How did ACORN get such a deal?

ACORN has received a lot of money from big banks for enforcing policies which harmed the interests of those banks, and which contributed a lot to our current financial crisis.

ACORN perfected this “pay for protection” business model in the 1990s. And it is a business. While some of the ACORN organizations are non-profit, others are not, which means that by working together they can get the best of all worlds: political actions, union-style organization, tax-exempt status, privacy, and profit.

And concerning union connections . . .