The Senate has voted to de-fund ACORN, the scandal-plagued community activist organization which its detractors characterize as a rent-seeking racket. So has the House. If President Obama signs the bill into law will it be the end of the matter? Maybe not:
We’re not parliamentarians, but the way it was explained, when there’s a motion to recommit a bill — which was the procedure Republicans used to amend the education bill — the amendment must only apply to the subject of the bill. In this case, education. Therefore, the argument goes, the broad language in the amendment stripping all federal funds fro ACORN is essentially moot.
I think there are other reasons to believe that the Congressional moves amount to little more than kabuki. All the leaders of ACORN really need to do is walk across the street, set up under a new name, and, with all of their political connections intact, they’ll soon be back in business as usual.
The real problem is that the federal government shouldn’t be giving grants to NGO’s at all, especially with a Congress as disinclined to engage in the level of oversight required to ensure that the funds are properly spent, as our Congress manifestly is. As long as Uncle Sugar will dole out all of that lovely money to preferred groups, they’ll be plenty of people out there ready to abuse the privilege.
