believe its reason for being is to raise charitable donations to send to TOP, which is permitted to fund political activity. TOP has used its website to solicit support for Mary Ann Perez, a Democrat running for state representative.

“Fiscal sponsorship [has allowed TOP and TOP ED] to use a loophole in the tax code to engage in improper political activities under the radar of the IRS,” Dan Epstein, executive director of Cause of Action, said to FoxNews.com. “Cause of Action is asking the IRS to investigate these groups for potential abuses of their tax-exempt status, and to hold them accountable for any violations they find.”

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