Community organizing has never had so much time in the spotlight – or in the crosshairs of American political debate. First, a former community organizer runs for President of the United States and people of all political persuasions become aware of this profession.
Sarah Palin added more fuel to the debate about organizing with her comment, “…a small town mayor is sorta like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.” As we know, the community organizer won and the profession had its 15 minutes — or months — of fame.
At least until Fox News decided to run with a video clip of a phony pimp and prostitute asking for tax and home buying advice from a community organization. That clip and the resulting focus on the community organization ACORN has led to a series of actions taken by government and businesses alike.
The U.S. Census Bureau and the IRS stopped doing business with ACORN. Congress voted overwhelmingly to not fund ACORN. Bank of America suspended its relationship with the group. Last year, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development cut funding to the organization.
Clearly, ACORN is a valuable but flawed organization. On one hand, it has been at the center of campaigns to establish a “living wage” in 140 communities across the country and its organizing of low income tenants and homeowners has resulted in everything from vacant lots being cleaned up to more first time homebuyers getting responsible loans. On the other hand, ACORN’s top management leaves a lot to be desired. Last year, it was an embezzlement scandal, and then questions about its voter registration efforts, and now even more concerns about the quality of advice given to clients and members.
Big-Time Company
It is time to put all of this into perspective and Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D-Minnesota) has filed a bill to apply the same standards to all who seek to do business with the government. Her bill would ban federal contracts with private companies, nonprofits and other groups that have been convicted of defrauding the government. Good-bye Pfizer. Good-bye Blackwater. Good-bye Halliburton. Good-bye to many of today’s defense contractors. Okay, maybe Blackwater and Halliburton haven’t been convicted of anything yet (they are under investigation), but neither has ACORN.
The Pfizer scandal alone is incredible, albeit without an accompanying video and therefore far less media attention. Pfizer agreed to pay $2.3 billion, the largest health care fraud settlement ever, to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from the illegal promotion of Bextra, an anti-inflammatory drug. Despite the settlement and admission of guilt, Pfizer is widely expected to be an ongoing recipient of federal contracts.
Taxpayers have a right to know that all of their tax dollars are being spent wisely. But that should include at least the same government and media oversight of the $383 million contract for a Halliburton affiliate as on a $50,000 contract to a small non-profit for homebuyer counseling.
As non-profits, we welcome the scrutiny. In fact, we are accustomed to it. Twenty years ago, Boston non-profits pledged to area banks that responsible lending to lower income homebuyers could be good business and we have proven it month after month with open reporting of loans and delinquencies under the SoftSecond mortgage program. As a nation, we should demand the same transparency and same rules across the spectrum from small non-profits to large defense contractors. It is the only fair and balanced way to move forward.
