Judge Blocks ACORN Funding Ban
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A federal judge has blocked U.S. officials from enforcing a funding ban on the community action group ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. At the same time, an independent investigation shows the organization did not engage in illegal activities.
U.S. District Judge Nina Gershon in New York issued a temporary injunction late on Dec. 11 against the funding ban. Congress cut off funding in September after accusations of alleged wrongdoing by workers in one local ACORN office. The group sued the federal government in November, arguing Congress had violated the Constitution by singling out the group for punishment without any legal process to adjudicate guilt. ACORN has fired the employees suspected of wrongdoing.
In her ruling, Gershon said statements by Republican members of Congress accusing ACORN of being a criminal organization that deserved to be punished “underline the punitive nature of the government’s purportedly non-punitive reason” for the funding ban.
A Home Is Foreclosed Every 13 Seconds
The economic crisis started with home foreclosures, and the numbers are getting worse. According to the Center for Responsible Lending (CLR), a non-partisan research and policy group, some 6,600 homes are foreclosed every day: one every 13 seconds. Experts agree that helping homeowners is key to helping the entire economy.
Writing at Congress Matters, David Waldman, aka Kagro X, says new numbers from CLR show that projected foreclosures by congressional district are concentrated in five states: California, Florida, Nevada, Arizona and Georgia. In fact, there’s not a congressional district in the top 50 that isn’t in one of these five states. The most troubled districts are represented by Republicans, he reports. Republicans hold just over 40 percent of the seats in the House, but represent 60 percent of the top 10 most troubled districts.
