ACORN Lives

It should come as no surprise that the Department of Housing and Urban Development's recently released inspector general's report found that ACORN engaged in massive fraud. ACORN was reported to have corruptly funneled taxpayer dollars to its affiliates, paid excessive and unwarranted salaries to ACORN staffers out of HUD grant funds, used taxpayer funds to pay salaries to terminated ACORN employees, and engaged in money laundering. The scathing report recommends that funding for ACORN's still operating housing affiliate be terminated immediately.

What's that, you say? You thought ACORN funding had been cut off last year, after videos surfaced of ACORN staff advising undercover investigators how to evade federal tax laws and other statutes? So did I.

However, it turns out that the de-funding of ACORN was only temporary. Like the Bush tax cuts, there was an expiration date. Like the Bush tax cuts, the decision to extend or let expire is fast approaching (it's Oct. 1). Unlike the Bush tax cuts, you won't hear a word about it in the lamestream media.

(Sources and images here , here , and here .)

Legislative games like this are just one more reason we need sweeping reforms in our legislative process. Those reforms won't come about unless we elect people whose first priority is solving our problems, not getting re-elected.