ACORN: As Stanley Kurtz over at NRO and Sol Stern of City Journal have both uncovered, a driving force of ACORN -- quite aside from accusations that it has engaged in massive fraud in registering voters -- has been to exert political pressure on banks to give loans to those otherwise unqualified. In the name, of course, of fairness. Reported Stern on ACORN back in 2003:
ACORN's anti-capitalism leads it to deep distrust of capitalism's central instruments -- the banks and other financial institutions that ACORN would class high among those "irresponsible largest businesses." ACORN loudly campaigns against "predatory lending," "redlining," and other forms of presumed abuse by financial institutions that supposedly hinder the minority poor from getting the capital needed for home buying and business start-ups. As an antidote, ACORN has latched on to a 1977 federal law, the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), which was aimed at ensuring that banks do not discriminate against poor minority communities. Under its rules, banks must go through a costly process of reporting where and to whom they lend money, to show that they don't discriminate. There are no official penalties for banks that get less than satisfactory ratings from the regulators on this issue. But when banks need approval for mergers or acquisitions, the CRA gives "community groups" the opportunity to lodge complaints against them, alleging suspect lending practices. If there's even the appearance of discrimination, the regulators may put the bank's deal on hold.
How did the banks respond to this political pressure from ACORN to lend money to financially unqualified applicants? Says Stern:
ACORN has developed a lucrative niche as an "advisor" to banks seeking regulatory approvals. Thus we have J. P. Morgan & Company, the legatee of the man who once symbolized for many all that was supposedly evil about American capitalism, suddenly donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to ACORN. This act of generosity and civic-mindedness came, interestingly, just as Morgan was asking bank regulators for approval of a merger with Chase Manhattan. Not to be outdone, Chase also decided to grant more than $200,000 to ACORN.
Stern concludes by quoting one "prominent consultant to the financial industry, who preferred to remain anonymous" as saying this: "The banks know they are being held up, but they are not going to fight over this. They look at it as a cost of doing business."
The cost of doing business. Wow. Remember that the next time you look at what's left of your portfolio.
Paying what amounts to blackmail money to appease the political pressures from ACORN -- while letting ACORN have their way with banks and financial institutions -- has now, incredibly, helped bring millions of Americans -- perhaps you, dear reader -- to the brink of bankruptcy. Stocks, mutual funds, 401k's, pensions, credit -- the financial guts of a family, a business, and in turn the underlying financial foundation of the U.S. government itself -- are now in serious, serious trouble. Entire Wall Street institutions are utterly collapsed. Somewhere Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright are surely laughing hysterically.
