Too Green To Fail?

IBD Editorials ^ | May 21, 2010 | Investors Business Daily staff

[Kaslin]

Scandal: Sometimes banks are too small to fail, such as when they are in the president's hometown, deal with the president's friends and serve the president's agenda. Or should we perhaps say too connected to fail?

ShoreBank's Web site boasts: "Van Jones saves at ShoreBank so his money fights for green jobs just like he does."

It proudly notes, "According to former Vice President Al Gore, 'Van Jones demonstrates conclusively that the best solutions for the survivability of our planet are also the best solutions for everyday Americans.' "

That may tell us all we need to know about ShoreBank and the fight to save it. While President Obama rails against the robber barons of Wall Street, the politically connected Chicago financial institution with a politically correct agenda gets a pass and gets a bailout all its own. It is the poster bank for hope and change.

Fox Business points out that "ShoreBank has ties to the Obama administration. Valerie Jarrett, President Obama's senior adviser and a fixture in Chicago politics (as was the president), served on the board of Chicago Metropolis 2020, a civic organization which was run by Adele Simmons, a director at ShoreBank."

ShoreBank was in trouble and needed financial help, either from the government or other financial institutions that have already received government money.