ACORN Closes Its Doors

Six months after conservative activists posing as a pimp and prostitute used hidden cameras to reveal ACORN workers offering questionable tax and housing advice, the once-powerful community-activist group is shutting down. The main causes: plunging revenue and a tarnished reputation. Following the incriminating and viral exposés, Congress pulled ACORN's federal funding and private donors were reluctant to fund the organization. "It's really declining revenue in the face of a series of attacks from partisan operatives and right-wing activists that have taken away our ability to raise the resources we need," an ACORN spokesman said. Two of ACORN's largest branches, the New York and California affiliates, have severed ties from the parent organization and changed their names. ACORN's board will close its state affiliates and field offices by next month.