ACORN must be accountable

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called the latest allegations against the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now “horrible.” She added that ACORN has many honest employees and she'll leave it to House-Senate negotiators to decide if a spending bill should deny funding to the non-profit agency.

Ms. Speaker, is there any doubt?

ACORN's credibility is on the ropes and the public trust is at stake. There are too many strikes against this organization to keep ignoring what must be done. Until ACORN cleans house and demonstrates how it will better manage the taxpayers money, Congress must turn off the spigot.

Hidden-camera videos finally got Congress's attention. Taken by an independent investigative journalist, they show ACORN employees in four cities, apparently advising a couple posing as a prostitute and a pimp on how to set up a prostitution business. Tips included ways to dodge housing and tax laws.

ACORN's initial reaction: the videos were doctored and racially motivated. But four workers were fired. Then its chief executive, Brenda Lewis, ordered a review.

One might dismiss the videos as an isolated problem. But it's only the latest of many troubling incidents. Last week, 11 ACORN workers in Florida were charged with falsifying 888 voter registration forms. A month ago, an election official in Las Vegas said nearly half of voter registration forms turned in by ACORN were clearly fraudulent - we've heard that one far too often.

The U.S. Census Bureau isn't taking chances. ACORN field workers won't be used in the 2010 population count.

Unfortunately, honest ACORN workers who give the poor valid, legal advice are compromised by this scandal. Nonetheless, Congress must cut off the money, at least until ACORN's management proves it can be trusted.