September 24, 2009 9:55AM # ACORN Challenge for the GOP By [Chris Edwards](https://www.cato.org/people/chris-edwards) --- SHARE Republicans are all over the ACORN scandal [and calling for an end to federal subsidies for the group](http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/House-GOP-to-call-for-total-cutoff-of-federal-funds-to-ACORN-59326682.html). Well that’s great, but it’s not exactly going out on a limb and pushing for a major budget reform. Why doesn’t the GOP use this as an opportunity to call for completely ending the programs that funded ACORN? Wouldn’t it be better to save the $13 billion a year that HUD spends on so-called “community development” programs, rather than just the few million dollars a year that taxpayers spend on ACORN? The federal programs that funded ACORN are particularly wasteful ones, including Community Development Block Grants, Housing Counseling Assistance, and others as [Tad DeHaven has explained](http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/hud/community-development). At a minimum, the GOP should be arguing that with deficits of $1 trillion the federal government cannot afford to intervene in classic local and private activities such as community development. [Boehner and Canter want the IRS to cut ties with ACORN](http://republicanwhip.house.gov/blog/2009/09/cantor-asks-irs-to-cut-acorn-ties.html), but they should be leading the charge to end porky “community development” spending altogether. ##### Related Tags [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).