Jesse Jackson is complaining that the bail-out does not go far enough because the people losing their homes are primarily minorities. Well, I wonder why? He should go complain to Bill Clinton and the Democrats!
1977: President Jimmy Carter signed the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), which pushed lending institutions to aggressively lend to minority communities.
1993: President Bill Clinton extensively rewrote the rules governing Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which permitted dispensing cash to markets, making loans to Democratic voting blocks, and handed favors, jobs and money to political allies.
1994: President Clinton unveiled his "National Homeownership Strategy" which broadened the CRA in ways unintended by Congress in 1977.
1995: The CRA rules were re-written and banks were given strict new numerical quotas and measures for the level of "diversity" in their loan portfolios in order to have an acceptable CRA-rating. Loans started being made on the basis of race and little else, e.g., "no money" loans with no money down and no verification of income.
1997-2001: Clinton's secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Andrew Cuomo, made a series of decisions that let Fannie and Freddie get into the subprime loan market. For example, Fannie and Freddie were allowed to hold only 2.5% of capital to back their investments versus 10% for banks.
2003: The Bush Administration proposed stringent new rules on Fannie and Freddie, which were blocked by Democrats, led by Rep. Barney Frank.
So, who is responsible for the present mortgage crisis and its wider effects on the overall economy?: BILL CLINTON.
