Frank recently introduced a bill to “use amounts made available under the Troubled Assets Relief Program of the Secretary of the Treasury for relief for homeowners and neighborhoods.” Described as a neighborhood stabilization program, the funds would go to help depressed communities hit hard by the foreclosure crisis.

But Bachmann sees an evil scheme to give money to ACORN.

“Now Barney Frank thinks that [TARP funds] should go out to his friends in ACORN,” she told Sean Hannity. “He is serious about this, about funneling this little bit of money back out to ACORN.”

That little bit of money? “This would be an additional $1.5 billion for ACORN,” she said. “And don’t forget, in over 12 states so far this year ACORN has been indicted for voter fraud.”

The bill itself never mentions ACORN. In fact, it specifically spells out who gets the money [emphasis added]:

the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer $1,500,000,000 to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and such Secretary shall use such amounts for assistance to States and units of general local government for the redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed homes

Bachmann’s claim that ACORN is “under indictment” in 12 states in 2009 for “voter fraud” is also grossly inaccurate. Former ACORN employees have been brought under indictment this year in several states including Pennsylvania and Missouri, but so far this year only Nevada has indicted the actual organization.

And ACORN has not been accused of voter fraud. They are accused of voter registration fraud. Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller told the New York Times, “This is not a case of voter fraud, it’s a case of voter registration fraud. I’m very confident that none of these fraudulent voter forms found their way into the voter registration rolls or to cast votes.”

The full interview:

Photo: C-SPAN3

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann — famous for urging the media to expose anti-Americans in Congress – did her own probing today, pressing AIG CEO Edward Liddy for names of her colleagues who had foreknowledge of AIG’s controversial bonus payments. “Did any members of Congress know anything about the bonuses?” asked Bachmann. Yes, Liddy responded –  at least some were aware of “the obligation to pay the bonuses.”

But he didn’t name names for Bachmann, any more than he did earlier when Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) asked Liddy for names of the AIG executives who got bonuses.

Bachmann’s interrogation went like this:

Which members of Congress or staff knew about this and when?

Any members of the administration who knew about this?

Did any members of Congress know anything about the bonuses?

Could you be responsive about which members of Congress knew?

Liddy said he didn’t know but promised to try to find out for her.

Bachmann’s five minutes of questioning came toward the end of a long day of testimony from Liddy and an earlier panel of witnesses before the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises.

Bachmann, a member of the committee, appeared to be in attendance for the full hearing. Her questioning was measured in tone and lacked the incendiary word choice of other committee members, who shouted “Damn!” and warned Liddy of legislation that would be worse for AIG than waterboarding.

At one point, Rep. Paul Kanjorski (DR-Pa.) banged his gavel and threatened protesters from the group Code Pink with expulsion from the hearing room unless they surrendered their signs. Frank lightened the mood by expressing relief — after seeing how Kanjorski dealt with the signs — that the protesters weren’t wearing the slogans on their shirts.

Here is video from Bachmann’s questioning of Liddy:

A club member nominated McCollum for daring to suggest health care is a right:

I’d like to nominate Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota’s 4th District. Fortunately she’s not my Congressman, but last week she introduced H.J. Res. 4, which proposes a Constitutional Amendment decreeing health care is a Constitutional right. It’s clear that McCollum doesn’t understand economic liberty. Nothing can be considered a “right” when obtaining that right strips the rights from someone else. The text of her resolution can be found here.

But since the election, Republicans have made several high-profile mentions of things urban — urban myths and legends, that is. In exit interviews, President Bush and Vice President Cheney have three times invoked the phrase “urban myth” or “urban legend” — picking up on Republican U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann’s use of “urban legend” to discount reports of her own statements, as quoted verbatim or shown in video clips, regarding anti-American attitudes in Congress.

Vice President Cheney, on Jan. 7, 2009, said about allegations that he made decisions for President Bush: “This whole notion that somehow I exceeded my authority here, was usurping his authority, is simply not true. It’s an urban legend, never happened.”

President Bush, on Dec. 17, 2008, said about torture and wiretapping: “There’s a lot of urban myths about certain decisions I have made. But when the truth comes out and people will say, ‘Oh, I see what he did.’”

President Bush, on Dec. 16, 2008, said about not listening to opinions on Iraq from outside his inner circle: “I’ve heard all kinds of voices. There’s urban myths in Washington, D.C., and, you know, of course I listened.”

U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, on Nov. 18, 2008, said about her televised statements calling for an investigation of anti-American views held by her colleagues in Congress: “It’s an urban legend that was created. That isn’t what I said at all.”

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said, “The speaker had to give a partisan voice that poisoned our conference, caused a number of members that we thought we could get to go south.”

Pelosi’s speech chastised the Bush administration for its part in the economic crisis, something Boehner said was responsible for them abandoning conviction and switching their vote.

But Bachmann flatly rejected Boehner’s rationale. “I want to assure you that was not the case. We are not babies who suck our thumbs. We have very principled reasons for voting no,” reported Roll Call Monday evening.

Her comments were almost identical to those of Democratic leaders. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said, “Here’s the story: There’s a terrible crisis affecting the American economy. We have come together on a bill to alleviate the crisis. And because somebody hurt their feelings they decide to punish the country.”