The Senate has voted overwhelmingly to strip ACORN of funding in the Transportation/Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill. After ACORN workers were caught on tape in three cities allegedly abetting what they believed was a fraudulent mortgage and sex-trafficking scheme, only seven senators were willing to stand by them:
- Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.
- Roland Burris, D-Ill.
- Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
- Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
- Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
- Bob Casey, D-Pa.
- Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.
Not voting were Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.
The key now is to see whether Democrats try to strip out this provision later in a House-Senate conference committee.
