Republican Whip Roy Blunt

Long before Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac needed a taxpayer-funded bailout this summer, Congressional Democrats began pushing an "affordable housing trust fund."  A priority of Democrat leaders, it was created to benefit some of their biggest political allies, including groups like the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). Instead of taking action to reign in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who played a central role in the nation’s housing crisis, Democrats chose instead to add new liabilities to the economy and enable their ACORN friends.

Stories have come out across the country chronicling disturbing voter-fraud activities perpetrated by ACORN, leading to an FBI investigation after House Republican Whip Roy Blunt (Mo.), Tom Cole (Okla.), Dean Heller (Nev.), Candice Miller (Mich.), and Ranking Members Vern Ehlers (Mich.) and Lamar Smith (Texas) requested a complete investigation by the Department of Justice.

Today, the New York Times reported that ACORN’s activities “…may have led to violations of federal laws… potentially improper use of charitable dollars for political purposes; money transfers among the affiliates; and potential conflicts created by employees working for multiple affiliates...”

And while Republicans sought to limit taxpayer support for this politically-motivated group, Democrats continued to reward them. Since 1998, ACORN has received at least $31 million from taxpayers. But ACORN hasn’t just tried to register Mickey Mouse to vote, they’ve also played a key role in creating the lending environment that has caused today's economic crisis.

Despite all of this, Democrats added their misguided ACORN slush fund to the Fannie/Freddie bailout that passed the Democrat Congress this summer. And when Congress considered the emergency financial rescue package in September, Democrats once again tried to reward their troubled and legally-challenged ally, this time with a 20 percent taxpayer kick-back. Their record could not be clearer...

October 26, 2005: The U.S. House of Representatives votes on an amendment to sunset the Democrat-proposed ACORN slush fund after five years (Roll Call 541).

208 Republican vote YES

191 Democrats vote NO (only 2 Democrats vote yes)

May 22, 2007: The U.S. House of Representatives votes on an amendment to strip the ACORN slush fund from a housing reform bill (Roll Call 392).

155 Republicans vote YES

224 Democrats vote NO

May 8, 2008: The U.S. House of Representatives votes on a motion to prohibit the ACORN slush fund from benefiting convicted drug dealers, sex offenders, or mortgage fraud perpetrators (Roll Call 298).

196 Republicans vote YES

215 Democrats vote NO

July 23, 2008: The U.S. House of Representatives votes to officially create the ACORN slush fund, permanently writing it into law (Roll Call 519).

149 Republicans vote NO

227 Democrats vote YES (only 3 Democrats vote no)

September, 2008: Congressional Democrats insert a provision into the emergency financial rescue package to kick-back 20% of taxpayer revenue to the newly created ACORN slush fund.

It takes all weekend for Republican negotiators to successfully remove this provision from the bill.

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