The stunning, total defeat of ACORN

The stunning, total defeat of ACORN

By: Byron York

The ACORN vote in the House is stunning news. Just 48 hours after Republican Leader John Boehner introduced the "Defund ACORN Act," the bill -- which most Republicans thought Democrats would do anything to block -- passed by a resounding 345-75 vote. It would never have made it to a vote had not the Democratic leadership decided to allow it, and the winning total included 172 Democrats. Yes, 172 House Democrats voted to totally cut off funding for an organization that has worked for years on behalf of Democrats nationwide.

Couple that with the 83-7 Senate vote to cut off housing funds to ACORN -- a number that included 50 Democrats -- and the votes signal the complete collapse of Democratic support for ACORN. The job is not anywhere near finished -- the Senate still has to consider a total-cutoff bill, introduced just today by Sen. Mike Johanns, and a conference committee has to come up with a final bill that President Obama signs. At any step of the way, Democrats might decide to resume defending ACORN or give it federal support by other means. But as of today there are on-the-record votes of large majorities of House and Senate Democrats in favor of cutting off funds for ACORN.

Although Republicans had long fought against ACORN, it is not an exaggeration to say that none of this would have happened now without the BigGovernment undercover videos. Democrats who in the past had reflexively supported ACORN ran for cover after seeing ACORN employees encouraging tax evasion and prostitution. The BigGovernment videos mark an important moment in the development of alternative media sources, and official Washington responded before most of the establishment press did. This is truly an extraordinary series of events.
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