Congressman Cole Appointed To The Appropriations Committee

By World Washington Bureau
Published: 1/7/2009 11:29 AM
Last Modified: 1/7/2009 11:29 AM

WASHINGTON –- U.S. Tom Cole nabbed a seat Wednesday on the House Appropriations Committee, one of the more coveted panels in Congress.

As a member of that committee, the Oklahoma Republican will help oversee federal spending.

His new post provides an automatic boost to the state delegation's clout in Congress as members of the committee also can steer funds to their districts and states for specific projects.

Congressman Tom Cole

For Immediate Release: October 15, 2008



ACORN: A Repeat-Offender

By: Congressman Tom Cole



Much is being made in the news lately of the uncovering of massive, multi-state, multi- election cycle voter fraud, perpetrated by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, also known as ACORN. In just the past year and a half ACORN claims to have registered 1.3 million new voters. Normally this would be a good thing - we should encourage greater participation in our political system. Unfortunately, it is becoming clear that ACORN was operating a massive scam by registering tens of thousands of phony voters.



In Nevada it has been revealed that ACORN hired inmates in the state penitentiary to register new voters. They registered the Dallas Cowboys to vote in Nevada. Another Nevada canvasser was caught filling out voter registration forms using names and addresses copied out of the telephone book. Needless to say, this scandal is not confined to Nevada. Election officials in Ohio, Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New Mexico have all uncovered similar instances of fraud. A state prosecutor in Washington State put it very well when he described the activities of ACORN as "an act of vandalism against our voter rolls."



Voting in free and fair elections is the very foundation of our system of self governance. Who can ever forget the remarkable election of 2000 when the candidate who actually received fewer popular votes won the election? This was after an extended recount - in the state his bother served as Governor - and a 5-4 Supreme Court decision. Yet at no time did we see tanks rolling through the streets. There was no martial law. Americans tuned into the Tonight Show every night to see Jay Leno cracking jokes about hanging chads. This was possible because Americans had faith that despite the problems we had in that election, the process was fundamentally honest and fair. Organizations like ACORN undermine that trust and as a result they undermine the very political stability of the United States.



And as if this treachery weren't enough, ACORN does this with millions of dollars of taxpayer money. You see, ACORN played another role in the dominant news item of the past several weeks - the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage industry. For years ACORN has used intimidation tactics to force banks to make loans to people who couldn't afford to pay them back. And they extorted millions of dollars from Congress under the auspices of the Community Redevelopment Act by arranging to have Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy up the risky mortgages on the secondary market.



Remarkably, in the recently passed Economic Recovery Act, the liberals in Congress attempted to put even more money into the pockets of their cronies at ACORN. Fortunately, the Republicans put their foot down and all additional funding for ACORN was stripped from the bill. I'd call that a good start, but now we need to get to work making sure the rest of their taxpayer funding is stripped away.



Unfortunately, it does not appear to be just a few bad apples at ACORN. The entire organization has a considerable record of manipulation and fraud. In June the Consumers Rights League published a series of internal documents from the organization that reveal ACORN has comingled political money and taxpayer funds. In order to prevent future taxpayer rip-offs and blatant voter fraud, the Community Reinvestment Act needs to be overhauled, and ACORN should never again receive a penny of taxpayer money. Furthermore, those responsible for the fraudulent registrations must be thoroughly investigated, and if found guilty, punished to the full extent of the law.

Congress Bail Out Explained By Congressman Cole

Congressman Tom Cole called today explaining why he voted yes on the bail out. He also explained about the so called pork that was attached to the bill. I respect Congressman Cole and the job he has done for Oklahoma. I believe Congressman Cole did the best thing for our country. Congressman Cole agreed to speak to the luncheon club and answer questions for as long as it takes. He said he will answer question until midnight if that is what it takes.

After listening to the Congressman talk about the bail out, one major issue Congress has is the press. The press would like nothing better than to get all the Republicans mad and throw up their hands in disgust.

Congressman Cole shared with me that he realizes his vote was not popular with his constituents. He received a lot of calls asking him to vote no. He discussed this bill with his colleagues in Congress and Senator Coburn. He believes, without a doubt, if this bail out of Freddie and Fannie did not takes place it would throw us further into a recession and then later into a depression. Businesses in Oklahoma were already having to pay higher interest rates on loans. At the same time that myself and others were calling asking for a no vote, large corporations in Oklahoma were asking for a yes vote.

Here are some facts that, I believe will interest everyone. This is a PR nightmare for Congress.

1. The so called pork that was included in the bail out was actually extensions of tax cuts. They were not new items.
2. The so called pork concerning Native Americans 168J has actually been in existence since 1992. The bill is a land tax credit that has to do with Indian land. Most Oklahomans will benefit from this tax credit extension. This bill was first introduced in 1992 by David Boren.
3. The wooden arrows that we have heard so much about had to do with a tax issue on arrows. The so called pork was to clean up a bill on this same subject that Congress passed last year.
4. Bottom line most of the so called pork were actually tax credits not pork.

In the end, sometimes it is best to manage a bad situation rather than to just disagree with it and go on. You can vote on principle but without action it means nothing. I have talked to a few other elected officials in the County and the state that stated that Congressman Cole spoke to them personally. This was a hard vote to take a stance on and Congressman Cole took it very seriously. We all should appreciate that.

Bob