Washington – The Senate voted Monday to block the Housing and Urban Development Department from giving grants to ACORN, a community organization under fire in several voter-registration fraud cases.
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The 83-7 vote would deny housing and community grant funding to ACORN, which stands for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
The action came as the group is suffering from bad publicity after a duo of conservative activists posing as a prostitute and her pimp released hidden-camera videos in which ACORN employees in Baltimore gave advice on house-buying and how to account on tax forms for the woman’s income. Two other videos, aired frequently on media outlets such as the Fox News Channel, depict similar situations in ACORN offices in Brooklyn and Washington, D.C.
The Senate’s move would mean that ACORN would not be able to win HUD grants for programs such as counseling low-income people on how to get mortgages and for fair housing education and outreach.
Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., said that ACORN has received $53 million in taxpayer funds since 1994 and that the group was eligible for a wider set of funding in the pending legislation, which funds housing and transportation programs.
Just last week, the Census Bureau severed its ties with ACORN, saying it does not want the group’s help in outreach efforts on the decennial count.
In recent months, Republicans have become increasingly critical of the census’ ties with ACORN. The group, which advocates for poor people, conducted a massive voter registration effort last year and became a target of conservatives when some employees were accused of submitting false registration forms with names such as “Mickey Mouse.”
Just last week, prosecutors in Miami-Dade County, Fla., arrested 11 people for falsifying hundreds of voter applications during a registration drive last year. ACORN tipped the authorities off to the problem.
On the hidden camera controversy, ACORN says it has fired the employees involved but has lashed out at Fox for pumping up the scandal. In a statement, Bertha Lewis, ACORN’s chief organizer, said the tapes had been doctored and violated Maryland’s wiretapping laws. She promised to sue Fox.
Sue Fox,on a technicality but that doesn’t make you legit, we already know what you did.
Mazal Tov! It’s about time!!
These liberal money sucking “organizations” have been bilking the government for way too long!
Well it is about time! It was disgusting when the Republicans and George Bush passed a law giving them the biggest funding increase in history. I’m sure the phony Beck-worshipers will comment on this shortly, however I must say that it is nice to see the DEMOCRATIC Senate cut off the funding. While I rarely agree with Democrat policies, I can certainly get behind this one. Now they just have to stop funding all those stupid “faith-based” initiatives and we can start getting back on track.
Yay!!!!!
fire your employees & then claim Fox doctored the tapes. what a bunch of liars!
Its about time the Senate does something right.
How about no more funding for any group with tax payers money Including our own? Since when is the gov. my gabai tzedakah if I want to donate to acorn,atime ,chai lifeline I will do it on my own
Its time to focus attention on ALL these “community organizing” groups whatever their affiliation and shut them down. VIN readers would be surprised to know that even some orthodox jewish groups in NYC get federal funding to do essentially the same tasks that ACORN does. They should shut them all down and stop giving away our taxes to these ganovim.
Now that the shoe is on the other foot, we can ask “How do you like THEM apples?
Or “They got a taste of their own medicine”! So far the score has been 13-0. After peta (Purposely decapitalized) and all the other miscreants it’s like a breath of fresh air that the same methods have been used on those holier-than-thou unpatriotic hypocrites and their true face has been exposed!!!
The way I see it, its a vote against OBAMA.. Acorn is obama, and Obama is Acorn!!
83 – 7 vote against obama.. Nice!!
we need to find out who the 7 were that did not vote agains them and get them out of office- worst “organization” you can ever imagine.
As a landlord in the City Ive come face to face with acorn- they are the most vile group – organizing tenants not to pay rent
Our senator Gillibrand is more liberal than Schumer. She is a tool of the unions.