Americans were disgusted when workers with the radical group ACORN were caught on tape advising a couple posing as a pimp and a prostitute on how to hide their illegal "earnings." There has also been justified anger over fraudulent voter registrations submitted by ACORN workers, and the organization has acknowledged there was embezzlement of large amounts of money within its ranks.
So it was sensible when Congress voted to cut off ACORN's taxpayer funding, and it was irrational when ACORN sued, claiming it had some sort of "right" to that money despite its ugly history.
But incredibly, a federal judge in New York sided with ACORN, which stands for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. The judge declared that Congress had no business cutting off the taxpayer dollars to ACORN!
Now, fortunately, an appeals court has thrown out that ruling, saying that Congress was well within its rights to cut off funding to such an organization.
After all, an activist political group - particularly one as corrupt as ACORN - has no automatic "right" to tax dollars.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., reiterated that point in a statement praising the appeals court's decision: "Hopefully, today's ruling ... puts an end to ACORN's misguided belief that there exists some right to taxpayer dollars to fund their overtly criminal and partisan political agenda," he wrote.
Not a penny more should flow to such an organization from taxpayers.