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The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN)
Contact: Charles D. Jackson, Communications Director, at 504-994-4669, or communications(at)acorn.org

Statement from ACORN Chief Organizer Bertha Lewis in Response to Statement from U.S. Rep. John Boehner

WASHINGTON

Earlier this week, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) released a statement inveighing against the developing economic recovery bill and using ACORN as the poster child for his opposition. "Incredibly, the Democrats' bill makes groups like ACORN eligible for a $4.19 billion pot of money for 'neighborhood stabilization activities'," the press release rather breathlessly stated. This obfuscation was picked up across the right-wing echo chamber and has been used as a fig leaf by conservatives in their attempts to justify their opposition to progressive economic policies.

In response to Mr. Boehner's statement, ACORN CEO and Chief Organizer Bertha Lewis said:

"We are disappointed to see that Representative Boehner is uninterested in helping President Obama and Congress create or save 3 to 4 million jobs. The Economic Recovery Package focuses on investments that create jobs, and ACORN's 400,000 member families think that is the right focus. Rep. Boehner's accusations are, as with anything he says about ACORN, divorced from reality.

"In fact, ACORN has worked for years to open access to working class homeownership on fair terms and warned against predatory lending long before the issue made headlines. We watch with bemusement as he tries to gin up opposition to progressive solutions to America's deep economic crisis by accusing ACORN of doing something we have never done. We have not received neighborhood stabilization funds, have no plans to apply for such funds, and didn't weigh in on the pending rule changes.

"Rep. Boehner would do better to focus on the very real issues facing working families in his district."

ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is the nation's largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families, working together for social justice and stronger communities. Since 1970, ACORN has grown to more than 350,000 member families, organized in 850 neighborhood chapters in over 100 cities across the U.S. and in cities in Argentina, Peru, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Canada.