Dobbs again peddles baseless GOP claim that recovery bill has $4 billion for “groups such as ACORN”

Written by Lauryn Bruck

Published

CNN's Lou Dobbs repeated the Republican talking point that the House-passed recovery bill “call[s] for more than $4 billion ... for something called 'neighborhood stabilization activities,' ” adding, “That means funding for low-income advocacy groups such as ACORN.” In fact, the recovery bill does not mention ACORN or otherwise single it out for funding; ACORN itself has said that it is ineligible for the funds and has no plans to apply for them.

During the February 4 edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, CNN host Lou Dobbs advanced the Republican talking point, for the second day in a row, that the House-passed recovery bill “call[s] for more than $4 billion ... for something called 'neighborhood stabilization activities.' ” He added: “You want to know what that means? That means funding for low-income advocacy groups such as ACORN [the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now], which actually are partisan groups supporting President Obama and others through its voter registration drives and other activities.”

The previous day, Dobbs had claimed that "[t]here's more than $4 billion for so-called neighbor -- are you ready, neighborhood stabilization activities [in the recovery bill] -- $4 billion, which translates into funding for so-called advocacy groups such as ACORN -- ACORN, the left-wing advocacy group. That organization and its voter-registration drives are under investigation in more than a dozen states."

In fact, as Media Matters for America has repeatedly documented, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act does not mention ACORN or otherwise single it out for funding; ACORN itself has said that it is ineligible for the funds and has no plans to apply for them. Dobbs' claim is based on a misrepresentation of a provision of the bill that would appropriate $4.19 billion “for neighborhood stabilization activities related to emergency assistance for the redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed homes as authorized under division B, title III of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.”

The $4.19 billion would be distributed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Neighborhood Stabilization Program, an existing program authorized under Title III of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. HUD's website states that the purpose of the program is to provide assistance “to acquire and redevelop foreclosed properties that might otherwise become sources of abandonment and blight within their communities.”

In a January 28 press release and January 29 piece for The Huffington Post, ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis denied that ACORN is eligible for the “neighborhood stabilization funds” and stated that it does not intend to apply for them.

From the February 4 edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight:

DOBBS: Well, the Service Employees International has a long track record of lobbying, amongst other things, for amnesty for illegal aliens as well. The SEIU also has ties with the so-called community organizing group ACORN. In fact, it shares buildings where the groups, such as ACORN, are included, by the way, in President Obama's massive stimulative bill. That bill calling for more than $4 billion, by the way, for something called “neighborhood stabilization activities.”

You want to know what that means? That means funding for low-income advocacy groups such as ACORN, which actually are partisan groups supporting President Obama and others through its voter registration drives and other activities. By the way, ACORN is under investigation in more than a dozen states -- ACORN, a major supporter of the Democrats across the country.