Friday, September 19, 2008

Racism caused the mortgage crisis

Yes, you read it right. Racism, not corporate greed, is the cause of the mortgage crash. During the days of the Clinton administration there was a young fiery community organizer/lawyer by the name of Barack Obama lobbying the Clintons to open up the mortgage industry for more minority loans. Since he liked the idea of being called the first black president, Bill Clinton thought this was a good idea. Disregarding the protests of the mortgage lenders, the Clinton administration began the process of altering the practice that had stood banks well for centuries. It took time and it took getting a few of the right politicians into power. California’s gift of Diane Feinstein and Nancy Pelosi was invaluable. Adding into that the greed of men like Harry Reid and Duke Cunningham, Obama’s vision for the mortgage industry was well on its way.

With a few reworded bills, it soon became racist for a lender to tell someone with no credit and no job prospects that they could not have a loan. The Fed got into the mix and set up procedures whereby a lender actually had to practice fiscal insanity in order to keep their good rating.

A few smaller banks protected themselves by remaining insular and dealing only with their local community. Massive conglomerates such as BofA diversified so the crash they saw peering up over the horizon would be an irritant rather than a mortal blow.

Well, the crash came just as many analysts predicted it would, but rather than the corporate greed and lust for ever quicker profits, the cause was misguided “community organizing” and racism of the highest order. A bank is not racist merely because it will not lend money to someone unqualified to borrow. Isn’t just the smallest bit of responsibility on the prospective borrower’s side? Should they not have a valid way of raying that loan in a reasonable amount of time? Not according to the Democrats. Apparently fiscal wisdom is tantamount to racism, even if there is no color quotient applied to the loan.

You are a racist if you require a steady job for a borrower. You are a racist if you require a history of paying back loans on time. You are a racist of you take the steps you both agreed upon in the contract to recoup a default. But if you do all of this with a white customer, it is simply being a good businessman. In Obama’s world, we have to have it both ways. If we don’t, we’re being racist.

No comments: