ACORN Divorces SEIU?

I have a new article on ACORN and SEIU’s attempts to distance itself from the group.

From today’s American Spectator, here’s the top of the article:

The Service Employees International Union’s Anna Burger shocked political observers last week when she told a congressional hearing that her union “cut all ties to ACORN.”

Burger’s statement came days before Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell announced yesterday that former ACORN official Dale Rathke allegedly stole $5 million from ACORN, as opposed to the originally reported sum of close to $1 million. Current ACORN chief organizer Bertha Lewis denies the $5 million figure is correct, and other ACORN inside sources I trust also deny the figure is correct, but more on the embezzlement saga in a moment.

Surely the SEIU’s claimed break from ACORN is the kind of earth-shattering news that a powerful, high-profile labor union like SEIU would want to get out there as ACORN becomes increasingly associated in the public mind with corruption and criminality.

Alas, it only came up when Burger, who is SEIU’s international secretary-treasurer, was asked about ACORN by Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) during a Sept. 30 hearing conducted by the House Financial Services Committee, as reported by BigGovernment.com. […]