I worked with ACORN in New Orleans to help Katrina victims rebuild.

ACORN is, for the most part, ordinary people trying to do the right thing. They are no where near the demons the Republicans are making them out to be.

That said, Republicans DO have them on the ropes and will probably eventually get their way to have their relationships with banks reviewed. Hopefully there is nothing to find. At least I hope they get cleared... they do a lot of good work that would never get done otherwise.

And lets look at other cases too, especially how the Social Security system has extorted and bilked millions of citizens out of their money for decades and has refused to give it back to them now.

Let's crack open the Congress and see how they have extorted money over the centuries.

How about how BOEING, LOCKHEED, HALLIBURTON, BLACK WATER, who has extorted BILLIONS of tax dollars.

The republican party, now dead and long buried, is trying to simply kill the democratic party at any cost, with the help and the aid of FAUX NUDES.

You want to investigate ACORN? Well have at it, but let's not forget that what is good for the goose is good for the gander. Don't just investigate things simply for political feathers.

Stop, maybe in your mind 18 electrocution deaths of soldiers and contractors in Iraq somehow equates to bogus charges of voter registration fraud that harmed no one, but in my mind there's no comparison. See http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2351858/

Many of the voter registration fraud charges are bogus. ACORN hires low-wage workers to solicit people to register to vote. Not surprisingly, some of these people decided that it was easier to fill out bogus forms themselves than to actually get random people to apply. ACORN's auditors identified many of these frauds and identified them as such when they were turned in. They're required by law to turn in ALL forms. You can see why there's a law like that. How would you feel if they threw away all the forms where people wanted to register Republican, and only turned in the Democratic ones? So they're required to turn in ALL forms, even ones they think are fraudulent. So by following the law, they get raked over the coals by people charging them with fraud, when it was really ACORN who was defrauded by their workers. FULL STOP.

There have been convictions in the ACORN voter reg. fraud cases

Guess you should be thanking ACORN then, since they are the ones who turn in the guilty and aid in prosecution...

At least the government is allowed to look at the books of all the corporations it does business with. How else would you libs know of the abuse of tax payer dollars? ACORN should open their books if they want to do business with any more tax dollars. They are a very crooked organization that I would hate to see get any more tax dollars. But I feel that way about any waste of tax dollars. And our current administration is tied to ACORN and they are wasting tax dollars. Let's get rid of both. Problem solved.

All I can say is Acorn must be investigated. I do not want my Tax dollars going to this corrupt organization and neither should any of you. The former Pres of Acorns brother embezzled possibly up to $5 Million dollars much of which were our tax dollars. He was never arrested and never prosecuted. Acorn has refused to open their books to audit in the same way all other Tax exempt organizations are scrutinized. And lastly this organization is supposed to be bipartisan to receive tax dollars. What a joke they are the most partisan organization around. I saw and interview of one woman who was hired to bring in voter registrations. When she arrived with Republican registrations they fired her and through the registrations in the trash. Democrats would never allow an organization like this who received our tax dollars solely supporting the Republican party. And lets not forget that in 5 cities shown and video not shown in several other cities there was criminal activity (condoning tax evasion, condoning rape of minors, condoning prostitution, condoning smuggling in illegal minors for sex, voter fraud) wow I can not believe this is even a discussion! Where are your morals people!!

Oh what will those poor defenseless banks do to protect themselves when the mean ol' ACORN people come to call?

I can't believe they're still after ACORN. It's like the GOP has arachnaphobia, and they're trying to sate their fear by exterminating all of the world's Daddy-Long-Legs.

CCryder- Ordinary people don't use intimidation as ACORN has and you don't encourage your brothers and sisters, no matter what color they are to purchase homes that are way beyond their means.

As usual, politicians forget the comon man- Acorn is the problem, not outlawing redlining.

These Republicans that want this law changed must be in the pockets of bankers- haven't we seen what deregulaiton of banks has allowed? Limit ACORN if necessary, but leave the law alone!

"grades banks on their investments in poor and minority neighborhoods."

Grading banks on their riskiest investments? and holding it against them when they don't take those risks? How the hell did this ever become legal? It's like telling someone to drink and smoke and take up motorcycle riding or else you're going to grade them poorly.

ACORN=Corruption. No questons ask. Obama was their attorney for several years. They cheat, lie and steal. One would have to think is there any connection between Obama and ACORN? Answer: YES

Before you begin to defend the banks from anything or one. Remember this.

20%+ interest rates on credit cards

Turning you debit card into a credit card and then charging excesive overdraft fees.

Crediting deposits at 12:00 and charging overdrafts at 06:00

Yes it's all been done and documented. Used to be charging more than 20% interest was called usery (loansharking) and was a crime. (yes Clinton did open that door). Now its called good business. Payments are logged to the second not day. So your payment is late at 07:00.01 on the 15th. so you get hit with a late charge before the bank is even open at 08:30 or 09:00. Banks delibritly log debits earlier than deposits so more fees can be generated. again you go to the bank and deposit late on Wed. they log and charge the check or payment in the early AM often using Eastern Standard Time, not local time.

ACORN may have its faults and for that it should pay. But what the banking industry has and is doing should be where peoples anger is directed. The sad part is that any member of our legislature would be so transparent in attacking ACORN to help the banks. As long as your mad at ACORN you r not looking at the real theives. This is not a Republican vs. Democrat or Liberal vs. Conservative thing. It's a very real Rich vs. Poor. This is how those with almost all the money use those with very little to get what they don't already have.

If you make less than 200K a year you need to stop and really think about this. Is this about ACORN or is it about the banks diverting attention to what they are really doing.

I actually think this is a good thing. They are going to have to prove that the Community Reinvestment Act had a substantial role in the mortgage meltdown. They can't, because it didn't. Maybe it'll put that particular zombie lie out of its misery for good.

Chuck - it is about both. Banks are crooked and ACORN is crooked. We need to reign in both. I can see this administration going after the banks but I don't see them going after ACORN. So, maybe we should be thankful that somebody is. I don't think that the republicans are saying that banks are innocent in all this , I think what their saying is,let's get rid of what is causing the problems. And I don't think that they want to let banks discriminate against anyone. Just get rid of the problem. CRA and ACORN have had a pretty good deal for awhile.

Chuck, your solution seems obvious. If you don't like the banks, don't do business with them.

JH,

ACORN is the smoke screen in this. What is going on in the banking industry is total insanity. How many examples of no one really being in charge or caring whats going on do you need. A small overlooked department driven by generating bonuses topples ING. 40 years ago the ratio of CEO compensation to workers was 40:1 it's now 450:1(WSJ). Detroit points the finger at the UAW and everyone Fox news and MSNBC jumps all over the unions blaming them for the demise of Detroit. How many Union workers designed a new car. How many set up the assembly line, or did the marketing. The failure of Detroit was bad marketing and design. That's not a Union issue.

Same thing with the banks. The last thing the banks want is real day to day people looking at how they really do business. If you have the ability to put large sums of money into a bank in any way shape or form you are not affected. Those of use that don't have those assets are in the cross hairs. ACORN is a scapegoat redlining is and was illegal and ACORN may have had a hand in calling the banks on it. now the banks and their cronies are trying to use ACORN to turn back the clock. That would be bad for anyone who makes less than 200k a year.

The redlining laws are the primary cause of the mortgage market collapse and our current financial woes. I do not doubt the good intentions of the socialists and communists in ACORN that supported these bad loans, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

ACORN is hardly a scapegoat - it is and always has been a criminal enterprise that undoubtedly functioned while exploiting the efforts of many decent people unaware of the sins of the leaders. Liberals are so unwilling to EVER admit they have been wrong that CCryder even actually utters the phrase ".. bogus charges of voter registration fraud that harmed no one..". There is no cure for gross ignorance and blind adoration.

It is about time that this corrupt evil organization that receives tax payer money is called to task. It is about time that the liberals in this country are exposed. I hope that it keeps happening.l

If Congress believes there is a problem with lending by regulated financial institutions then they should place civil and criminal penalties in place to stop the illegal acts. There is no need, legally speaking for a not for profit, unregulated, outside, oorganization to have any authority in this regard whatsoever. If ACORN were a religious oorganization helping homeless or disadvantaged persons registering to vote or obtaining home loans, the Democrats would be all over it. This is too one sided and seems like an obvious abuse of power and built in conflict of interest. For once, I agree with the Republicans that this law needs to be rethought and curtailed.

Chuck - if you don't like credit card interest rates or overdraft fees there is a simple cure - live on your income and don't bounce checks. The bank owes you nothing - get that concept straight - they are a business and owe you NOTHING. As soon as you whiny liberals get clued into the idea that NO ONE owes you anything except life, liberty , and the pursuit of happiness then you may join the ranks of the informed. Please, liberals, spare me the BS about the pursuit of happiness including the government giving you everything you want - I already know what you stand for.

Get real, Realist 84. We are the banks' "customers", remember? We are the depositors that come to them for "services". So they can sell our mortgage off and make money. (Back in their good ol' days.)

Now, after the TAXPAYER has bailed them out, you want to say they owe us NOTHING?? Yeah, right. Tell it to Goldman Sachs, embarrassed, as last year they took a 10 Billion dollar bailout, got the right to be "a bank" and cozy up the Fed - while this year earning so much that they will pay over $20million in bonus alone!! Oh boo hoo, poor widdle banks.

And, btw, Insurance companies are prevented from redlining, why should banks be special? They shouldn't!

Realist,

Funny I don't think of myself as a whiny liberal. The bank as any other business entity has to follow fair trade practices. I for one do try to pay attention to what is going on. But when i go to the bank on a Thurs to make a deposit so my insurance payment is there for the next day I had a "problem" when I got a overdraft notice the next week. I don't mind as long as I know the rule of the game. What the bank was doing was holding deposits and running debits first. If the debit records 1sec before the deposit they charge a fee. the particular bank has been called out for this practice. After it occured when I went to direct deposit I closed the account and moved my business to a smaller local bank. If you have been paying attention you would know that fees are the new way banks are making money.

Further on that subject do you have a debit card? Are you sure? Sure it's not a credit card? Many of the larger banks are now turning debit cards into credit cards. If you go to a ATM or make a purchase. They don't decline the card. They charge a overlimit fee, and if you don't make a deposit within a time limit they add a overdraft fee as well. Yes Caveat Emptor does apply. But when you try to hide what you are doing in the fine print creative double speak give me a break and .

I do not doubt the good intentions of the socialists and communists in ACORN that supported these bad loans, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

What's more, only commercial banks and thrifts must follow CRA rules. The investment banks don't, nor did the now-bankrupt non-bank lenders such as New Century Financial Corp. and Ameriquest that underwrote most of the subprime loans.

These private non-bank lenders enjoyed a regulatory gap, allowing them to be regulated by 50 different state banking supervisors instead of the federal government. And mortgage brokers, who also weren't subject to federal regulation or the CRA, originated most of the subprime loans.

In a speech last March, Janet Yellen, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, debunked the notion that the push for affordable housing created today's problems.

"Most of the loans made by depository institutions examined under the CRA have not been higher-priced loans," she said. "The CRA has increased the volume of responsible lending to low- and moderate-income households."

In a book on the sub-prime lending collapse published in June 2007, the late Federal Reserve Governor Ed Gramlich wrote that only one-third of all CRA loans had interest rates high enough to be considered sub-prime and that to the pleasant surprise of commercial banks there were low default rates. Banks that participated in CRA lending had found, he wrote, "that this new lending is good business."

What bad loans?

"Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., also on the committee, has described ACORN's actions under the law as "legalized extortion," contending that the law gave ACORN the power to stall or prevent bank mergers or expansions by filing CRA complaints with regulators.

"In order to avoid these filings, financial institutions would either lower their lending requirements to meet the needs of ACORN associates or they would simply pay out funds to one of the many ACORN-affiliated organizations,"....."

Simple solution:

• "The 1977 Community Reinvestment Act was intended to end redlining, a practice in which banks in effect walled off many inner-city neighborhoods from mortgage loans. But some GOP lawmakers say it has outlived its purpose and is being used inappropriately by ACORN to shake down banks for money......."
• If any disparity exists with ACORNs actions outlined in the CRA, take ACORN's CEO and other JANE/HARRY DOEs to court.
• If a jury determines GUILTY (no plea deals), lock them up for life without parole and abolish ACORN and any ACORN-affiliated organization(s) which participated.
• Then repeal the CRA.
• Don't put Congressmen Dodd, Frank or Rangel on any board, jury, or other review committee regarding this issue.

This should be a slam dunk.

I wish the GOP would work this hard for things that actually help the little guy like, oh I don't know, health insurance reform. Look at all the energy they have to take things away from the poor. Do the poor not deserve any help to reach their goals? They are trying to hurt ACORN and the democrats but they will wind up hurting American citizens in the process. I wonder if they care? It's seems like the GOP only wants to do two things: Destroy the republican party, regardless of how it makes them look or who they hurt in the process and Keep things from the poor while protecting the profits of the rich regardless of how it makes them look or who gets hurt in the process. That's really not a great platform for a mid-term election. When asked "what have you done or what have you at least tried to do"? "I took down ACORN and blocked everything that came my way", is not an election winning answer.

What the hell is wrong with you people no seriously. Your willing to let some one doesn't matter if it dem or gop or green men from mars basically beat you over the head with a non issue (acorn) so they can screw you over by taking away another banking regulation. Which will lead to it being even harder on working Americans to get a Bank to work with them.

Honestly what is with you people grow up stopping letting bull@!$%# non issues blind you. Acorn doesn't matter, abortion doesn't matter, gay marrage doesn't matter, The government is not going to set up death panels they don't want to take over health care. We the people need to stop being blinded by these tricks Big business keeps using to turn all but the top 10% into basically slaves to the corporations. Stop fighting against the people and policies that protect you and start fighting against the greedy corporations that have over the past 30 years perverted the American dream and siphoned away almost all the cash in our country. Reregulated, raise taxes ,and let get our country back from the real enemy these modern robber barons that keep throwing up non issue after non issue to prevent us from really fighting against their constant greed.

I find it interesting that those supporting ACORN in their posts appear not to have gotten very far in school, judging from their lack of a coherent use of English grammar and spelling.

My guess would be that they benefitted from ACORN's extortion practices.

At last. I agree with the GOP in this instance. The first since Bush Jr. ordered an invasion of Iraq, the failed legacy.

I do not believe that taxpayer money should be wasted on upward mobility projects, such as these, where corruption will prevail, in the call to help. If people want to improve their lives, they should follow the standards of everyone else who has aspired to better their lives, through education and hard work, not handouts.

ACORN, has shown its true colors. Cut the losses now. I support the GOP on this.

Jirby, I notice how most Liberals throw out the Restupidcans are owned by the wealthy. Can you answer me this, who backed Oblahblah? The poor? I don't think so, it cost 3/4 of a billion dollars to get that twit into the white house, and you keep proclaiming the poor take care of the Dumbocraps? No, they too are bought, and paid for by the WEALTHY. Too bad none of you can really see that. But go on with your 2 party rants, they are amusing (also heart breaking) to say the least!

Tired--

Obama did have some big supporters--just like McCain. But i know plenty of people that only gave 20-50 dollars. Everyday teachers etc...not some doctor having political fundraisers. You were allowed to do it through his website withyour credit card. Your argument is weak at best on that point.

The Republicans have long wanted to repeal the Community Reinvestment Act and re-implement "redlining." Redlining was one of the most oppressive racial activities ever imposed since the days of Jim Crow. If you lived in a "redlined" zip code, banks and insurance companies could deny you a mortgage and/or homeowners' insurance without giving a reason. The way this played out was that if you were black or Hispanic or American Indian or Inuit or Oriental or even non-Castilian Spanish (depending on the discrimination practiced in a particular part of the country.) If you were white, different rules applied and you would not be declined. When the mortgage people were investigated they contended that it was because "high risk groups" could not get homeowners' insurance. When the insurance people were investigated they said that it was moot because the mortgage companies would not grant mortgages. I live in Alabama. Only 11 zip codes in the entire state were not redlined.

I live in a house in Tuscaloosa that was build in the mid-1970's by a black football coach and teacher in a local rural high school (Holt.) The house was in zip code 35453 (Cottondale, AL and Tuscaloosa County.) He could not get a mortgage because he was black even though his income was sufficient and he was a well-known and well-respected teacher and coach. But he had lots of buddies because of his position. So he had the 2 acres that my house sits on annexed into the City of Tuscaloosa, changing the zip code to 35404. He got a mortgage. If you look carefully at a map of the city of Tuscaloosa, you will see a small 2-acre jut out into Tuscaloosa County. That is where I live. The house is 4500 square feet and the biggest house in the neighborhood.

But this is a first hand account of redlining. Tuscaloosa has long had several plant s that employed many blacks in good solid jobs, such as the B.F.Goodrich tire plant. There has always been a strong black middle class. But for many years after WWII, these people could not obtain home mortgages. This was an evil thing that we thought was snuffed out. But the Republicans are so resentful of the fact that a black man was elected President that they will do everything in their power to punish every black and Hispanic living in this country, even if it means bringing back Jim Crow laws such as redlining.

The CRA did not force anyone to loan a dime to anyone. It simply said that if a bank wants to do business under a federal charter that it cannot use redlining to deny mortgages and/or homeowners' insurance to one group while allowing another group with exactly the same characteristics to get loans. In other words, they could not deny loans to blacks with the same income as whites that were allowed loans based on zip codes.

The housing market is still in trouble and the Republicans want to reimpose evil Jim Crow practices that would damage it even further by disentitling over 25% of Americans from any chance of getting a home mortgage or homeowners' insurance, even if they are financially qualified. The hate and venom of the Party of NO is astounding. They hate America, they Jane Fonda its soldiers who are dying for it, and they seek to revive racism. And they call it patriotism? Maybe it is the patriotism of the pre-Civil War days, but I like to think that we are better than the people of those times.

Realist writes @ 1.22:

Liberals are so unwilling to EVER admit they have been wrong that CCryder even actually utters the phrase ".. bogus charges of voter registration fraud that harmed no one..". There is no cure for gross ignorance and blind adoration.

Are you, perhaps, confusing voter registration fraud with voter fraud? In registration fraud, people try to register bogus people for various reasons. This doesn't change any election results, which is why I said that it harmed no one (plus I was comparing it to electrocution deaths). If someone tries to actually cast a vote with the bogus name, that's voter fraud, and should be a serious crime because it undermines our democracy.

Now maybe I'm wrong and voter registration fraud is a serious issue, but I can tell you most all voter registration lists are littered with bogus names, mostly from people who have died or have moved out of the district. So maybe we need a big ad campaign that says:

"Don't let voter registration fraud keep you out of heaven: be sure and cancel your voter registration before you die! Folks, this is just the sort of thing St. Peter will be looking for at the Pearly Gates. (Who knows, maybe St. Peter used to be a health insurance executive that got his kicks from kicking sick people off insurance company rolls because they didn't report that they had acne when they were 14.) St. Peter says: 'Heaven is crowded and we can't let anyone in who has a pre-existing condition, like voter registration fraud.' Folks, don't let this happen to you. Cancel your voter registration before you die!"

There is no cure for gross ignorance and believing everything you hear on Faux News.

...without parole and abolish ACORN and any ACORN-affiliated organization(s) which participated.

Here we go again:). Private organizations can't just be abolished. I'm surprised by the number of people who seem to think they can be abolished.

CCryder

Your post (#1.5) explains rather well the so-called voter registration fraud that the Repugs are harping about. You will note that Realist and others either did not read your post or did not understand what you wrote. Or, maybe they prefer to believe what they are fed by FAUX News.

At any rate, you will note that fact and logic mean nothing to hard-core conservatives. Their philosophy is, and always has been, to keep the wealth in the hands of the wealthy and to destroy all social programs, including ACORN and Social Security (they will try again if they ever get back in power).

How does stopping ACORN help the super wealthy who own the Republican party?

Acorn is one of the groups that pushes for increasing the minimum wage. There is nothing more hated by the GOP than the Federal Minimum Wage Law. Their corporate over lords want very much to be able to pay Americans pennies a day to work in slave like conditions (hence their opposition to OSHA) like the good old days...

Acorn also registers poor people to vote. The poor vastly outnumber the rich, so if they were ever a real political force in the US, there would be no stopping them (and they probably wont be voting GOP).

Ok liberals, I know this is useless and I have grown tired of posting with idiots. Nothing in this life is FREE. As posted before, no one owes you anything. You’re born, make your own way the best you can, unencumbered by heavy handed Kings, Lords, legislatures, etc. as the founding fathers intended. That’s just life, some do well, others average and others not so well. If YOU feel responsible for those either doing average or not so well, then YOU do something about it. I’ll help. Regarding the redlining, those institutions should be brought to trial and punished to the fullest extent of the law. This DOES NOT mean that all those folks should be given a loan they cannot afford, and then blame predatory lending practices as the cause when they cannot meed their obligation. That’s just plain irresponsible, unless YOU want to co-sign for the mortage and accept some responsibility for and act upon your beliefs.

If you don’t like credit cards, ATM fees, debt cards, etc. – don’t use them. It does not cost the evil corporations/banks anything to pay higher corporate taxes or higher salaries, it costs we the people. Yes, you are included in that phrase. You pay corporate taxes and employee salaries embedded in everything you buy made either here or overseas (even a Big Mac). When these evil corporations cannot remain competetive with the global market, they go out of business. It costs them nothing, but you everything if you work for that evil thing. And CEO pay, as dispecable as it is, is a mere drop in the bucket compared to the burdened cost of employee salaries, so get off that. Same for corporate corruption compared to the elitist criminals elected to Congress. Please STOP the entitlement mentality and make your own way through life. It’s not a bed of roses, it’s hard, but it’s harder when your stupid. Our way isn’t perfect, but it’s the best on the planet- which includes any form of Communism, Marksism, Dictatorship, or whatever other forms of gov’t exist. So stop trying to make the USA like THEM.

Many of those neighborhoods would not be prime real estate today if banks hadn't loaned in them to meet CRA goals. Those neighborhoods were red-lined as in no loans available to "urban pioneers." You can't have it both ways, either CRA worked or it didn't. Evidence overwhelmingly says it did, and still does.

Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about:

There's about a mile of land in Vegas between The Strip and Downtown. In the 40's and 50's it was built up with little ghetto houses and cheap motels. By the 80's it was a slum area. Now it's prime real estate. They're tearing down ghetto and putting in condos.

I don't know about other parts of the country, but on the West Coast the downtown areas went through a period of being slums when everyone moved to the suburbs, but now they it's all prime real estate again.

Maybe the law was needed in the 70's to keep the banks from refusing to finance property in that area, but now it's no longer needed.

Although "using ACORN" would naturally make you suspicious of the GOP's motives; it could be that the law is no longer needed.

Hopefully there can be a rational look at this provision instead of political bullsh!t.

When you talk about land values in Las Vegas going up I wonder how much Harry and his family made on the deal.

It's Ensign's step-father that's into real estate and casinos in Vegas.

Reid is from a poor family; his father was a miner.

They ain't poor no more!

Oh but Im a republican and I care...Just not about a bunch of morons raping the system and working harder at milking the system, than trying to improve themselves and WORKING for a living. I tend lean towards supporting people who try to out and WORK over those who WORK at looking for a handout.

I WORK...and Im sick of PAYING TAXES to support those who have two hands, the ability to walk, talk, and DO for themselves. *%^CK the free ride and all of those wo support it...really.

timinseattle is a fake glen beck" NOW STOP LYING!!!!

The FBI, IRS and Attorney General should all be investigating all areas and all members of ACORN. They should have the tax exempt status revoked.

Sure there are a lot of bad apples in the ACORN group but overall the organization is totally corrupt and (should be) an embarassment to Democrats who trade money for votes with them. The relationship is like Pimp to Hooker with more complicated rules.

Stronghorse-

Its worse than that!! At least a hooker WORKS for the money...granted she might lie on her back like all the Acorn affiliated morons looking for a handout... but our tax money usually isnt supporting them.

Its more like a pedophile to little boy....sick isnt it??

timeinseattle

complaining about ACORN doesn't make you a racist....and the acts of a few in ACORN doesn't make them sprititually bankrupt...

Just because there are "some" good people in the GOP doesn't mean that the organization isn't worhtless and morally broke.

No more ideological, than believing the same 2 party system that has been in place for over 200+ years, actually gives a damn about the people. When will people learn, the Dumbocraps, and Restupidcans care only for their wallets, and power? Oh yes, and getting reelected!

And, did you notice we had a banking crisis and Fannie and Freddy went broke!!!

You can't make a silk purse out of a cow's ear. It is as simple as that.

If you won't pick up the trash in front of a rent house, you won't pick up the trash in front of your own home.

If you won't keep a job long enough to pay for a car, you won't keep a job long enough to pay for a house.

"So what's the thinking behind ending the CRA? Somehow, magically, the free market will do the right thing this time? What evidence is this based on? Or is this just some more ideological crap?"

What evidence is this based on? Are you kidding me? Have you ever heard about this little thing called the meltdown of the banking industry and the subsequent government bailouts? That's the little thing that is making our economic recovery so difficult. The underlying problem with all of the toubled institutions' balance sheets is that they are holding way too many mortgages on property that is worth less than the mortgages. How did this happen? Way too many people took out loans that they couldn't afford and are unable to pay them back or refinance based on the current value of their homes.

While its grossly unfair to pin this whole mess on ACORN and the CRA, the CRA has absolutley contributed to the ability of people to borrow more money than they could afford to repay in the name of making things fair for everybody. Please don't tell me that anyone on this board is advocating the lending of more money to more people who won't pay it back. Didn't we learn our lesson the first time?

The CRA was passed in 1977. Hard to imagine that it took 32 years for it to cause a meltdown that caught everybody by surprise. The meltdown was a perfect storm of stupidity, but this act had nothing to do with it.

If you're looking for a piece of legislation that actually played a role in the meltdown, look at the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999. That's the key here. That's what allowed commercial banks, investment banks, and insurance companies to all dabble in whatever products they wanted to. Breaking down these barriers and allowing them to leverage themselves 40-1 in the form of unregulated credit default swaps caused the meltdown. The actual value of the mortgages themselves gets dwarfed in comparison with the credit default swaps.

The mortgages where just the particular horse the banks bet on. Nobody ordered these banks to bet that kind of money on a risky bundled loans. Definitely not the CRA.

It's complicated, but you should all take the time to understand it before spouting off. You look like idiots. I do like your folksy sayings though..."silk purse out of a pig's ear". That's great! And original!

Barbara, thanks for bringing up Halliburton and the electrocutions. I brought this up in the second post on this thread, but, oddly enough, my comment has been "collapsed by the community." I guess people don't want to think about why more of a fuss is being made about ACORN than about KBR electrocuting soldiers. Incidentally, I don't believe ACORN is totally innocent, just that KBR has done way more harm and is getting away with it.

Wilk

You need to check your facts. The bulk of defaults in the current crisis have not been low income housing. It has been middle it higher priced houses the the jingle mail has been occurring in.

And for the person that used Vegas as an example. How many of those location in Vegas where houses were 500k or higher are occupied now. The bulk of the dump in the Vegas housing market was not in lower priced houses but in houses selling for $500,000 to $1,500,000. The image of a low income "welfare" buyer grabbing a sub prime loan doesn't hold water. The bulk of the people defaulting were "middle" income people buying McMansions. People buying 3000+sq ft houses to impress their friends and coworkers. The same people that had to buy and Escalade instead of a Tahoe. Many of these idiots were not buying a home but "investing" planning to sell when the market went up. They were gambling and got caught.

I know of people that bought home with interest only loans. those loans were created for home builders and home resellers. They were NEVER intended for first time buyers or people buying a primary residence. But the banks saw a way to make a quick buck. And they did. Remember the basic rule of a con you use the other guys greed. The bulk of this mess was not people buying their first home or looking to put a roof over their heads. It was idiots going for the MTV cribs dream and going along with whatever it took to get it.

My sister-in-law was involved in underwrting some of these very loans. Funny thing is, the blacks and other racial minorities that bought houses have maintained them in excellent condition, and maintained their mortgaes...but the poor whites that bought houses have really messed up their homes....either defaulted or abandoned their homes. Squatters soon followed. But this has happened countrywide. Amost the majority of those who default are middle class, certainly not those who this article concerns. And if I remember correctly, Countrywide and their associates, those most responsible for the real-estate meltdown were big-time big-money supporters of the GOP and did deal with or in ARM loans. ARM was a very small part of the economic meltdown, less that .9%. The leading reasons for the meltdown were lenders like Countrywide and the 1.3 trillion that the bush administration and the republican congress gave the richest 2% of Americans/Corporations in 2002/2003.

heres an idea..

If you cant afford, dont buy it.

If you are the bank, dont lend money to those you normally would not. Im sure it would be nice if we all drove new cars and lived in 2 story houses, BUT....this is a Capitalist Society. Translated in plain english, if you want something, work for it. If you cant afford it, dont buy it, or better yourself until you can.

If you want to be the same as other people, without working...go to another country that will support you, because frankly...Americans who WORK are getting tired of footing the bill for those who work.... at NOT working.

If this sounds cruel, oh well...check your compass.

Jim,

You know I agree with you. One small problem people were told "you can afford it" and trusted. The saddest part most of the people that bought into this were looking to get rich on their home. Ever heard of "flipping" houses.

We bought out house for around 140K We bought in a location where we could afford our mortgage. After telling out first Realtor what our price range was she proceeded to show us houses above that price point. After the second time I warned her I fired her and got another Realtor. This is a common practice in real estate. Don't think the Realtors aren't in with the finance companies. A house near us with the same floor plan sold a few year later for 285K. That house as well as our house was and will never be worth that much. If we had moved here 2 years ago we would have had to rent as house prices were/are too high.

Now here is the sick part. A developer here in town tried to ram a new development through recently, 500 new houses. The value of houses has dumped and this idiot wants to build 500 new houses and sell them to who? And (wait for it) one of the banks that's too big to fail gave him financing. The city council meeting was er , interesting. Good retail strategy sales are slow so dump more product into the market. Whats even better is the banks that are crying about all the houses they own and cant sell were going to help build more houses and hurt their own bottom line. But the guy that wrote the loan would get his bonus. Who cares if it hurts everyone else.

There it is. Capitalism at it's worst. As long as I got mine the hell with everyone else. The guys in that small department at ING got their bonuses so what if it destroyed the company. The CEO of ENRON got his bonus and a golden parachute. The workers got nothing. When are we the normal working people going to look at the people that ran the shell game and say stop. If Bernie Madoff had screwed a bunch of low income people would we even know his name? But his mistake was he ran a scheme on the rich and connected and for that he will burn.

So think for a minite who should you really be mad at, ACORN or the CEO of Countrywide?

Oh TOM-

Another DRONE! AMERICA....is a Capitalist nation!! People are supposed to try and get RICH...thats the point! Oh I know, everyone who goes out to make money is EVIL. Gee, Banks make money...REAALLY? Lets see TOM...do they hire workers? Do they create JOBS...Do they loan to small business and individuals to make....MONEY? ooh yes they are truley EVIL.

So heres an idea TOM...WORK. If you dont make enough money at your job at 7-11 as the Fireman, pursue a different course...guess what IN THE U.S.A. you CAN!! Its called making a choice...IE FREEDOM. In this country you can actually CHOOSE to better yourself, and heaven forbid, MAKE more MONEY.

I know this all sounds evil, but again, if you cant afford it, DONT BUY IT! If you want someone to just give you something, for nothing.....please, move a socialist country.

LMAFO, and your saying , Obama has any idea of what a BUDGET is? Wow, you must be from Pluto, oh I know hes spending us out of a hole right? Great Logic.

tired: and where were you when Bush destroyed the economy in the first place. No your too busy blaming Obama real pathetic.

Who cares about Acorn compared to Haliburton oh that's why life means nothing to you guys.

Spare me with the Bush bashing, I couldn't stand him either. I don't waste votes on Restupidcans, any more than your precious Dumbocraps. I'm actually smart enough to know that BOTH parties have created this entire mess we are neck deep in. When will you learn that simple truth?

To: Grace Corcoran

What the heck do you think happened to the housing debacle. It started with the Democrats trying to implement universal home ownership with Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. It's more than obvious that you are not college educated by the way you write.

Grace, The "perceived problems with ACORN are bogus"? Are you kidding me? Haven't you seen any of those videos or heard of the embezzelment or are you hiding your head in the sand because ACORN supports your political veiws?

former democrat-1316575 Presuming your non de plume is accurate, I'll thank God every day that you're a former democrat. Frankly, I can't be bothered debating someone like you. I prefer to engage in intellectual debates. You are not a worthy opponent.

Now there's an interesting concept. Nothing like good ole American ingenuity! LOL!

Keep living in a dreamworld, that Dumbocraps are not responsible for any of this either!

First off, Obimbo and sense cannot be used in the same sentence. Obimbo helped ACORN get to be as big as they are.(or used to be) Lets give them a break, brother stealing millions, massive voter fraud, helping pimps with prostitution of 13 year old illegal girls... They do a lot of good, right???

"universal home ownership"?

show me any reference to a fairy tale like that.

I want to see.

That garage you stay in needs to be ventilated.

read the popsts carefully corsair, instead of goinfg back and forth from downloading kiddieporn and newsvine. I was quoting the halfiwt GOP shill , former democrat-1316575,, see the quotation marks. maybe I should spell a little slower. S E E T H E

Q U O T A T I O N M A R K S ?

This economic,manufacturing and real estate meltdown started with 8 years of the republicans controlling the judicial, legislative and executive branch. It was kick-started specifically when bush and the GOP led congress gave 1.3 trillion dollars to the richest 2% of corporations in 2002-2003, and bush's decisoin to invade the wrong country , Iraq, in response to 9/11...an attack which the bush administration ignored...this is where it began....not with Carter and Clinton.

No garagehero it actually started with FDR and the CRA and was expanded by EVERY Democratic administration since. Republican administrations didn't do enough to limit or supervise the programs true but to blame Bush is LUDICROUS. Former Democrat is correct in saying that the program expanded under Carter and Clinton. Perhaps YOU need to do some research before jumping on others eh?

Don't pick on garage hero, he is handicapped. He is brain dead!

how is it that republicans are corporate america ? i'm not corporate america, i dont know anyone who is corporate america........its the democrats who have a love affair with unions, like acorn....and lets not forget the trial lawyer lobby, of which mr obama belongs, oops.

He was ACORNS Lawyer. Fancy that!

i think the bigger story is how acorn is or was a darling of the democratic party......always voting democrat.......registering people that dont exist, as democrats and then voting.

why do democrats love acorn ? .......just to spite republicans ?

.

Garage, are you a comedian??? 1% of 1% of all their dealings??? LOL The CEO's brother stole millions by himself...

Keck

of course you have proof that ACORN registered people who didn't exist and "these same non existent people actually voted".....didn't think so!

b dune ! mickey mouse and donald duck are registered as democrats......by acorn

strange, i alway thought the duck was republican.

Keck

the question posed to you was prove people who do not exist actually "voted as you stated"....

same response - didn't think you could....you find it easy to make statements you can't back up!

same ole repubs.....don't let facts get in the way of a good post.

stubborn i guess , we are taught from a young age "not to trust any democrat" period.

especially around halloween.