Why do We Need YOUR Voice Against ACORN? Because Gov’t Cannot Be Trusted!

Not long ago I posted a piece with news that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) had decided to cut off its association with the Association for Community Activists for Reform Now (ACORN). I also reported that the RIS and several other Federal agencies had stopped their dealings with ACORN, essentially defunding them of federal dollars.

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But that was then… On October 22 Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D, Calif) was sadly successful in getting an amendment passed in the House Financial Services Committee that would allow ACORN to become an official government actor in setting regulations for financial institutions. You read that right. Rep. Waters thought it would be a great idea to give federal power to an organization that has repeatedly broken multiple state election laws in nearly every state in the union and an organization that has been guilty of covering up the embezzlement nearly five million dollars of its own funds by one of its highest ranking members. Republican Representative Spencer Bachus (R, Alabama) ranking Republican of the Financial Services Committee reported of Rep. Waters’ amendment to H.. 3126.

The Waters amendment adds to the CFPA Oversight Board 5 representatives from the fields of “consumer protection, fair lending and civil rights, representatives of depository institutions that primarily serve underserved communities, or representatives of communities that have been significantly impacted by higher-priced mortgages” to join Federal banking regulators in advising the Director on the consistency of proposed regulations, and strategies and policies that the Director should undertake to enforce its rules. By making representatives of ACORN and other consumer activist organizations eligible to serve on the Oversight Board, the amendment creates a potentially enormous government sanctioned conflict of interest. ACORN-type organizations will have an advisory role on regulating the very financial institutions from which they receive millions of dollars annually in direct corporate contributions and benefit from other financial partnerships and arrangements. These are the same organizations that pressured banks to make subprime mortgage loans and thus bear a major responsibility for the collapse of the housing market.

And here is the point. Many Congressmen have been heard to say that ACORN should be defunded. But without the voices of the voters back home, this temporary lapse in Congressional largess to ACORN will be just that, temporary. As we can see with Maxine Waters slipping yet another payoff to ACORN into congressional rules, government cannot be trusted to hold the line against criminal enterprises like ACORN. And it isn’t just Congress we have to worry about. Democrats all across the country are looking for ways to give ACORN payoffs in the dead of night when the voters aren’t looking. And some Republicans that get large campaign donations from ACORN are not much different. It takes the continued pressure from voters to keep our government officials honest. Your voice is needed to tell our politicians both at the state level and the federal level to dump ACORN. The nature of the intertwined association between government and ACORN is why we ask that you join us and Say NO to ACORN. Sign the petition and tell Governor Quinn that you want a real investigation to end corruption for good.