ACORN Files Lawsuit Against Government: Claim That Congress Passed a Bill of Attainder May Be Valid

I am no fan of ACORN, or the things that they’ve been accused of doing, including their roles in pressuring banks to extend loans to people who had no business getting loans, which lead to the sub-prime mortgage mess.

But when Congress de-funded the group of millions of dollars, ACORN was effectively crippled. Again, no big loss in my view.

But ACORN filed a lawsuit, claiming that the act of Congress that de-funded them was a bill of attainder, which is a law that targets one individual or group for punishment without due process or a trial, and is illegal under Article 1 of the Constitution. Individuals who are members of ACORN have been on trial, but the group as a whole has not.

They may have a point. Under the circumstances, the Congress probably should have suspended funding pending an investigation, rather than banning it outright.

How much more is this going to cost the taxpayers?

Congress Passes Bill That May Not Be Constitutional: Is This Really the Best Way to Deal With Golden Parachutes?

The House of Representatives passed a bill that severely taxes those companies that accept federal bailouts on one hand but pay out golden parachutes (bonuses) to their past and present executives on the other. The bill is designed to address public anger over AIG and other companies paying out millions of dollars to the people that got us into this mess in the first place.

While I think that the companies have earned the public black eye that they've gotten over the last few weeks, the measure passed in the House may not pass Constitutional muster. Hasn't the Constitution been shredded enough over the last eight years? Has anyone even heard of "due process" in Congress? And targeted severe taxes on specific companies and not any others, which is prohibited in the Constitution as a "bill of attainder?"

The Democratic Congress and the Administration are messing things up good. They're acting quite hastily, and the kind of legislation born in haste usually ends up being really bad legislation.

I disagree with any measure taken by Congress that violates the Constitution.