Defund ACORN Now

Americans for Liberty calls for Congress to defund ACORN: What could possibly be more revolting than a federally funded organization using a stream of tax dollars to promote voter fraud and encourage prostitution? Perhaps the seven U.S. Senators voting to keep that organization fully funded with those tax dollars.

In the aftermath of the highly publicized disclosure of multiple videos revealing ACORN workers offering assistance to an undercover “pimp and prostitute”, the Senate sprang into action and voted to prohibit the organization from receiving housing grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Although it was the damning prostitution videos—which explicitly showed ACORN workers giving advice on how to evade taxes, set up a brothel, and harbor underage immigrant girls as prostitutes—which prompted the quick vote, ACORN already had a long history of corrupt and vile behavior. In addition to pushing the very loose-lending policies which triggered the collapse of the housing market, ACORN is also under investigation for voter registration fraud all across the country. Among others, states like Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Missouri have each file charges.

Given the organization’s contemptible record of ill-repute, the vote to defund ACORN should have been a 100 percent unanimous vote. Even the U.S. Census has already revoked its partnership agreement with ACORN for the official 2010 Census count in light of the prostitution scandals. Seven U.S. Senators, however, voted against the bill and thus in favor of keeping ACORN fully funded. They are Roland Burris (D-IL), Robert Casey (D-PA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). In essence, these seven are giving their stamp of approval to the prostitution of underage children—not to mention tax evasion, voter fraud, and reckless lending.

Bill Wilson, President of Americans for Limited Government, labeled the unconscionable group of senators the “Sordid Seven”. As he said in a statement:

“These seven Senators have knowingly voted to keep sending taxpayer money to a highly corrupt organization of pushers and pimps. The constituents of these seven unconscionable Senators need to know that despite ACORN’s clear track record of bad lending practices, the ‘Sordid Seven’ have chosen to look the other way.”

In addition to the “No” votes of these seven Senators, the fact that ACORN will still receive any federal funding is reprehensible. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) echoed the sentiment of many—including Americans for Limited Government—by calling upon Barack Obama to sever ties with ACORN and end all federal funds to the organization (not solely those from the Department of Housing and Urban Development). As he said in his letter to Obama:

“It is evident that ACORN is incapable of using federal funds in a manner that is consistent with the law. Immediate action is necessary to ensure that no additional tax dollars are directed to ACORN. Simply put, ACORN should not receive another penny of American taxpayers’ money.”

Unfortunately, severing ties with ACORN will not be a simple task for Barack Obama. After all, the organization practically spawned the man now occupying the oval office and was pivotal in shaping his political philosophy, strategies, and tactics. As Barack Obama himself once said:

“I come out of a grassroots organizing background. That's what I did for three and half years before I went to law school…this is something that I know personally, the work [ACORN does], the importance of it. I've been fighting alongside ACORN on issues you care about my entire career. Even before I was an elected official, when I ran Project Vote voter registration drive in Illinois, ACORN was smack dab in the middle of it.”

And now Barack Obama and seven U.S. Senators are smack dab in the middle of an ACORN prostitution scandal. This cannot go unaddressed. As Rep. Boehner articulates, there is no excuse for a single penny of tax money to go to ACORN. The latest round of incidents proves it anew. The constituents of these “Sordid Seven” senators must hold them accountable for being complicit in prostitution, tax evasion, voter fraud, and the reckless lending that helped trigger the housing collapse. And the American people must hold their president accountable for being part and parcel of one of the nation’s most corrupt and contemptible organizations.

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