From Investor’s Business Daily:

President Obama says the Occupy Wall Street protests show a “broad-based frustration” among Americans with the financial sector, which continues to kick against regulatory reforms three years after the financial crisis.

“You’re seeing some of the same folks who acted irresponsibly trying to fight efforts to crack down on the abusive practices that got us into this in the first place,” he complained earlier this month.

But what if government encouraged, even invented, those “abusive practices”?

Rewind to 1994. That year, the federal government declared war on an enemy — the racist lender — who officials claimed was to blame for differences in homeownership rate, and launched what would prove the costliest social crusade in U.S. history. (more…)

Here are a few stories to bring holiday cheer for taxpayers. First, we have an Associated Press report that several hundred thousand federal bureaucrats have serious tax delinquencies. The Department of Housing and Urban Development always ranks high on the list of government entities that should be abolished, so it’s interesting to see that HUD bureaucrats are most likely to be dodging their taxes:

More than 276,000 federal employees and retirees owed back income taxes as of Sept. 30, 2008, according to data from the Internal Revenue Service. The $3.04 billion owed was up from $2.7 billion owed by federal employees and retirees in 2007. Among cabinet agencies, the Department of Housing and Urban Development had the highest delinquency rate, at just over 4 percent.

This rampant nonpayment is especially outrageous since federal bureaucrats “earn” twice as much compensation, on average, as those of us laboring in the productive sector of the economy. One might think they would go out of their way to comply since their bloated salaries come from tax collections. Speaking of outrage, the internal watchdogs at the Treasury have just published a report showing that it is almost impossible to verify eligibility for the special interest tax breaks in the so-called stimulus. As Investor’s Business Daily opines, this is an invitation to fraud:

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One of the last people you’d expect to be a catalyst for the near collapse of history’s most advanced financial system is the secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Though not the masterminds of the nation’s economic woes, Andrew Cuomo and Mel Martinez were willing musclemen for the Congressional and White House driven mandates that housing be made more affordable to all through government subsidy.

Those mandates, policy stemming back to the 1960s, were driven by compassion, but have turned out to be the chief cause for the current rampant rates of default, foreclosure, and economic pain striking particularly hard at low-income families.

Such is the story Charlie Gasparino tells in his new book, The Sellout: How Three Decades of Wall Street Greed and Government Mismanagement Destroyed the Global Financial System. Gasparino notes that Cuomo as much as boasted in the late 1990s about forcing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to expand their subprime mortgage portfolios. Not slowing down, the George W. Bush appointed Martinez carried the ball forward with great speed, presiding over a period of time where Fannie and Freddie grew to hold a combined $1 trillion in subprime mortgages.

(more…)

FoxNews.com reports:

After Census Severs Ties, ACORN May Face Scrutiny of Housing Grants
ACORN Housing Corporation received $1.6 million in federal money to provide housing services to low-income communities in this fiscal year

Conservatives have cheered the Census Bureau’s decision to sever ties with ACORN because it had lost confidence in the group, but the hidden-camera videos that prompted ACORN to fire four workers this week could raise more questions about the federal funding ACORN receives for housing outreach.

ACORN Housing Corporation received $1.6 million to provide housing services to low-income communities in this fiscal year, ending Sept. 30, according to USASpending.gov, a federal government Web site for tracking government grants.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development Grants has given $8.2 million to ACORN in the years between 2003 and 2006, as well as $1.6million to ACORN affiliates.

HUD could not be reached for comment. (more…)

Washington, D.C., Sep 11 -

U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann (MN-06) today requested the U.S. Census Bureau to refrain from partnering with ACORN in light of the numerous additional criminal activities uncovered this week:

“The past three days have brought to light further evidence that ACORN is untrustworthy and not worthy of being a partner for the 2010 census,” said Bachmann.  “These additional findings are disturbing and merely solidify my original and long-standing position that an organization with a continuous cloud of suspicion should be banned from receiving taxpayer dollars.  So long as this cloud of suspicion hangs over ACORN, I am afraid that its partnership with the Bureau could jeopardize the integrity of the census process and diminish the public’s trust in the Census.”

Bachmann has also requested Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Chairman Barney Frank conduct a congressional investigation into ACORN, its use of tax dollars, and whether it should repay tax dollars already received.

In order to immediately stop taxpayer dollars from funding ACORN, Bachmann is requesting the IRS revoke ACORN’s tax exempt status; the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) halt any current funding; and the HUD Suspension and Debarment Committee suspend any future access to funding until ACORN cleans up its operation.

Click here to learn about the 11 ACORN workers arrested for voter registration or click here to view video of the Baltimore prostitution investigation. (more…)