High-level Republican voter suppression attempt

[arctangent]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GOP_ACORN?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=HOME


House Republican leader John Boehner on Wednesday urged President Bush to block all federal funds to a grass-roots community group that has been accused of voter registration fraud.

"It is evident that ACORN is incapable of using federal funds in a manner that is consistent with the law," Boehner, R-Ohio, wrote Bush, saying that funds should be blocked until all federal investigations into the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now are completed.


Boehner said he and other Republicans were also asking the Justice Department to investigate ACORN's connections to the home mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying ACORN "appears to have played a key role in the irresponsible schemes that led to the current financial meltdown."

WTF? What's Boehner talking about?

[Thrag]

WTF? What's Boehner talking about?

On another board I read, in an argument about the causes of the crisis, someone brought out ACORN like this. Of course what they said made no sense either and they failed to defend it in any way. It struck me as some really insane desperation. I guess I shouldn't be surprised to learn it was a new bogus talking point the GOP is running up the flagpole.

[PeterGinsberg]

WTF? What's Boehner talking about?

The argument is related to the CRA one in that it's a fantasy cooked up by republicans desperate to figure out a way to blame the housing mess on regulation as opposed to deregulation. The claim is that ACORN invented the idea of giving loans to poor people, hoodwinking a bunch of innocent bankers into getting involved, and then convinced Fannie and Freddie to do the same, and thereby brought about the housing crises.

It's garbage of course.

Any explanation for the credit crises that doesn't mention CDOs and mortgage backed securities is moronic. When a lender only needs the borrower to pay for 90 days before they sell the loan, they don't give a shit about some theoretically relevant fair housing law. Same goes for the bankers who in turn packed them up into giant bundles. At no point in this chain does a group like ACORN housing or the CRA make one whit of difference.

Were going to keep hearing this line from right wingers.