BOOM! GOP defunds ACORN in the just signed omnibus spending bill ... wait ... what?

Greg P. | 9:22 PM on March 23, 2018

And this is what happens when you don’t read a bill before voting it into law:

Tucked away on one of the 2,232 pages of the omnibus spending bill is a provision to ban federal funding for the Association for Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN. The problem: ACORN doesn't exist anymore. ttp://bit.ly/2pAhTIB

— Roll Call (@rollcall) March 23, 2018

ACORN ceased to exist in 2009. From Roll Call:

The group worked to register poor people to vote and to push for social services like expanded Medicaid and affordable housing. After Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, House Republicans accused ACORN of running a mass voter fraud campaign and swinging the Oval Office to Obama. No evidence of voter fraud was ever found.

Still, Republicans — and many Democrats — voted to end federal funding to the organization in the 2009 spending package. ACORN dissolved shortly after that, but the language prohibiting funds to the group snuck its way into this year’s bill nearly a decade later.

“I don’t remember this ever being discussed one time,” Rep. Tom Cole told HuffPost. “It wasn’t discussed at a hearing. I don’t remember it being discussed at any meeting with my Democratic colleagues and counterparts who negotiated the bill.”

The Oklahoma Republican said staffers may have inserted the ACORN provision in this year’s package after lifting portions of text from previous years’ spending deals.

This, unfortunately, is true:

I don't see what conservatives are so upset about. The omnibus completely sticks it to ACORN https://t.co/HDIO4fa8Jy

— Bill Scher (@billscher) March 24, 2018

Although Rep. Steve King did seem to have a bit of fun with the report:

Nuts! Defund ACORN & successors forever! I brought 1st ACORN defund amendment to floor of House 2 years before shocking videos came out. I carry an acorn in my pocket every day to remind me of ACORN’s attempt to corrupt our elections. Obama served us ACORN cookies at White House. https://t.co/PIj1uwajqt

— Steve King (@SteveKingIA) March 23, 2018

***

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— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) March 23, 2018

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