They Gave Your Mortgage to a Less Qualified Minority

janelle

They Gave Your Mortgage to a Less Qualified Minority
by Ann Coulter


On MSNBC this week, Newsweek's Jonathan Alter tried to connect John McCain to the current financial disaster, saying: "If you remember the Keating Five scandal that (McCain) was a part of. ... He's really getting a free ride on the fact that he was in the middle of the last great financial scandal in our country."

McCain was "in the middle of" the Keating Five case in the sense that he was "exonerated." The lawyer for the Senate Ethics Committee wanted McCain removed from the investigation altogether, but, as The New York Times reported: "Sen. McCain was the only Republican embroiled in the affair, and Democrats on the panel would not release him."

So John McCain has been held hostage by both the Viet Cong and the Democrats.

Alter couldn't be expected to know that: As usual, he was lifting material directly from Kausfiles. What is unusual was that he was stealing a random thought sent in by Kausfiles' mother, who, the day before, had e-mailed: "It's time to bring up the Keating Five. Let McCain explain that scandal away."

The Senate Ethics Committee lawyer who investigated McCain already had explained that scandal away -- repeatedly. It was celebrated lawyer Robert Bennett, most famous for defending a certain horny hick president a few years ago.

In February this year, on Fox News' "Hannity and Colmes," Bennett said, for the eight billionth time:

"First, I should tell your listeners I'm a registered Democrat, so I'm not on (McCain's) side of a lot of issues. But I investigated John McCain for a year and a half, at least, when I was special counsel to the Senate Ethics Committee in the Keating Five. ... And if there is one thing I am absolutely confident of, it is John McCain is an honest man. I recommended to the Senate Ethics Committee that he be cut out of the case, that there was no evidence against him."

It's bad enough for Alter to be constantly ripping off Kausfiles. Now he's so devoid of his own ideas, he's ripping off the idle musings of Kausfiles' mother.

Even if McCain had been implicated in the Keating Five scandal -- and he wasn't -- that would still have absolutely nothing to do with the subprime mortgage crisis currently roiling the financial markets. This crisis was caused by political correctness being forced on the mortgage lending industry in the Clinton era.

Before the Democrats' affirmative action lending policies became an embarrassment, the Los Angeles Times reported that, starting in 1992, a majority-Democratic Congress "mandated that Fannie and Freddie increase their purchases of mortgages for low-income and medium-income borrowers. Operating under that requirement, Fannie Mae, in particular, has been aggressive and creative in stimulating minority gains."

Under Clinton, the entire federal government put massive pressure on banks to grant more mortgages to the poor and minorities. Clinton's secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Andrew Cuomo, investigated Fannie Mae for racial discrimination and proposed that 50 percent of Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's portfolio be made up of loans to low- to moderate-income borrowers by the year 2001.

Instead of looking at "outdated criteria," such as the mortgage applicant's credit history and ability to make a down payment, banks were encouraged to consider nontraditional measures of credit-worthiness, such as having a good jump shot or having a missing child named "Caylee."

Threatening lawsuits, Clinton's Federal Reserve demanded that banks treat welfare payments and unemployment benefits as valid income sources to qualify for a mortgage. That isn't a joke -- it's a fact.

When Democrats controlled both the executive and legislative branches, political correctness was given a veto over sound business practices.

In 1999, liberals were bragging about extending affirmative action to the financial sector. Los Angeles Times reporter Ron Brownstein hailed the Clinton administration's affirmative action lending policies as one of the "hidden success stories" of the Clinton administration, saying that "black and Latino homeownership has surged to the highest level ever recorded."

Meanwhile, economists were screaming from the rooftops that the Democrats were forcing mortgage lenders to issue loans that would fail the moment the housing market slowed and deadbeat borrowers couldn't get out of their loans by selling their houses.

A decade later, the housing bubble burst and, as predicted, food-stamp-backed mortgages collapsed. Democrats set an affirmative action time-bomb and now it's gone off.

In Bush's first year in office, the White House chief economist, N. Gregory Mankiw, warned that the government's "implicit subsidy" of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, combined with loans to unqualified borrowers, was creating a huge risk for the entire financial system.

Rep. Barney Frank denounced Mankiw, saying he had no "concern about housing." How dare you oppose suicidal loans to people who can't repay them! The New York Times reported that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were "under heavy assault by the Republicans," but these entities still had "important political allies" in the Democrats.

Now, at a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars, middle-class taxpayers are going to be forced to bail out the Democrats' two most important constituent groups: rich Wall Street bankers and welfare recipients.

Political correctness had already ruined education, sports, science and entertainment. But it took a Democratic president with a Democratic congress for political correctness to wreck the financial industry.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=28714

hblueeyes

These homes in forclosure, I bet they end up going to those on government backed (section 8) housing.

Me

DrHolliday

People really need to read up on the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. It seems to be at the heart of this mess.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Reinvestment_Act

atprm

unfortunately, many will not understand it.

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to my dh: share everything sans your sinus infection, your flu or your cold -- no need to regift.

janelle

When will the government learn you just can't give things to people and expect them to have pride in it and keep it nice.

Giving someone a home and they didn't work hard to earn it makes the whole neighborhood go down. You need to keep the home up and painted, etc. Not let it run down.

No money down mortages was the worse idea anyone had. So you can get the family moved in, then what?

jbbarn

Of course there will be lying scum trying to pin this on any Republican who can't dodge fast enough! I'm so angry over this travesty! The American people need,and deserve,a full investigation of Congress! People were receiving loans of (for ex.), $130,000.00 with which to purchase $100,000.00 houses! Needless to say,a lot of these people did not have a pot to pi*s in!
I heard a speech today by Barney Frank(gg) of Ma., given when the Pellosi Congress ascended to the throne. He talked about the inequality in America,and how something had to be done, particularly in the HOUSING market! Is there anyone still out there who doesn't believe the government should stay out of free enterprise?

__________________
Secure our borders;send 'em home!

INFRACTED (?)

janelle

Wondered why they thought putting someone in a $100,000 house would help them when they still need to pay the taxes, utilities, etc. Just does not make any sense. Then the mortage eventually has to be paid. Living in LALA land is just stupid. The bill has come due and guess who has to pay it.

atprm

it goes right along side the damn parks / communities that offer up "rent to own" homes...

these people do NOT take pride in their home ownership (of the 100% paid by these people only 15% is added towards the cost of the home...so in essense the home is never going to be paid off) and they consider themselves "just renting."

That lowers the values of all the homes around them... I know, I own my own home complete with a 20 year mortgage...but our neighbor does "rent to own", takes NO pride in their home and it's turning ghetto day by day...

when they stop caring for the home (which many were given $$ from the state to move into or section 8 from the feds), they run out of $ to pay for repairs ... leave trash all over the yards... stop taking care of their pets...

it's ugly, and disgusting...but the taxpayers get to pay for it all -- higher taxes, money for welfare recipients...ugh!

__________________
to my dh: share everything sans your sinus infection, your flu or your cold -- no need to regift.

jbbarn

Yeah! Us! I'm not normally a conspiracy theorist.However,I have to wonder if the masterminds of this RACIST endeavor,on considering this worst-case scenario,figured, Oh,WHAT THE HELL! The gov't. will fix any ensuing mess!
The taxpayers,as usual,get screwed!

__________________
Secure our borders;send 'em home!

INFRACTED (?)

janelle

The ugly side of affirmative action IMO. Who knew it was going to affect more than just who gets the job? Walfare by another name. Would be great if it worked but it doesn't.