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  1. #1
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    Bachmann: Taxpayers Footing Bill for ACORN

    Bachmann: Taxpayers Footing Bill for ACORN

    Wednesday, June 10, 2009 2:15 PM
    By: Jim Meyers

    Rep. Michele Bachmann tells Newsmax that taxpayers are being forced to "grease the wheels" for the activist group ACORN by providing it with federal funds even though the organization has been indicted for voter registration fraud.

    The Minnesota Republican has introduced the Taxpayer Protection and Anti-Fraud Act, which would bar any organization that has been indicted for violating federal or state election laws, or employs someone indicted for violating those laws, from receiving taxpayer funds.

    That would cut off federal funds for The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), which has been accused of paying its voter registration recruiters based on the number of people they sign up.

    Newsmax.TV's Ashley Martella asked Bachmann about her bill.

    "The act is based on some very common sense principles that I think resonate with a lot of Americans right now," Bachmann said.

    "What we're trying to do is raise the bar a little bit higher for accessing taxpayer funds than to be indicted for voter fraud. My opinion is that receiving taxpayer funds is a privilege. It's not a right. And right now taxpayer money has been going to an organization that has used it in a way that has put itself in the crosshairs with the public trust.

    "They've been indicted not just in one state or two states or three states, but now they've been indicted and in some cases convicted in over a dozen states. It certainly seems at this point that the taxpayers can do a little bit better with this money."

    Martella observed that the Barack Obama campaign gave ACORN $800,000 before the election, and now there are billions in the so-called stimulus bill available for ACORN and similar groups. He asked how ACORN can be stopped from getting this public money.

    "It's very difficult to stop them if the taxpayer is greasing the wheels for them to be able to do their work," Bachmann responded.

    "Since 1994, ACORN has been the recipient of over $53 million in direct federal money. Now that Barack Obama is president, ACORN will have access to over $8.5 billion, between the stimulus and the budget plan. That's an enormous amount of money for an organization that is under indictment in over 12 states.

    "Our bill does nothing to take away the due process rights of ACORN. They still can have their day in court. They can still be adjudicated.

    "All we're saying is that if an organization would choose to receive federal tax money, they need to have a higher bar set in order to be able to access that money.

    "Now it's time for Congress to choose. Congress needs to decide whose side are they going to be on. Are they going to be on the side of the taxpayer or will they be on the side of ACORN? It's time for choosing."

    Martella asked what kind of support Bachmann has been receiving for her bill.

    "TREMENDOUS SUPPORT," she declared.

    "The leadership in the House of Representatives on the Republican side has gone completely on board with my bill. Our Minority Leader John Boehner has signed on to my bill. He's urged all the members of the Republican caucus to sign on, and we're urging the Democrat members to sign on as well.

    "This is a very serious issue. And now we have the specter of President Obama inviting ACORN to be one of his national partners in conducting the Census."

    ACORN has reportedly been asked to help the White House find 1.4 million workers to canvass for the country’s 2010 census.

    See Video: Rep. Michele Bachmann how taxpayers are forced to pay for ACORN’s questionable activities - Click Here Now
    (please go to source to access link)

    http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/mich ... 23664.html
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  2. #2
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    Related:
    Rep. Bachmann's Petition Against ACORN
    http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-158482-acorn.html
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  3. #3
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    Here's some back-up information from the Washington Examiner:

    http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opini ... dment.html

    New Charges Filed Against ACORN As Barney Frank Pushes Amendment
    By: Kevin Mooney
    Examiner Investigative Reporter
    05/07/09 3:11 PM EDT

    New charges have been filed against ACORN just as Rep. Barney Frank moved an amendment to the House floor that would make it easier for the liberal non-profit organization to receive federal funds, despite on-going vote fraud investigations.

    Law enforcement officials in Pennsylvania have charged seven workers with either forging, illegally soliciting or illegally filling out voter registration cards in the midst of the 2008 elections. This comes just a few days after top state officials in Nevada filed a felony criminal complaint against the non-profit group formally known as the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now.

    Frank’s amendment would fundamentally alter an anti-ACORN provision Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) had inserted in the proposed Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act and will likely be approved today in a mostly party-line vote.

    Bachmann’s earlier amendment was unanimously approved by Frank’s committee in a voice vote last week. It would block organizations that have been indicted for voter registration or vote fraud from receiving housing counseling grants and legal assistance grants. Bachman’s prohibition would apply only to the proposed mortgage reform legislation, and would not change ACORN’s ability to receive funds under either the stimulus program or 2010 budget.

    Frank, who is chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said his panel’s approval last week of Bachmann’s provision was a mistake.

    “I did not read it carefully, and it was in the last minute that the amendment was accepted,â€
    Remember that*all Politicians work for us, the U.S. Taxpaying Citizens.* If they are not doing their jobs to your liking, FIRE THEM in the next elections.

  4. #4
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    Thank you, MarkM, for this excellent article.

    Quote from Rep. Bachmann on Barney Frank's tactics to require that organizations actually be found guilty before federal funding can be prohibited or removed:

    "“Make no mistake about it: He (Rep. Frank) will talk today about the bedrock legal principle of innocence until proof of guilt; but that is not what this is about. The language in the bill today does not jeopardize that principle at all. Decisions on criminal guilt will remain in the capable hands of a jury of peers.

    “But, it is not only legitimate for Congress to decide the threshold for accessing taxpayer funds; it is incumbent upon us to do so. And, for far too long, Congress has cavalierly distributed taxpayer money. Today, each and every one of us can go on record as saying that we will no longer set the bar so low; that we will require organizations that want to use taxpayer funds to prove that they are worthy of the taxpayer’s trust.

    “There’s a saying: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. ACORN and organizations like it have fooled us not once, not twice, but over and over again. The stories of their indictments for voter fraud for violating their tax status, for voter registration improprieties abound. Grand juries across the nation have found them and their employees lacking. Yet, we continue to funnel millions of dollars into their coffers."
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