Congress Needs a Little Perspective on ACORN

This is one of an occasional series of posts from CCLP's Special Counsel Ed Kahn, on topics ranging from public policy to the economy to politics to the media. Enjoy:

Recently, both the Senate and the House passed legislation to bar ACORN from receiving federal grants. ACORN has received few million dollars in federal funding over some years to counsel homeowners in foreclosure, and for other work considered socially desirable in recent years. Now, because in two offices employees suggested that a supposed pimp and a supposed prostitute could try to evade taxes (after they were rejected in numerous other ACORN offices), ACORN has lost all funding. No tax monies were lost. No one filed a false tax return. No one tried to evade the law in their own behalf.

Compare that to another case where the harm was a bit more severe. UBS, a Swiss owned bank and investment banker, hosted tens of thousands of accounts of US citizens who may have used them to evade taxes. UBS opposed disclosing the names of American accountholders to federal law enforcement authorities and the Internal Revenue Service. Eventually, a settlement has been reached whereby an estimated 6,500 names, out of tens of thousands, will be disclosed to US taxing authorities. Most of those names are of apparently very wealthy people and presumably they used the secret Swiss banks accounts to evade millions and perhaps billions of dollars of taxes over many years.

Have you heard a word out of Congress condemning such tax evasion? Has anyone proposed banning UBS from receiving federal monies or other governmental assistance? Does widespread tax evasion concern any of the so-called populists on the streets or their projections on cable TV?

If not, why not?

--Ed Kahn, CCLP Special Counsel