Congress Shouldn't Just Settle for an ACORN

[Nonno]

"Last week, the House and Senate voted to prohibit the federal government from awarding contracts and grants to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), a national network of community-based organizations that advocate for low-income families. Congress rushed to cut off all federal funding to ACORN days after several ACORN employees were caught on camera giving advice to a couple posing as a prostitute and a pimp on ways to evade the law.

The House’s bill is called the “Defund ACORN Act”. The bill specifically targets ACORN, but it also applies to “any organization” or its employees who are charged with violating federal or state election, campaign finance or lobbying disclosure laws or filing a fraudulent form with any federal or state regulatory agency.

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) is particularly interested in the fraud provision. Recognizing that there are probably worse offenders than ACORN in this area, Grayson is looking for help in coming up with a list of organizations that have committed fraud against the government or employed someone who did. Rep. Grayson will put his list in the Congressional Record as part of a legislative history that judges and lawyers can use to interpret the law.

POGO’s Federal Contractor Misconduct Database is a great place to start. At last count, it includes 87 instances of government contract fraud – federal and state – involving 43 contractors. You might want to focus on Lockheed Martin, which has 11 government contract fraud instances, or Northrop Grumman with 9 contract fraud instances including this $325 million False Claims Act settlement from earlier this year.

Bear in mind that, since 1994, ACORN has reportedly received a total of $53 million in federal funds, or an average of roughly $3.5 million per year. In contrast, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman respectively received over $35 billion and $18 billion in federal contracts last year. (Their totals since 2000 are $266 billion for Lockheed and $125 billion for Northrop.)

Congress should clamp down on contractor fraud and waste, but it needs to keep a sense of proportion. If ACORN broke the law it, should be punished; however, Congress also needs to crack down just as rigorously on the contractors who take an even larger share of taxpayers’ money and have committed far more, or far more egregious, acts of misconduct. POGO hopes the mentality behind bills like the “Defund ACORN Act,” combined with the new contractor / grantee responsibility database and mandatory misconduct reporting rule, reflects a new zero-tolerance attitude toward contractor misconduct.

-- Neil Gordon


Source: The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) Blog

[Aerogal]

Once again Congress comes up with something that will never pass.
This is because they refuse to do their jobs correctly and in accordance with their constitutional role.


So -ACORN is now not a federally funded "non -profit" operation for communtiy service - it's now defined as a Defense department contractor?
If it's redesignated, does that mean that Obama is now under the scope for conflict of interest (he is the CIC afterall), since he worked for ACORN? Is he his own lobbiest?

[aps45819 (Premo)]

Originally Posted by Nonno

Bear in mind that, since 1994, ACORN has reportedly received a total of $53 million in federal funds, or an average of roughly $3.5 million per year. In contrast, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman respectively received over $35 billion and $18 billion in federal contracts last year. (Their totals since 2000 are $266 billion for Lockheed and $125 billion for Northrop.)

Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman produce tangible assets for the defense of our country and provide employment for millions of taxpayers.

What does ACORN produce besides more poor people?

[chernmax (Premo)]

All corruption should be stomped out equally in society, unfortunately the culture within our political system feeds it. Corruption right or left = wrong

[chernmax (Premo)]

Originally Posted by aps45819

Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman produce tangible assets for the defense of our country and provide employment for millions of taxpayers.

What does ACORN produce besides more poor people?

I thought ACORN can produce government funded low budget housing for pimps, prostitutes, and underage illegally smuggled in El Salvadorian prostitutes? I checked with my HR, our company can't do that?

[TurboK9]

The simple solution is to just get rid of anyone who discovers fraud or abuse, like oh, an IG for instance... especially if the defrauding party is a freind or affiliation of Bammie's.