David Vitter & ACORN

ACORN is being publicly denounced by Sen. David Vitter.

“It’s certainly not news to anyone that ACORN has been the subject of some controversy over the past year, and last year’s presidential election brought to light evidence of ACORN chapters engaging in fraudulent voter registration activities,” added Vitter. “They are currently under federal investigation, and this is simply not the sort of organization that should be funded by taxpayer dollars.”

I am not a fan of ACORN. That doesn't mean the attacks against ACORN haven't been outlandish. On the Senate floor, Vitter blames ACORN for the housing crisis. The Federal Reserve gave loans to Citigroup, Bank of America, JPMorganChase and Wachovia. These lending institutions got into trouble for giving mortages to people that couldn't pay. The banks were selling credit default swaps (derivatives) to create more income. The banks were over-leveraging on derivatives that were often worthless. Banks would engage in increasingly predatory lending practice to bring in more revenue. Economist Tyler Cowen wrote, "As much as 70 percent of recent early payment defaults had fraudulent misrepresentations on their original loan applications, according to one recent study." For Vitter to say ACORN is responsible for the subprime crisis is irresponsible.

Progressives are having fun noting ACORN was caught in a fake prositution stig by conservative activists Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe. Vitter has his very real prostitution scandal. Melanie Sloan, Executive Director, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, points out Vitter broke prositution laws in Washington, DC and Louisiana.

Andy Cobb makes a hysterical video about Vitter's obsession with ACORN. Pushing Rope pal Tina Dupuy appears in the video.