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Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim S who wrote (74094)	9/15/2009 3:14:12 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

House Republicans to Focus on ACORN-IRS Ties Robert Costa The Corner A senior aide to House Republican leadership tells NRO that the GOP will continue to work to block ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, from receiving federal funds. On Monday, the Senate passed a provision, 83 to 7, to end ties between ACORN and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Senate vote followed in the footsteps of an announcement by the Census Bureau last Friday that they too would end their relationship with ACORN. Still, the aide says, House Republicans are not content with just curbing ACORN’s relationships with HUD and the Census Bureau. Monday’s Senate vote, he points out, was an amendment to a housing and transportation spending bill that passed the House in July. When it passed the House in the summer, it did not deny ACORN access to federal dollars. Now, with the amended Senate bill being tossed back to the House (and probably headed for a conference committee), House Republicans see an opportunity to broaden their efforts to cut ACORN off from government money. “There are multiple moving parts now,” the aide says. “There is new pressure on federal agencies other than the Census Bureau, such as the IRS, to severe their relationships with ACORN.” The IRS has worked with ACORN in recent years on administering tax assistance outreach as part of the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Preparation (VITA) program. These efforts have been strongly supported in the past by former President Bill Clinton and other top Democrats. “This is a lightning rod issue, and we’ll keep focus on it,” the aide says. “ACORN supporters are hoping that the next few weeks will allow some time to pass so that Democrats can get to a reconcile point on the bill and remove the language and water it down.” With increased pressure on federal agencies from House Republicans, look for more ACORN-agency relationships to be spotlighted in coming days. Rep. Charles Boustany (R., La.) said last week that he will seek “a hearing of the Oversight Subcommittee of the House Ways and Means Committee as soon as practicable to investigate ACORN's activities.” Rep. Steve King (R., Iowa) also recently called on Rep. John Conyers (D., Mich.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, to hold investigations into ACORN. Today, House Republican leader Rep. John Boehner (R., Ohio) wrote a letter to his colleagues pushing for Congress to “terminate all federal funding to ACORN and its affiliates.” Boehner hopes to introduce the ‘Defund ACORN Act’ in soon, since he believes “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.” “This is a matter of common sense and respect for taxpayer dollars,” writes Boehner. “Last year, millions of Americans were outraged to learn their tax dollars were being used to subsidize an organization linked to multiple instances of voter registration fraud and other illicit activity. An analysis of federal data by my staff determined that ACORN has received more than $53 million in direct funding from the federal government since 1994, and has likely received substantially more indirectly through states and localities that receive federal block grants.” Update: House Republican leader Rep. John Boehner (R., Ohio) tells NRO: <<< At a meeting with every House Republican Member this morning, I urged everyone to seek out and expose taxpayer money going to ACORN in every agency and in every committee’s jurisdiction. There is no excuse — none — for any more of the American peoples’ hard-earned tax dollars to go to this corrupt gang. Rep. Cantor’s effort to highlight the IRS-ACORN link is a great place to start, along with Rep. Bachmann’s bill to zero out the money ACORN gets from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. We’re also sending a letter, which will be signed by as many of our Members as possible, to President Obama, urging him to eliminate all ACORN funding. I sent a similar letter to President Bush last year. I hope, given all the new revelations about ACORN’s nefarious practices, that we’ll get results this time. In case President Obama isn’t willing or able to end ACORN funding without Congressional action, we’re also introducing legislation to get the job done. >>> corner.nationalreview.com