We may be feeling a bit good about having watched what we consider to be the demise of ACORN but unless Congress takes bold action, these fuckers will be in line for billions in government hand-outs.
U.S. Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, is demanding a straight up-or-down vote on a bill dedicated to removing ACORN from the list of recipients of federal largesse, or says he’ll force the issue.
And a key conservative vote, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., says unless there is such an action, it will mean the recent votes on that very issue were nothing but “cover.”
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Bachmann warns, “ACORN still remains eligible for billions of your tax dollars.”
“And don’t think that the Democrats won’t try to strip the ACORN language from whatever bill finally makes it to the White House,” Bachmann continued. “These votes were their cover.
“They think that you’ll be fooled into thinking that they’ve heard your outrage and are abandoning their good buddy, ACORN.”
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Boehner today called on Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to schedule an immediate up-or-down vote on legislation to end all federal funding for ACORN as a separate, stand-alone bill.
His demand comes just a day after the House adopted that as an amendment on a 345-75 vote.
“Yesterday’s overwhelming bipartisan vote to defund ACORN represented critical progress in our effort to sever this corrupt organization’s ties to the federal government, but it was only the beginning,” he said. “Now that the House has spoken in such resounding fashion, Speaker Pelosi should schedule an up-or-down vote on the Defund ACORN Act without delay. This critical priority should not be held hostage to a government takeover of student lending.
“If the speaker refuses to act, I will file a discharge petition to force a vote on this legislation. The sooner we can send the Defund ACORN Act as a stand-alone bill to the Senate, which has already voted to deny federal funds to this corrupt outfit, the sooner we can get it to the president’s desk,” he said. “Every day we continue to allow ACORN access to federal funding is another opportunity for this troubled organization to misuse and abuse taxpayer dollars,” Boehner said.
Bachmann noted that the Senate had had a similar vote just before the House. But her spokeswoman, Debbee Keller, told WND that while the initial votes look good, they don’t actually mean much yet.
“There is one way that we can immediately cut ACORN off from all federal programs and funding, and it’s going to take all of us pressuring President Obama to use the federal suspension and debarment process to make it happen,” Bachmann explained. “This process is coordinated by the Office of Management and Budget at the White House.
“Here’s what the executive branch says about the process: ‘The government debarment and suspension procedures are intended to prevent poor performance, waste, fraud and abuse in federal procurement and nonprocurement actions. Debarment or suspension of an organization, business or individual from doing business with the federal government is not meant to be a punishment, but a procedure to ensure that federally funded business is conducted legally with responsible persons,’” Bachman explained.
“Sounds to me like there is ample evidence against ACORN to initiate and execute this process, cutting them off from funding altogether!” she said. “I’ve already written the administration to ask that the process be invoked.”
