Colorado Reps Vote to Continue Funding Corrupt ACORN
September 18th, 2009
Why did Congressman Jared Polis want to continue to send your tax money to ACORN?
A story that has long been ignored by the mainstream media finally cracked wide open in the last week revealing a liberal non-profit organization to be as corrupt as whistleblowers have been saying for years. Even in the face of disturbing evidence against the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), two Colorado congressional representatives voted to continue sending federal dollars – your tax money – to the corrupt organization.
In a roll call vote yesterday, Democrats and Republicans in the House of Representatives joined together and voted to strip all federal funding from ACORN. The vote was not unanimous however with 75 representatives (all Democrats) voting to continue funding the criminal enterprise. Two of those 75 were Colorado’s own Diana DeGette (D) and Jared Polis (D).
Certainly seeing Representative DeGette vote this way is not surprising as she is by far the most liberal of all Colorado representatives. However, the fact Jared Polis voted the way he did is very surprising. His vote put him in such sterling company as Representatives Charles Rangel, Henry Waxman, and Maxine Waters who also voted against the measure.
During last year’s election, I lamented the fact that because of the way Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District is laid out, moderate Adams County (including Thornton) is lumped in with liberal Boulder County. As such our congressional representation has traditionally catered to the left and the Free Republic of Boulder. Then candidate Jared Polis contacted me directly and pointed out his independence and promised that “I represent mainstream Adams County.” He said during the congressional primaries he was considered “too conservative” and pointed out that unions had heavily organized against his candidacy.
After some back and forth discussion with him, I even softened my position against him and while I did not endorse him, after the election I actually praised him and hoped he would adhere to his promises. My initial hopes seemed to be realized when Polis even endorsed cutting taxes over any sort of bailout for the ‘big three’ automakers.
Since that time though, it seems as if Polis has simply fallen right in with the far left wing of the Democratic Party and his votes are starting to show this. Yesterday’s vote in the House was perhaps the most disappointing one I have seen from Congressman Polis although there have been others. I simply cannot comprehend how he would believe that our tax money should continue to go to what is little better than a criminal enterprise.
I was already losing faith but to say I am disappointed in this most recent vote is an understatement. To top it off, news broke yesterday about some interesting investments in health care the congressman has made.
If Congressman Polis would like to contact me to discuss this, I would certainly welcome it. I have emailed his office asking for an explanation and will post it if / when they reply.
On the net:
ACORN Backgrounder
For the uninitiated, ACORN is a community organization that has been party to many questionable activities. Its co-founder’s brother embezzled nearly $1 million from the organization and the board did not report the theft to authorities – it wasn’t until eight years later that a whistleblower revealed the theft. In last year’s election, the group submitted more than 400,000 fraudulent voter registration applications. At least 20 states are investigating the group for fraud and voting irregularities and dozens of employees have been charged and convicted.
President Barack Obama’s campaign paid the organization $800,000 for ‘get out the vote’ activities. He even told the group they would have a seat at the table in forming public policy when he was elected.
There is so much more to the wrongdoing of this organization. If you aren’t familiar with it, please do the research. Click here for a related Google News search.
All of the above should have been enough to send up warning flags, prompt investigations and certainly to stop federal funding for the group. However, it wasn’t until the last week when two independent film makers revealed undercover video filmed at ACORN offices across the nation that the pressure finally started to be put on the group. The videos show ACORN employees advising the film makers who posed as a pimp and prostitute on a variety of illegal activities including tax evasion, establishing brothels, smuggling illegal immigrants and more. Even when told the immigrants were underage girls that would be performing in the sex trade, the employees continued to help.
What is wrong with these idiots? How could something like this even be considered to be voted on?
WTF? I’m a Democrat and even I don’t understand this. I hope Congressman Polis explains himself.
I agree with Congressman Nadler’s argument, articulated in this article:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/glennthrush/0909/Nadler_ACORN_ban_unconstitutional.html
I do not think that any organization should be singled out, outside of due process, for particular treatment. If we currently allow federal funding to go to organizations that promote prostitution or child slavery, the answer is to ban all federal funding from all organizations that do that. We are researching this and if such a ban is not already in place we will propose it. If it is in place, it should be carried out in the ACORN case through the normal procedure.
Congress should not go around our constitution to go after a politically unpopular organization.
Thanks for your interest in this matter,
Congressman Jared Polis
So federal funding for the NRA is OK? How about some other organisations that are far right. I wonder how the congressman would feel then.
There should not be an idealogical filter on what organizations federal funds go to. There should certainly be filters based on practices and federal funds must be used in the way they are intended.
If Acorn has misused federal funds, they will have hefty penalties coming down.
From Jared Polis’s reference: The ACORN bill, he claims, is essentially a “bill of attainder,” a measure targeted to benefit or penalize an individual or group which is prohibited in the Constitution, Article 1, Sections 9 and 10.
Interesting, so you are essentially arguing that earmarks are unconstitutional. Is it then your position that you are are going to eschew earmarks for your district, or do your principles not reach quite this far ?
Congressman,
Thank you very much for taking the time to respond – it is duly noted and appreciated.
Constitution, Article I, Section 9; Clause 3: “No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed”
Certainly I am not a Constitutional lawyer but the Internet is a great thing as you know and I did some research on how the courts have interpreted bills of attainder and find that Congressman Nadler’s statement is tenuous at best.
The bills of attainder clause was put in place mainly to guard against the singling out of an individual, mainly in terms of laws of treason. Something which the British Parliament was quite good at doing.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall said that “a Bill of Attainder may affect the life of an individual, or may confiscate his property, or may do both.” This was an expansion of the original intent but the case of ACORN does not seem to me to meet those standards. No legislation has been invalidated on this clause since 1965 despite the Court reviewing many cases based on this claim and the definition remains very narrow.
Most notably, the Court has specifically said that the withholding of non-contractual government benefits like financial aid is not punishment as defined by the clause (Selective Service System v. Minnesota Public Interest Research Group, 1984).
The federal government has the obligation – indeed the DUTY – to protect the PEOPLE’s money. To not do so the body would be derelict in their duty. The government picks and chooses what organizations it funds on a daily basis. Not funding ACORN is no different than Congress choosing not to fund the KKK or any other organization.
Setting aside legal arguments, ACORN has clearly demonstrated it is much worse than a “politically unpopular organization.” Indeed, there have been systemic failures within the group and the nearly two dozen legal investigations into its activities demonstrate that – it goes way beyond the prostitution / child slavery seen in the recent videos. ACORN’s recent activities in the videos as well as during the last election cycle, ties to other questionable groups, the actions of its leaders and well documented past activities demand swift and immediate action.
This is a case of a fight against corruption and the response it demands is clear.
I thank you again for responding – something many Congressmen sadly wouldn’t take the time to do.
Tony
No organization should be able to do these kinds of things and continue to recieve federal funds. If current federal laws are too lax in this area, we need to correct them. But it should not be done through congressional action against just one organization that at best suffers from rampant incompetence. If we have lax enforcement of federal contracts, let’s make sure we have real oversight and penalties for abuse.
Congressman Jared Polis
While we may not see eye to eye on this specific case, I can certainly agree with this: “If we have lax enforcement of federal contracts, let’s make sure we have real oversight and penalties for abuse.”
Thank you again.
Tony
Got principles?
Easy now. Congressman Polis took the time to respond to his constituents and that should be commended – not many others would. I may not agree with the congressman on this issue but I do appreciate him responding.
Discussing the issues and listening to other perspectives leads to greater understanding, whether we agree or not. The art of talking and listening is lost in today’s politics and we should take advantage of it when we can.
On this site we will treat each other with respect, congressman or not. Comments that don’t show the proper decorum will be deleted. The comment by Allan wasn’t overly egregious but it was getting close to the line.
Tony
A vote of conscience is what this was IMHO and it boils down to doing the right thing. I think the 75 that voted against it failed. That is a shame.
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