On September 13 I noted there were ties between the IRS and ACORN through the VITA program, an operation ostensibly designed to help low income persons file their tax returns.

The IRS has worked with ACORN in recent years on administering tax assistance outreach as part of the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Preparation (VITA) program. These efforts have been strongly supported in the past by former President Bill Clinton and other top Democrats.

"This is a lightning rod issue, and we'll keep focus on it," the aide says. "ACORN supporters are hoping that the next few weeks will allow some time to pass so that Democrats can get to a reconcile point on the bill and remove the language and water it down."

House Republican leader Rep. John Boehner (R., Ohio) tells NRO:

At a meeting with every House Republican Member this morning, I urged everyone to seek out and expose taxpayer money going to ACORN in every agency and in every committee's jurisdiction. There is no excuse - none - for any more of the American peoples' hard-earned tax dollars to go to this corrupt gang. [b]Rep. Cantor's effort to highlight the IRS-ACORN link is a great place to start, along with Rep. Bachmann's bill to zero out the money ACORN gets from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. [/b][emphasis added]We're also sending a letter, which will be signed by as many of our Members as possible, to President Obama, urging him to eliminate all ACORN funding. I sent a similar letter to President Bush last year. I hope, given all the new revelations about ACORN's nefarious practices, that we'll get results this time. In case President Obama isn't willing or able to end ACORN funding without Congressional action, we're also introducing legislation to get the job done.