Jimmuh Carter, Barney Frank, and the Community Reinvestment Act

A must read on the forensic examination of our economy's implosion. Click here.
An excerpt from Jeff Jacoby's Boston Globe column on September 28, 2008.

The roots of this crisis go back to the Carter administration. That was when government officials, egged on by left-wing activists, began accusing mortgage lenders of racism and "redlining" because urban blacks were being denied mortgages at a higher rate than suburban whites.

The pressure to make more loans to minorities (read: to borrowers with weak credit histories) became relentless. Congress passed the Community Reinvestment Act, empowering regulators to punish banks that failed to "meet the credit needs" of "low-income, minority, and distressed neighborhoods." Lenders responded by loosening their underwriting standards and making increasingly shoddy loans.

So there you have it.

We Steal, You Pay. You Gotta Problem with That?

So, Congress has abandoned all pretense of ethics. One would presume that the draft for the $700 billion bailout should have as "lean" as possible. But Noooo! Earmarks for liquor manufacturers, toy manufacturers, railroads and much, much more lace the current draft passed by the Senate and being considered by the House.

On October 1, it was revealed that The Crypt Keeper (House Speaker Nancy Pelosi) had paid her husband's firm $100,000 from PAC funds. This is not a mere accusation; no one is denying that it happened. How can The Crypt Keeper even stand in front of the cameras? Because misfeasance has become accepted, commonplace. They're going to do it, and we're going to tolerate it, even pay for it, while we also pay more for gas, food - everything - because of them.

Political activist and rock musician Ted Nugent asserted this week that the entire Congress should be removed, and he's not too far off the mark. I'd say that four-fifths of Congress ought to be impeached or voted out; Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and Barack Obama should be in prison due to their actions vis-a-vis the subprime mortgage debacle, yet the latter might wind up as President.

I indicated in one of my columns this week what I really think ought to happen, but of course I'd never suggest such action; wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more, say no more...