Posted on 09/29/2008 3:48:08 AM PDT by Schnucki
The roots of today's mortgage-based financial crisis can be traced back to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), which Jimmy Carter signed in 1977. Seeking to address complaints from anti-poverty activists and housing advocates about banks allegedly discriminating against minority borrowers and "redlining" inner-city neighborhoods, the CRA decreed that banks had "an affirmative obligation" to meet the credit needs of victims of discrimination in borrowing.
To add a government stick to the process, the CRA decreed that federal banking regulators would consider how well banks were doing in meeting the goal of more multiculturalism in loaning when considering requests by banks to open new branches or to merge.
A good "CRA rating" was earned by way of increasing loans in poor neighborhoods. Conversely, lenders with low ratings could be fined.
The Fed, for instance, warned banks that failure to comply with government guidelines regarding the delivery of "equal credit" could subject them to "civil liability for actual or punitive damages in individual or class actions, with liability for punitive damages being as much as $10,000 in individual actions and the lesser of $500,000 or 1 percent of the creditor's net worth in class actions."
However well-intentioned in terms of delivering "economic justice," this push for more government-directed social engineering produced a widespread weakening of long-established industry standards for credit worthiness.
Led by Congressional Democrats, this policy of replacing private and decentralized decision-making with a system of centrally-delivered rewards and punishments was basically a one-party effort. Republicans, it seems, were more aware of the unintended consequences that flow from government interference in the market.
As Investor's Business Daily recently put it, succinctly and correctly: "Over the past 30 years, Democrats, along with a handful of Republicans, have demonized lenders as racist and passed regulation after regulation pressuring them to make more loans
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
Republicans should point out that it is racist to give minorities UNaffordable mortgages.
bttt
Let me see if I have this straight.
The liberals put policies in place that led to the current monetary crisis.
The liberals set policies that have caused the price of gasoline to increase dramatically.
The liberals established policies (the “wall”) and took ineffective actions when the islamofascists declared war on us.
Do I have this about right?
I’ve seen it a million times in California - - “affordable housing” is just a polite left wing elitist euphemism for “slaves’ quarters.”
Of course, it is just that “affordable housing” and the unsound lending practices that got the country in this mess.
FNC focusing on ACORN this morning. 39 members of Congress have signed on to a request to the DOJ to look into this group.
You have it exactly right.
It’s Bush’s fault
It’s the republicans fault.
God help us if the voters don’t wake up to the truth.
Frank revealed the Dems response when the GOP starts hammering the Dems fault in all this. Racism.
You have it exactly right.
It’s Bush’s fault
It’s the republicans fault.
God help us if the voters don’t wake up to the truth.
This addresses the mortgage situation but I wish they had also mentioned the credit card bubble where banks keep pushing cards on people who gladly pay 20% interest
That ain’t good either and is a disaster waiting in the wings
This other easy credit problem is going to blow eventually
But they didn't.
Instead they ordered, as they do often, people and their business to do this and that. With no compensation.
This is slavery.
So, since these diktats, this behavior has been going on for a hundred years, each year more than the last, I don't see why it shouldn't continue.
Slavery is not made overnight.
We ain't seen nothing yet. Wait until the Dem's reveal their payback plan to the “people”. This will be a nothing more than a classic socialist redistribution of wealth scheme. People who pay little or no taxes will wind up receiving the larger percentage of this money via so called tax credits and checks in the mail while those who actually do pay taxes will receive little to none of it. It seems to me that the correct way to “pay back the people” would be by the inverse method of financing this bail-out. Being that Treasury will print money to pay for it and thereby reduce the value of wealth in this country proportionately, the pay back should be to remove from circulation the equivalent amount as the payback accrues. But, the Dem's will never do this. They will treat this huge pot of money as their personal fund for whatever pet scheme they choose to support. Thus, the “real taxpayers” those who actually pay taxes, will continue to be screwed, and screwed, and screwed....
Someone is out there researching and revealing details of the astronomical salaries/bonuses being given to corporate CEO's. And people gasp! I want to see the same sources research and reveal the salaries/bonuses paid to the leaders of such entities as ACORN.
the housing market was out of control due to some very special people and McCain needs to make them his poster children.We know who caused it, but housing prices are out of control and this wont get better until prices tank. The bail out will only prolong the pain.
WHAT the fù@q!
CANTOR could fightback immediatly and tell that such an accusation of racism was defamatory and accuse the dems of using “racism” as a blanket of smoke to hide and flee that issue of their responsability and for fooling people!
Now if Republicans don’t want to launch the fire McCAIN could and should do it as he is supposed willing to win
CRA =
Community Redistribution Act
bttt
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