Well, I've changed my mind. I will extract some quotes.
When charity is replaced by entitlement, the voluntary flow of donations to small, local organizations transforms into the accumulation of stupendous amounts of money in Washington. Not only is there a huge pile of taxpayer loot to be divided, but the power of government is fantastically valuable. ACORN made a huge amount of money - and helped crash the entire financial system - by using government
power to force banks into making risky loans to politically favored, but financially unqualified, borrowers. This kind of relationship sets up a loop of corruption between politicians and those who profit from using their power. A hefty percentage of ACORN’s loot flowed back to its political partners, in the form of campaign donations and votes - both legal and fraudulent.
The formation of these circuits of corruption is inevitable. When the State extracts titanic amounts of money from its citizens, groups like ACORN will always form to influence the disbursement. Votes and donations will always be the currency used to influence the politicians. When billions of dollars are at stake, millions can disappear into open pockets without raising much suspicion. The federal government could not pass even the most cursory audit, of the type it routinely inflicts on private corporations. Enough money has simply vanished from every one of Barack Obama’s titanic spending programs, from the “stimulus” to Cash for Clunkers, to make hundreds of well-connected people rich beyond belief.
As with so many aspects of public life, it all boils down to basic economics. The Left likes to rail against the laws of supply and demand, price and value… but it lives under them, as surely as Microsoft and Wal-Mart do. In a command economy, political power becomes the most valuable commodity, and it will find a way to be bought and sold. A vast dependency class produces a huge demand for benefits, which groups like ACORN exploit to influence politicians. The government has vast sums of taxpayer money to purchase votes. There is no regulatory agency, watchdog group, or police force large enough to prevent this transaction from occurring. ACORN may have clients in communities across the nation, but its biggest customers are in Washington. It’s fitting that ACORN’s demise is beginning with a prostitution sting, because it has often been said that prostitution is best fought by going after the demand side of the operation. If you want to shut down the pimps, go after the johns…. or, at least, take their bankrolls away.