that's what i say
Scandal exposer calls on Congress to defund Blackwater
-- David Edwards
The House and Senate voted to end funding for ACORN in the wake of a video sting. Now some are asking why the same treatment isn't being given to corrupt defense contractors.
Huffington Post's Ryan Grim noted that attempts to defund ACORN were worded so broadly that it could do the same for defense contractors charged with fraud.
"The amount of money that ACORN has received in the past 20 years altogether is roughly equal to what the taxpayer paid to Halliburton each day during the war in Iraq," Rep. Alan Grayson told Salon's Glenn Greenwald. Halliburton is alleged to have misused millions of dollars in over-charges for food and services in Iraq.........
Whoops: Anti-ACORN Bill Ropes In Defense Contractors, Others Charged With Fraud
-Ryan GrimGoing after ACORN may be like shooting fish in a barrel lately -- but jumpy lawmakers used a bazooka to do it last week and may have blown up some of their longtime allies in the process.
The congressional legislation intended to defund ACORN, passed with broad bipartisan support, is written so broadly that it applies to "any organization" that has been charged with breaking federal or state election laws, lobbying disclosure laws, campaign finance laws or filing fraudulent paperwork with any federal or state agency. It also applies to any of the employees, contractors or other folks affiliated with a group charged with any of those things.
In other words, the bill could plausibly defund the entire military-industrial complex. Whoops.
Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) picked up on the legislative overreach and asked the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) to sift through its database to find which contractors might be caught in the ACORN net.
Lockheed Martin and Northrop Gumman both popped up quickly, with 20 fraud cases between them, and the longer list is a Who's Who of weapons manufacturers and defense contractors...
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