ACORN is a shakedown operation. They approach a business for money. If the business doesn't pay for protection they send rent-a-mobs into their targets with the intent of disrupting operations and scaring customers.

This doesn't surprise me at all. A former poli sci professor of mine did a study on Margaret Thatcher's government's policy of setting up loans enabling folks in council housing (British public housing) to buy their homes. In addition to creating better communities (because people who own their homes are more invested in the neighborhood), he believes it lead to an increase in the number of Conservative Party voters.

Bros. Judd, IIRC, today had an interesting post - middle class/affluent hispanics marked their boxes off as "White," low income hispanics marked "Other."

You're talking about a correlation between home ownership and voting Republican, but you're acting like there's causation.

I learned this in one of my science classes in high school: correlation does not imply causation.

Gee, it's good to know you listened in high school. But nobody is arguing causation here. In fact I would bet that if you asked the quoted economist, she would posit an underlying, common cause for both home ownership and voting Republican. My guesses are twofold. First, the Republican party is considered, in gross generalization, the party of self-reliance over social programs a(for better or worse). Those who strive for self-reliance tend appreciate its value and therefore align with the party that encourages it. And secondly, Bush campaigned heavily on the record rise in minority home ownership. He could have swayed some Hispanics by, in effect, taking credit for their newfound ability to buy a home.

Might there also be a connection to high rental numbers in urban areas, which are typically dominated by the left? When you're paying inflated prices due to open space laws, byzantine zoning issues and attrition as a result of rent-control policies, you're less likely to be able to afford a home. Not knowing what the causes for some of that are might allow the Dems to keep their ranks.

Economic effects aren't always so simple laypersons can grasp them. But when they do...

Yikes. On re-reading of this post I have *no idea* where I got the idea for my first comment.

Guess I was tired.

Much of the preditory lending that ACORN is fighting has more to do with corrupt contractors and exploitative banks than either party. ACORN is not a shakedown, it is a network of organizers who often find themselves at odds with both parties. I think we should be standing up for groups that fight for low-income equality regardless of the side of the political coin it helps. Predetory lending is nasty and a disturbing example of 'banks gone wild' no matter how you look at it.

also: Home ownership doesn't necessarily lead to voting Republican. I'm thinking now of my parents. Just like living in the inner city doesn't mean voting Democrat. It would be nice if everything were as simple as we'remaking it.

Living in the core (Minneapolis) of the Twin cities *DOES* mean voting Democrat. And at a time when this area is facing a housing crisis we have the following:

a) close to half the blocks have a "community garden" all that is left after a house is condemned.

b) Minneapolis fought hard to get it's own electrical code - a small subset of electricians do enough business in the city to make it worthwhile to pay a second set of fees.

c) The "energy code" requires new housing be built using more expensive 2x6s to allow enough insulation to comply.

ACORN does little or nothing about any of these. In many cases they are part of the problem.

ACORN is a group that uses labor-style organizing techniques to carry a far left message. For the princely sum of $11 an hour, its organizers canvass poor neighborhoods, getting families to join ACORN for a nominal monthly fee.
ACORN agitates against 'big box' stores and for a living wage, but most of its campaigns are co-options of more worthy issues.
Whatever good they accomplish is more than offset by their poisonous philosophy of class hatred and the free lunch.