Acorn Funding Is Out, Sources Say [Updates with more confirmations]

[UPDATE: I've added more confirmations at the end of this story. Among those updates is one report that gives John McCain some rarely reported credit for bringing C.S. to this deal: "It was John McCain [who] brought the House Republicans to the table, enraging the excreble Harry Reid who only wanted McCain back to do the Democrats bidding and causing serious enough problems with [Nancy Pelosi that] she squealed that the Republicans were ‘unpatriotic’. …”]

Original: According to Jennifer Rubin, the fine columnist for Commentary magazine and a recent guest on Nocturnal Warrior’s radio show, the Acorn slush fund is probably out of the bill. From “Who Got What“:

From the reports about the contours of the deal, it appears that the final product is indeed less horrible than it could have been. The ACORN slush money is gone, there is no tax (only the promise that a recoupment plan will be submitted to firms in the future if the taxpayers are out of pocket), there is an insurance aspect and there is greater oversight. The House GOP “got something.” Nancy Pelosi “got something” — a bunch of GOP votes for the bill. John McCain may have gotten something — proof that he prevented the House GOP from being steamrolled, which in turn resulted in a better, bipartisan bill. And Barack Obama got two weeks of attention on the financial crisis.

Monday will be a telling day — the market will open, more polling will be taken, and the bill will be drafted and ready for a vote. If this amounts to the greatest financial triage in history all involved will be remembered fondly. If it is too little, too late, all of them — not to mention every American — will pay the price.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Special thanks to Andy for sending me this great post.

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CONFIRMATION UPDATES via Memeorandum.com screenshot — click to go to the list of stories:

Protein Wisdom responds to Ryan Grim’s obvious distress that this removal will harm affordable housing measures:

I don’t know if Ryan Grim was looking at a different version of the bailout bill than I, but the version I saw stated that not less than 20% of profits realized from any individual profitable sale would go to ACORN and related entities. This WSJ article delineates the links between ACORN and the housing authorities named, who fund the ACORN Housing Corporation.

TITLE I – Authorizing the Treasury Department to Buy Mortgage-Related Assets

Sec. 5. Rights; management; sale of troubled assets. (24 Comments)

1. EXERCISE OF RIGHTS.The Secretary may, at any time, exercise any rights received in connection with troubled assets purchased under this Act.
2. MANAGEMENT OF TROUBLED ASSETS.
   1. IN GENERAL.Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall have authority to manage troubled assets purchased under this Act, including revenues and portfolio risks there from.
   2. CORPORATION AUTHORITY.
      1. IN GENERAL.The Corporation, shall manage all residential mortgages and residential mortgage-backed securities purchased by the Secretary under this Act.
      2. REIMBURSEMENT OF COSTS.All costs and expenses of the Corporation in carrying out this paragraph shall be reimbursed to the Corporation by the Secretary.
      3. SYSTEMATIC APPROACH.In carrying out this paragraph, the Corporation shall utilize a systematic approach for preventing foreclosures and ensuring long-term, sustainable homeownership through loan modifications and use of the HOPE for Homeowners Program established under section 257 of the National Housing Act and any other programs that may be available for such purposes.
      4. REPORTS TO CONGRESS.The Corporation shall provide to Congress a monthly report on its activities under this paragraph during the reporting period, including specific information on the number and types of loan modifications made and the number of actual foreclosures occurring with respect to such loans during the reporting period.
      5. SALE OF TROUBLED ASSETS.The Corporation may, at any time, upon terms and conditions and at prices determined by the Secretary, sell, or enter into securities loans, repurchase transactions, or other financial transactions in regard to any troubled asset managed by the Corporation under this paragraph.
   3. ACQUISITION OF SECURITIZATION POOLS AND MORTGAGELOANS.The Secretary shall, to the extent practicable, acquire
      1. sufficient ownership or control of pooled residential mortgage loans, or a securitization vehicle for such loans so that the Corporation has authority to modify the underlying residential mortgage loans, either directly or through a designee; and
      2. whole residential mortgage loans, so that the Corporation may use its authority to modify the underlying residential mortgage loans, either directly or through a designee.
3. SALE OF TROUBLED ASSETS.The Secretary may, at any time, upon terms and conditions and at prices determined by the Secretary, sell, or enter into securities loans, repurchase transactions, or other financial transactions in regard to any troubled asset purchased under this Act.
4. TRANSFER OF A PERCENTAGE OF PROFITS.
   1. DEPOSITS.Not less than 20 percent of any profit realized on the sale of each troubled asset purchased under this Act shall be deposited as provided in paragraph (2).
   2. USE OF DEPOSITS.Of the amount referred to in paragraph (1)
      1. 65 percent shall be deposited into the Housing Trust Fund established under section 1338 of the Federal Housing Enterprises Regulatory Reform Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4568); and
      2. 35 percent shall be deposited into the Capital Magnet Fund established under section 1339 of that Act (12 U.S.C. 4569).
   3. REMAINDER DEPOSITED IN THE TREASURY.All amounts remaining after payments under paragraph (1) shall be paid into the General Fund of the Treasury for reduction of the public debt.

Emphasis mine. So, can Mr. Grim please clarify?

See, also, Darleen, for McCain’s role in stripping this odious provision. [h/t Hot Air Headlines]