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ACORN suffers 83-7 rebuke by US Senate
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A poverty-rights group that has drawn the ire of conservatives suffered another setback in Washington on Monday when the U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly to deny it access to federal housing funds.

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, which helps poor people fight foreclosures and fix tax problems, has received more than $53 million in U.S. funds since 1994, but conservatives' charges of widespread fraud have begun to impact its reputation in the capital.

The Senate measure, which passed 83 to 7 in the Democratic-led chamber,
[the pro ACORN votes came from:

* Dick Durbin (D-IL)
* Roland Burris (D-IL)
* Robert Casey (D-PA)
* Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
* Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
* Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
* Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)]
was included in a must-pass spending bill that funds housing and transportation programs for the fiscal year that starts October 1.

The House of Representatives passed a similar spending bill without restrictions on ACORN. The House and Senate must resolved differences before a final measure can be sent to Obama to sign into law.

Republicans say ACORN engaged in widespread fraud during the 2008 presidential campaign when it launched a massive voter-registration drive in minority communities, which typically support Democrats and ended up voting overwhelmingly for President Barack Obama.

ACORN says less than 2 percent of its 1.3 million voter applications were fraudulent, stemming from canvassers who sought to boost the number of forms they turned in.
How would ACORN know? It's not as though they actually double checked.
Independent analysts say any actual impact on the election was negligible.
Again, mostly the applications weren't checked, as the piles of the things were dumped on the registration desks just before the deadline as a matter of principle. So nobody actually knows whether there was a significant impact.
The group has also suffered an embezzlement scandal involving the founder's brother.

ACORN more recently has been embarrassed by conservative activists who secretly taped employees in several cities giving tax advice to a couple posing as a pimp and prostitute.

The group has fired several of those taped while denouncing the actions as a smear campaign.
So it is, and quite effective too, given that all the claims are verifiably true.

Posted by: lord garth 2009-09-15
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=278987