Oh, By the Way

The Dems manage to weasel ACORN into the bailout bill after all.

House Republicans removed one pro-ACORN measure from the rescue bill - torpedoeing a provision devoting 20 percent of all profits from the bailout to a housing slush fund - which would've funneled money to ACORN and similar groups.

In its place, however, ACORN's favorite lawmakers - led by Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.) - got ACORN-championed "foreclosure-mitigation" provisions into the rescue.

This will radically expand the federal role in meddling with mortgage loans. The key sections mandate that the Treasury "consent" to rewriting loans to prevent foreclosures - not only by reducing interest, but also by cutting loan principal.

Stuck with a $300,000 mortgage you can't pay? Get the government to wave its magic wand and cut your debt to $150,000.

The deal is only for those who have fallen behind on their mortgages, of course - not for all you chumps who've been paying on time.

And it's a good bet that ACORN mortgage counselors will "help" decide which distressed borrowers benefit, and how.

The group's housing arm, the Acorn Housing Corp., is already funded with millions of taxpayer dollars to renegotiate loans for low-income people who should have never received them in the first place. Loan modification is ACORN's bread and butter.

And when the group doesn't get what it wants, it will sue, protest and shake down until business and government bend again.

Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) foresees havoc: "Liberals who manage these programs will give away millions of free or reduced homes in neighborhoods all over America to families who could not otherwise afford them.

Isn't that special.