Acorn Protest Group Exposed

The Washington Post this week headlined protesters who are in town to complain about the slow pace of Katrina relief in New Orleans.

The sympathetic portrayal of the protesters' grievances left out one critical part of the story: The protest was organized by ACORN--the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. ACORN got a grant of $1,999,920 of your money from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

It turns out ACORN actually charged the demonstrators $50 a head to join their protest. I have plenty of sympathy for people from the Gulf Coast whose lives have been turned upside down by Katrina. And I certainly wonder about federal bureaucrats who may be dragging their feet on relief efforts.

But funding ACORN is just nuts. This far-left group has its roots in the radicalism of the 1960s. Marxist agitator Saul Alinsky described such "community-based" organizing in his book, Reveille for Radicals.

This is a cause that cries out for reform. Congress should look into the entire array of left-wing agitation undertaken with your money. De-funding the left could do much to end culture wars. Why should we be funding one side?