The Justice Department has concluded that the Obama administration can lawfully pay the community group Acorn for services provided under contracts signed before Congress banned the government from providing money to the group.
On Oct. 1, President Obama signed into law a spending bill that included a provision that said no taxpayer money — including money authorized by previous legislation — could be “provided to” the group or its affiliates.
A Housing and Urban Development Department lawyer asked the Justice Department whether the new law meant that pre-existing contracts with Acorn should be broken. And in a memorandum signed Oct. 23 and posted online this week, David Barron, the acting assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel said the government should continue to make payments to Acorn as required by such contracts.
Requiring the government to cancel contracts with a specifically named entity — “including even in cases where performance has already been completed but payment has not been rendered” — would raise constitutional concerns best avoided by interpreting the law differently, says Mr. Barron.
The Constitution prohibits “bills of attainder” — legislation intended to punish specific people or groups. Acorn has filed a lawsuit arguing that the statute banning the government from providing it money amounts to a bill of attainder.
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3 comments:
More dirty dealings from the Obama Administration .
No wonder the country is sliding into hell,thousands of people losing their homes and the government is rewarding crooked outfits like Acorn for being criminals.
Since when does the Constitution mean anything to this tyrant? It only matters when it protects acorn and terrorists. That should tell even the most closed-minded liberals among us something.
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