And they got a mess of 'em in Congress. Read on.
=========================================
REFERENCE--THE CONGRESSMAN AND THE SUBPRIME DEBACLE (DESTROYING THE US ECONOMY ONE MTGAGE AT A TIME)
FR POSTED 4/10/12
FACT SOURCES: ERIC LIPTON | New York Times report, Sept 6, 2010, Lawmakers generosity on big corporations' tab Copyright 2012 stltoday.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/national/govt-and-politics/article_dfea2768-b95b-11df-bd41-0017a4a78c22.html#ixzz1rfgdnEAe
EDITED EXCERPTS New York Times report: Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif 43rd) has achieved near celebrity status in his suburban LA district, as much for his record of giveaways — turkeys, scholarships, boots for firefighters — as for anything he has done in the US Congress.
Baca's generosity is made possible by The Joe Baca Foundation, a so-called "charity" he and his family set up circa 2008 under the pretext of "aiding" local organizations. The Joe Baca Foundation is run out of the family residence by Baca's son at a publicized salary of $51,800 (could be more, much more and could include numerous perks, credit cards, expense accounts, cars, free $5 gas fillups, health benefits, and so on). NOTE: Running a foundation out of a residence usually allows the resident to evade real estate taxes.
Perhaps nowhere is the mix of charitable and political agendas more evident than with Baca's family-run The Joe Baca Foundation.
The Foundation's key function is to help the self-serving Democrat and Latino separatist run a near-permanent political campaign. Joe Baca T-shirts and caps are given out at district events, where banners display Baca's name. Local newspapers highlight The Joe Baca Foundation’s donations, and TV stations run appearances by Baca and his family at these "charitable" functions---amounting to free publicity for Baca's election campaigns
Baca benefits from the good will corporate-financed philanthropy generates among his voting base b/c very little of the money to finance The Joe Baca Foundation's high-profile activities comes out of Baca’s pocket. Instead, Baca appears to be engaged in multiple sub rosa activities----exchanging donations from local companies and major corporations in exchange for easy access to him. Baca's foundation donors step to the head of the line when needing Baca's assistance, and usually succeed in getting his Washington office to get the job done.
The Foundation prefers not to call attention to its finances, usually underplaying its size and influence, but the list of The Joe Baca Foundation corporate donors and supporter serves almost like a road map to Baca’s major legislative actions in Congress.
<><>Coca-Cola donated $40,000 as it prepared to fight a proposal to prohibit the use of food stamps to buy sugary sodas, an issue before the Congressional agriculture subcommittee conveniently headed by Cong Joe Baca.
<><>The Lewis Group of Companies, a local development firm and a frequent sponsor of The Joe Baca Foundation events, will start construction on a 2,000-unit housing project built on land that Cong Joe Baca helped deliver by steering legislation through Congress to close the Rialto Municipal Airport, the current occupant.
<><> Baca secured an infamous Congrressional earmark in the amount of $500,000 for Telacu, a local housing group that donates to The Joe Baca Foundation.
<><> Another donor to The Joe Baca Foundation is Rentech, a California-based biofuels company that wants to build a new fuel plant in Baca’s district. After it made two donations, Baca’s son, who serves on the Rialto City Council (after losing reelction to the Calif state Assembly), voted to endorse federal tax dollars for the project. Eeven before the company had completed the local environmental permit reviews, Cong Baca sent a letter to the US Energy Department on his office stationery urging approval of the federal financial assistance.
Cong Baca’s Washington office declined to address reporter's questions about the foundation, or about positions the congressman has taken that appear to benefit donors. “They do a lot of great work,” said Stephen Wall, a spokesman for Baca, referring to The Joe Baca Foundation. “But as far as what we do, it is separate.” Baca’s son, who is paid to handle administrative matters at the Joe Baca Foundation, said many of the other donors were small California businesses with no issues before lawmakers in Washington.“We have always been about giving back,” Baca, Jr said.
NB: The IRS has targeted non-profit foundations as RABID MONEY LAUNDRIES AND TAX EVASION MACHINES. More below.
Thanks for the “info!”
These subprime activities were not simply the mortgage market at work. They were fueled by avarice, greed, stupidity--all enabled by Congressmen and other groups which leave a trail at the door of Cong Joe Baca. Between 2000 and 2009, Hispanic populations increased; but Hispanic home ownership grew even faster, increasing by 47%, to 6.1 million from 4.1 million, according to the US Census Bureau.
Over that same period, homeownership nationally grew by an enemic 8%. In 2005 alone, mortgages to Hispanics jumped by 29%; Latinos with multiple fraudulent identities in low-paying jobs obtainedg costly non-prime mortgages---soaring to a shocking 169%, (Research provided by Wall Street Journal)
The subprime mortgage bank fraud network was spearheaded by Cong Joe Baca (D-Cali 43rd), in his powerful position as chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Baca's district ranks No.5 among all US Congressional districts in percentage of home loans tailored to sub-prime borrowers.
Baca used his the legislative power of his office and his leadership position in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to calculatedly launch a housing initiative called "HOGAR"-- Spanish for home. The entities engaged in conspiracies to collude with industry and community groups to increase mortgage lending to Latinos--knowing full well forged fraudulent identities and fasified mortgage applications were being used.
Mortgage lenders---lured by huge profits---eagerly provided funding to Baca's group, and fielded an army to bestow with mortgage loans on unquaified lations which were destined for default.
In years past, minority borrowers seeking loans were often denied because banks and mortgage companies with sound business practices were reluctant to lend within particular low-income geographical areas. This reasonable business practice was mischaracterized as "racialist" as a way to intimidate lenders.
However, the soundness of the practice resonated as the financial devastation the housing bubble wreaked hurt the nation's economy. Taxpayers were saddled with the bills as defaults reached stratospheric heights. Cong Baca's modus operandi and combined efforts to intimidate, to open the mortgage pipeline to unqualified Latinos proved highly successful.
=============================================
A close look at the network of organizations pushing for increased mortgage lending to unquaified buyers reveals a disturbing picture.
<><> HOGAR---the initiative to promote Latino homeownership---was created by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Inc., a non-profit entity founded and run by leaders of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus along with corporate and nonprofit representatives.
<><>Subprime-industry executives got in early, as advisers to "HOGAR" bankrolled more than $2 million of HOGAR's flawed research (NOTE so-called "research money" could have been laundered into Baca-related entities).
<><>Lawmakers and latino advocacy groups pushed hard to weaken credit criteria that inexorably led to the subprime debacle.
<><>Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, who received donations from the lending industry, stood idly by as their constituents moved into new homes bought with fraudulent documents and fasified mortgage apps. The lawmen had undermined US law by pushing for eased lending standards, which led to massive foreclosures, tax burdens, and UNTOLD DAMAGE TO THE US economy.
The Congressional Hispanic Institute, Inc, created by Baca's Congressional Hispanic Caucus created "HOGAR" in 2003 to work with industry and community groups to increase mortgage lending to unqualified Latinos. At that time, Baca hyped the fact that the national Latino homeownership rate was 47%, compared with 68% for the overall population. "HOGAR" called the figure "alarming," and said a concerted effort was required to ensure that "by the end of the decade Latinos will share equally in the American Dream of home ownership." Most of the "dreamers" were citizens of Third World countries who had violated US borders.
Predictably, HOGAR's backers included mortgage companies that ran into big trouble: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, both now under federal control after billions in taxpayer bailouts; Countrywide Financial Corp., sold to Bank of America Corp.; Washington Mutual Inc., taken over by the US government and sold to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.; and New Century Financial Corp. and Ameriquest Mortgage Corp, both now defunct, killed by unpaid Latino mortgages.
HOGAR's ties to the subprime industry were substantial. A Washington Mutual Bank vice president served as chairman of its advisory committee. Bribery and self-dealing was rampant. Companies that donated $150,000 to Cong Baca got the right to place a research fellow who would conduct HOGAR's fraudulent studies, which were used by industry lobbyists. For donations to Baca of $100,000 a year, HOGAR offered to provide optimistic news releases from Baca's Hispanic Caucus promoting a lender's commercial products for the Latino market, a shocking example of bribery well-substantitated by the group's literature.
"HOGAR" colluded with Freddie Mac on a self-serving two-year examination of Latino homeownership in 63 congressional districts. The study found Hispanic ownership on the rise thanks to "new flexible mortgage loan products" that the industry was adopting at the urging of Cong Baca's coterie. HOGAR recommended further easing of down-payment and underwriting standards. However, after the debacle, representatives for HOGAR declined repeated requests for comment following the economic havoc their activities precipitated.
con't