ACORN Mounts a Comeback

Just a few weeks ago, the criminal enterprise called ACORN was on the run. Both House and Senate voted to de-fund the organization, but in different ways that were, in effect, more symbolic than real. The Democrats, having laid low for a while, are now moving to restore ACORN to a more powerful position than ever.
Byron York explains last week’s maneuvering in the House Financial Services Committee. Republicans led by Michele Bachmann matched wits with Maxine Waters and the Democrats. That sounds like a mismatch, but the Dems prevailed by aiming higher than the Republicans had anticipated.
What is at stake is the administration’s proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The House bill creates an Oversight Board that will advise the administrator of the agency. The Oversight Board consists of high-ranking officials like the chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve and the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission. Only, under Waters’s amendment, the Oversight Board would also include five members selected for their “expert[ise] in financial services, community development, fair lending and civil rights, and consumer financial products or services.” Read, ACORN and assorted partners in crime.
The Waters Amendment passed, but the war isn’t over yet. When the bill gets to the House floor, Republicans will offer an amendment intended to force Democrats to go on record as voting to empower the corrupt organization. Will that work? Hard to say, but one thing is certain: ACORN is a hard organization to put out of business.