ACORN funding ban upheld by 2nd Circuit

By Michelle Malkin  •  August 13, 2010 04:10 PM

ACORN
Photoshop credit: Leo Alberti

Here’s a pleasant Friday afternoon surprise. Don’t expect to see it on the front page of tomorrow’s NYT, though. Via AP:

A federal appeals court on Friday threw out a decision that had barred Congress from withholding funds from ACORN, the activist group driven to ruin by scandal and financial woes.

The ruling by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan reversed a decision by a district court judge in Brooklyn that found Congress had violated the group’s rights by punishing it without a trial.

Congress cut off ACORN’s federal funding last year in response to allegations the group engaged in voter registration fraud and embezzlement and violated the tax-exempt status of some of its affiliates by engaging in partisan political activities.

Fueling the outrage was a video that caught three employees allegedly advising a couple posing as a prostitute and her boyfriend to lie about her profession and launder her earnings.

ACORN responded with a lawsuit accusing Congress of abusing its power with what amounted to a “corporate death sentence.”

The appeals court disagreed, citing a study finding that ACORN received only 10 percent of its funding from federal sources.

“We doubt that the direct consequences of the appropriations laws temporarily precluding ACORN from federal funds were so disproportionately severe or so inappropriate as to constitute punishment,” the three-judge panel wrote.

More on ACORN’s latest shenanigans here and here.

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Posted in: ACORN Watch

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Comments


  1. #1
    On August 13th, 2010 at 4:12 pm, Straight_Talk_Luigi said:

    Victory!

    Way to go!

  2. #2
    On August 13th, 2010 at 4:20 pm, frostrt said:

    Sweet!

    Happy Friday!

  3. #3
    On August 13th, 2010 at 4:20 pm, Dexter Alarius said:

    ACORN-holed.
    Love it!

  4. #4
    On August 13th, 2010 at 4:21 pm, 24Klady said:

    They’ll just morph into another name and pretend they’re brand new. How do you top a name like ACORN though?

    Why should we care, it all comes out of ‘Bambi’s stash not anyone else’s pocket. /sarc :)

  5. #5
    On August 13th, 2010 at 4:23 pm, Hangfire said:

    If only 10% of ACORN’s monies come from the Fed Government, where does the rest come from?

    I’ll bet that a LOT of it is Federal, but laundered through local communities and urban players.

  6. #6
    On August 13th, 2010 at 4:28 pm, Straight_Talk_Luigi said:

    They’ll just morph into another name and pretend they’re brand new. How do you top a name like ACORN though?

    Well, I’d appreciate it if they would at least stay in the nut family, since that is what they are, and that’s putting it mildly for pro-child sex traffickers.

  7. #7
    On August 13th, 2010 at 4:32 pm, Dexter Alarius said:

    They’ll just morph into another name and pretend they’re brand new. How do you top a name like ACORN though?

    Community
    Organizations
    Reforming
    Regions
    United for
    Power
    Today

  8. #8
    On August 13th, 2010 at 4:38 pm, txvet2 said:

    I don’t care if they call it ACORN or CASHEW, they’re still just a bunch of nuts – and criminals to boot.

  9. #9
    On August 13th, 2010 at 4:43 pm, Lindsay said:

    Where is the racist card when you need it the most?

    Good news for a change.

  10. #10
    On August 13th, 2010 at 4:45 pm, TigerLady said:

    Good news. I hope no one holds their collective breaths waiting for this to reported by the State Run Media.

  11. #11
    On August 13th, 2010 at 4:49 pm, Flyoverman said:

    Great way to end the week.

  12. #12
    On August 13th, 2010 at 4:59 pm, walterc said:

    World
    Alliance
    of
    Liars
    Needing
    Urgent
    Trustfunds

    A nut by any other name is just as corrupt. (apologies to Shakesphere)

  13. #13
    On August 13th, 2010 at 5:18 pm, GladzKravtz said:

    Kind of sad that we consider ‘the right thing/what should be’ as a pleasant surprise. Tough times these are…

    ACORN’s latest shenanigans here and here.

    Great sites!

  14. #14
    On August 13th, 2010 at 5:22 pm, DanMan said:

    On August 13th, 2010 at 4:21 pm, 24Klady said:

    Organizing For America. Done Deal. They do community gardens…plant seeds…same ol’, same ol’. Yeah.

  15. #15
    On August 13th, 2010 at 6:04 pm, letget said:

    You gotta thank Anita, Michelle, Andrew, Glenn, and so many others for bringing acorn to the public’s attention. WAY to go! A Friday the 13th good feeling. The black cat, broken mirror, and walking under a ladder today helped, not hurt!
    L

  16. #16
    On August 13th, 2010 at 6:34 pm, 24Klady said:

    Dexter #7 – ding/ding/ding – the winner! That was clever.

    CORRUPT, a publicly funded non-profit, tax deductible, grass roots organization. Barely scraping by on donations.

  17. #17
    On August 13th, 2010 at 6:35 pm, T-Bone said:

    Those poor Acorn people. Just doing the work others won’t. Helping poor people, making sure the little guy gets benefits, and housing, and food, and toilet paper. Poor people are oppressed by rich people and have to lie, cheat , and steal to try and keep up. Thats why they like Charlie Rangel. Why should Republicans stop them from electing Democrats. Fox news does the same thing for Republicans. Now Republicans will be able to steal all the elections.

    /sarc off. Man, no wonder libs are so easily deceived by their leaders.

  18. #18
    On August 13th, 2010 at 6:39 pm, zorro said:

    Lovin it.

  19. #19
    On August 13th, 2010 at 7:04 pm, NotaSlickFan said:

    Sadly, this pile of nuts (pun intended) has already had most of its largest players split-off into other groups with new names. It’s like Mickey Mouse in The Sorcerers Apprentice with the broom. Each time he whacks the broom it splits into another, and then another and so on. These creeps know how to game the system. Too bad our current Justice dept. is only a cartoon caricature with only sympathies for criminal organizations like ACORN and its new spawn.

  20. #20
    On August 13th, 2010 at 7:05 pm, tiefelj said:

    I think I’ll celebrate this with a pulled pork sandwich, okra, black-eyed peas, and a cold piece of watermelon. All fixed by me of course.

    Jake

  21. #21
    On August 13th, 2010 at 7:37 pm, Bogtrotter said:

    “Don’t expect to see it on the front page of tomorrow’s NYT, though.”

    Don’t expect to see it on any left leaning site or paper until they cannot avoid it any longer. Just checked DU and Huffpo and there is no mention of it yet. As much as they love ACORN, you’d think it would be page one stuff for their outrage.

  22. #22
    On August 13th, 2010 at 7:38 pm, vcallaway said:

    Did I miss something?

    Since when did Congress have to have reason to cut off funding? They can and should cut off funding to a lot of organizations.

  23. #23
    On August 13th, 2010 at 9:06 pm, 24Klady said:

    tiefelj #20
    Pulled pork with corn tortillas and fresh salsa, black bean fresh corn salad with jalapenos/lime/garlic/. Shaken not blended margaritas. Can’t spell anymore so it’s time to eat.

    I’d kill for some fresh okra though.

  24. #24
    On August 13th, 2010 at 9:12 pm, Rogue Cheddar said:

    Nice, some good news for a bit.

  25. #25
    On August 13th, 2010 at 10:30 pm, robert537 said:

    Can someone explain why this is a matter for the courts?

    The way I remember it, the Constitution grants the power to tax and spend (or not spend) money to Congress, not the courts.

    The only appropriate ruling from the court would have been “this is out of our jurisdiction; case dismissed”.

  26. #26
    On August 14th, 2010 at 12:40 pm, TooMuchTime said:

    If only 10% of ACORN’s monies come from the Fed Government, where does the rest come from?

    I’ll bet that a LOT of it is Federal, but laundered through local communities and urban players.

    Good point, Hangfire. This is probably the only time ACORN wishes that money wasn’t hidden among numerous local groups.

    It’s a double-edged sword for them. Declare that they get a very large percentage of their money from the feds and who know how many laws and regulations they would be violating. ACORN doesn’t like people looking into their finances now. Imagine the questions if they got most of their money from the feds.

    If they claim only 10% of their money is from the feds, they can lose it because it’s not “punishment.”

    Gotta love it when socialists get screwed by their own laws.

  27. #27
    On August 14th, 2010 at 12:49 pm, TooMuchTime said:

    Can someone explain why this is a matter for the courts?

    The way I remember it, the Constitution grants the power to tax and spend (or not spend) money to Congress, not the courts.

    The only appropriate ruling from the court would have been “this is out of our jurisdiction; case dismissed”.

    Well robert537, all the intelligent people agree. But remember, we’re talking about lawyers and judges.

    There is one part of your statement though that is not quite right. Congress has the power to tax. The Executive has control of the Treasury. That is to say, control of the purse strings. Congress just passes laws that authorize the expenditure of money. The president can veto the bill, or if his veto is overridden, he doesn’t have to spend it. And if he makes it clear this is his policy, it’s not an impeachable offense. You can’t impeach a president for policy decisions, only for high crimes and misdemeanors.

  28. #28
    On August 15th, 2010 at 12:28 am, Stillwaiting said:

    Thank God the courts can still manage to get it right some of the time.

  29. #29
    On August 15th, 2010 at 9:56 am, cheapseat said:

    Now if anyone in congress has the cojones to call a spade a spade and cut these neverending grants to these communist operative organizations we would all appreciate it. They OBVIOUSLY don’t assist the communities they live in, or after all the money taxpayers have poured into these frauds, the ghettos of America would be paved with gold. What they do organize is getting the citizenry of those ghettos to fraudulently vote for crooks, conmen, and crazies (Clinton, Obama, and Greene.)

  30. #30
    On August 15th, 2010 at 9:57 am, cheapseat said:

    Did I forget to mention Rangel, Waters, and the entire cbc.

  31. #31
    On August 15th, 2010 at 2:21 pm, Bogtrotter said:

    Well folks, its been 2 days since the story was posted here. I just went to DU and they have one thread about it, with just one comment. The commenter asked “who appointed the judges”. As if it is just a continuation of the vast right wing plot against ACORN. Translation: “Bush must be to blame” LOL

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