The Trib's At It Again

Seen recently on the opinion page of DickieCougarMellonScaife's paper:

Early in the negotiations, there appeared to be language in the $700 billion "rescue" package that could have funneled an estimated $100 million to ACORN and other groups through an "affordable housing trust fund."

The important wiggle room word in there is "could." But even what they're implying isn't true.

From Mediamatters.org:

Neither the draft proposal nor the version of the bill that was voted down in the House contained any language mentioning ACORN. Those making the false claim were misrepresenting a provision -- since removed -- that would have directed 20 percent of any profits realized on troubled assets purchased under the plan into the National Housing Trust Fund and the Capital Magnet Fund.

It's that pesky "could" word again. Then there's this from Salon.com:

After the mockery directed at community organizers during the Republican convention, it may come as little surprise that in order to justify their opposition to the bailout proposal as currently structured, some Republicans are pointing to a provision intended to support the development of low-income housing. But the basis for their criticism is, at best, misinformed. At worst, it's an outright lie.

After quoting Senator Lindsay Graham's "numbers" about the funding (he was speaking on Fox "News" of course) Salon continues:

There are a few different problems with this claim. First of all, the math cited by Graham and the rest is off. The language in question was added to the proposal by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., who chairs the Senate Banking Committee. It requires the federal government to set aside a certain portion of any profits realized on the eventual sale of the distressed assets that the Treasury would purchase under the plan. Thirteen percent of the profits would go to the Housing Trust Fund, which allocates money to state and local governments to support affordable housing development. Another 7 percent would go to the Capital Magnet Fund, a program operated by the Treasury that supports efforts to attract capital to poor areas.

There's not even any reason, at least at this point, to believe that any of the money allocated to the Housing Trust Fund would end up with ACORN.

And now the kicker:

Brenda Muniz, the organization's legislative director, told Salon that Graham's claim is "just ludicrous." ACORN itself claims to take no money at all from the government. ACORN Housing, an affiliated but ostensibly autonomous nonprofit that provides free housing counseling, is considering applying for funds from the Housing Trust Fund, but will probably not choose to do so. "It's unlikely that we stand to get anything," Muniz said. Because ACORN Housing's primary area of expertise is housing counseling -- which is not what the Trust Fund's grants are for -- Muniz said that it's "unlikely that they would take on something like that." [Emphasis added.]

Another bit of stretched beyond all recognition "news" (i.e. "a lie") from the op-ed pages of Scaife's little paper that could