IRS dumps ACORN

NPR:

The IRS severed ties with ACORN on Wednesday, joining a growing list of government agencies to end relationships with the community activist group.

The Internal Revenue Service said it would no longer include ACORN in its volunteer tax assistance program. The program offered free tax advice to about 3 million low- and moderate-income tax filers this spring. ACORN provided help on about 25,000 returns, the IRS said.

Meanwhile, ACORN, which stands for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, said it had already suspended its tax program.

A video from a hidden camera surfaced earlier this month showing ACORN employees in Brooklyn, N.Y., advising a couple posing as a prostitute and pimp to lie to get housing aid. The video, produced by a conservative activist, shows employees in other cities counseling the pair on tax, banking and immigration issues.

"It is absolutely critical that taxpayers have trust in our Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program partners," the IRS said in a statement. "In light of recent events, the IRS has decided to terminate its relationship with ACORN."

ACORN chief executive Bertha Lewis said Wednesday the group had already stopped accepting new clients into its service programs and was specifically suspending its tax program.

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If ACORN did withdraw it was because the IRS move was inevitable. It is like a someone who resigns before they are fired. The group is on a down hill slope but they still have powerful backers in the Democrat party who turn a blind eye to their activities. Barney Frank and John Conyer are more interested in investigating the people who disclosed the problems than the perps at ACORN.