Show ACORN the Money

From The American Spectator:

ACORN and other left-wing advocacy groups could be eligible for up to $3.99 billion in federal funding included in the $3.83 trillion fiscal 2011 budget blueprint that President Obama unveiled last week.

ACORN and other left-wing advocacy groups could be eligible for up to $3.99 billion in federal funding included in the $3.83 trillion fiscal 2011 budget blueprint that President Obama unveiled last week.

The $3.99 billion comes from a congressional slush fund known as the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, which is part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) $48.5 billion fiscal 2011 budget. CDBG grants, which are awarded to states and localities, pass indirectly to ACORN.

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Tags: ACORN, ACORN funding, ACORN funding ban, acorn scandal, Bill Clinton
Posted Feb 8th 2010 at 10:41 am in ACORN, Congress, federal spending | 7189466 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/publius/2010/02/08/show-acorn-the-money/Show+ACORN+the+Money2010-02-08+18%3A41%3A37Publius

Merry Christmas from the IRS: Another Year of Government Dysfunction

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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Tags: Flat Tax, Housing and Urban Development, HUD, inspector general, Internal Revenue Service
Posted Dec 25th 2009 at 9:03 am in Economics, News, Tax Reform | 5188644 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/dmitchell/2009/12/25/merry-christmas-from-the-irs-another-year-of-big-government-disfunction/Merry+Christmas+from+the+IRS%3A+Another+Year+of+Government+Dysfunction2009-12-25+17%3A03%3A25Dan+Mitchell

Obama’s Four Flimsy Budget Cutting Ideas

President Obama, in his speech on the economy, given at the Bookings Institute, once again, tried to be all things to all people.  Most of the speech was aimed at the dwindling number of devotees who were anxious to hear that additional taxpayer revenues would continue to flow to favored, pet projects.

Nor were these fans disappointed, for, despite running $1.2 trillion in annual deficits, President Obama has once again promised to borrow from the future to fund yet another round of pork and dodgy projects disguised as infrastructure and green investments.

At the same time the President was busy adding more spending programs to our bloated budget, he insisted, once again, that he was committed to fiscal discipline.  Obama said “We’ve combed the budget, cutting waste and excess wherever we could.”  Really?

What programs have been cut and what sorts of excess were eliminated?  For the curious….here goes.  After several months, Obama’s OMB has released a list of the top four programs that have been identified after an exhaustive search and combing of the federal budget.

The Administration reviewed over 38,000 different ideas, to aggressively root out wasteful practices, many of them submitted by government employees.   After much work, synthesis,and review, OMB announced the four cost-cutting idea finalists:

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Tags: Barack Obama, brookings institute, budget cuts, Deficit, federal budget
Posted Dec 9th 2009 at 3:03 pm in Congress, News, Obama, Politics | 4329829 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/ldoan/2009/12/09/obamas-four-flimsy-budget-cutting-ideas/Obama%E2%80%99s+Four+Flimsy+Budget+Cutting+Ideas2009-12-09+22%3A03%3A08Lurita+Doan

Why Isn’t Anyone Really Investigating ACORN?

As we rapidly approach December 18^th, the day when ACORN is again eligible to receive federal funds, we still have yet to see a meaningful investigation of ACORN.

Last week,  the Inspector General of the Department of Justice released a “Review of Department of Justice Grants to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, Inc. (ACORN) and its Affiliated Organizations.”  Unsurprisingly this report “did not find any DOJ direct grants to ACORN.”  The report did however reveal approximately $200,000 in sub-grants to ACORN affiliates.  This number pales in comparison to the amount of federal money ACORN and its affiliates have received from other agencies.

ACORN and its affiliates have received over $54 million in federal grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  These are the grants that the government should be investigating.  How did ACORN spend these federal tax dollars?  Were they used for their designated purposes?  Does ACORN owe the federal government a refund?

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Tags: ACORN, acorn scandal, ACORN videos, Andrew Breitbart, Bertha Lewis
Posted Nov 23rd 2009 at 10:38 am in ACORN, Justice/Legal, Politics | 3446671 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/cberg/2009/11/23/why-isnt-anyone-really-investigating-acorn/Why+Isn%27t+Anyone+Really+Investigating+ACORN%3F2009-11-23+17%3A38%3A42Chris+++Berg

Citigroup Executive Pulls Out of Sham ACORN Audit Under Pressure

Citigroup executive Eric Eve (pictured below) has resigned from ACORN’s phony, allegedly independent panel of inquiry, a move that removes one of the few people on the panel who could even remotely claim to actually be independent.

If you read between the lines, it also seems to mean Citigroup agrees the panel is a sham.

Eve, senior vice president of Global Consumer Group, Community Relations, at Citigroup, quit after the National Legal and Policy Center pressed Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit to cut ties with ACORN.

In a letter to NLPC president Peter Flaherty, Citigroup announced Eve’s resignation from the panel.

“We too are deeply concerned about the recent media reports regarding ACORN and, because of those reports, have suspended our charitable financial support and program relationships with ACORN, and we are awaiting the results of the independent audit of ACORN activities now underway,” wrote Natalie Abatemarco, Citigroup’s vice president, Global Community Relations.

“On a related topic, please be advised that Eric Eve has resigned his position on the ACORN Advisory Council,” she added.

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Tags: ACORN, ACORN 8, American Institute for Social Justice, Andrew Stern, Andy Stern
Posted Nov 5th 2009 at 6:01 pm in ACORN, News, Politics | 26186143 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/mvadum/2009/11/05/citigroup-executive-pulls-out-of-sham-acorn-audit-under-pressure/Citigroup+Executive+Pulls+Out+of+Sham+ACORN+Audit+Under+Pressure2009-11-06+01%3A01%3A15Matthew+Vadum

Exclusive Book Excerpt: Fannie and Freddie’s Starring Role in the Housing Debacle

Despite the few voices of caution, risk and leverage had become a national fixation, embraced both on Wall Street and in government. The SEC and the Fed, the main regulators in charge of monitoring the buildup of risky assets on the banks’ books, together with the rating agencies, were the modern-day equivalents of Nero fiddling as Rome burned.The fire in this case was the massive and rapid buildup of mortgage debt on the balance sheets of the banks; by 2006 it was approaching $1 trillion and heading higher without so much as a peep from the traditional watchdogs.

Still, the risk taking and leverage went beyond the brokerage houses and the banks. The GSEs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, were in the game as well. By now, Fannie and Freddie had fully and completely conceded their original mandates to the whims of the Washington political class, which demanded “affordable” housing for all, even those who couldn’t afford it. The politicians were giddy with Fannie and Freddie’s conversion from staid mortgage banks to subprime lenders that would make Angelo Mozilo, the CEO of the largest subprime lender in the markets, Countrywide Financial, envious.

It was an evolution that took years in the making. As HUD secretary, Andrew Cuomo boasted in one report in the late 1990s that the new mandates he was imposing on Fannie and Freddie to ramp up subprime lending “could be of significant benefit to lower-income families, minorities, and families living in underserved areas.”

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Tags: 'Friend of Angelo', adjustable rate mortgages, Alan Greenspan, Andrew Cuomo, Angelo Mozilo
Posted Oct 29th 2009 at 5:45 am in Congress, Economics, Exclusives, Featured Story, History, Politics | 2239445 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/cgasparino/2009/10/29/exclusive-excerpt-fannie-and-freddies-starring-role-in-the-housing-debacle-inflate-housing-bubble/Exclusive+Book+Excerpt%3A+Fannie+and+Freddie%27s+Starring+Role+in+the+Housing+Debacle2009-10-29+12%3A45%3A25Charles+Gasparino

HUD Counseling Funds Tripled Despite Criticism

From USA Today:

WASHINGTON — Federal funding for a housing counseling program carried out by local non-profit groups such as ACORN has more than tripled since 2002, even though it has been criticized by government auditors for failing to show results.President Obama’s budget calls for a 54% increase next year — $100 million in all — for the program, which helps people buy or refinance a home, prevent a foreclosure or find rental housing. The Senate agreed, while the House of Representatives suggested $70 million; final negotiations over the bill are pending.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has been unable to provide much proof the program works, according to government reports, despite an increase in funding from $20 million in 2002 to $65 million last year.

The reports found:  (more…)

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Tags: Abt Associates, ACORN, ACORN Housing, Andrea Mead, David Stevens
Posted Oct 23rd 2009 at 11:48 am in ACORN, Congress, News, Politics | 2022615 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/publius/2009/10/23/hud-counseling-funds-tripled-despite-criticism/HUD+Counseling+Funds+Tripled+Despite+Criticism2009-10-23+18%3A48%3A18Publius

Fox News: HUD Giving ACORN Millions

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…)

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Tags: ACORN, Census Bureau, Hannah Giles, Housing and Urban Development, HUD
Posted Sep 12th 2009 at 2:01 pm in ACORN | 153061 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/publius/2009/09/12/fox-news-acorn-may-lose-housing-grants/Fox+News%3A+HUD+Giving+ACORN+Millions2009-09-12+21%3A01%3A55Publius