Mr. Shakedown milks the subprime meltdown
You knew it was going to happen. With subprime victim sob stories flooding the news, there’s no way shakedown vulture Jesse Jackson could stay away. Strap on those marching boots and megaphones, here he comes. I always get a kick out of Jackson calling anyone else “unscrupulous:”
The Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. on Monday demanded City Council hearings and plans a Dec. 10 march on LaSalle Street to shine the light on a mortgage foreclosure epidemic he warned could trigger a “sustained depression” as early as next year.
Jackson accused “unscrupulous lenders” of targeting minorities for high-cost loans in a “form of redlining and racial profiling.” He pointed to a study by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition that shows African Americans of all income levels in the Chicago area were more than twice as likely as whites to receive the subprime and ballooning adjustable interest rate mortgages that can be a prelude to foreclosure. The City Council has no power to bring about the solution that Jackson is seeking: a freeze on both adjustable rate mortgages and home foreclosures, and restructuring in favor of repossession. But, City Council hearings can apply political pressure.
“Rats run in holes when lights come on. The City Council can expose the lenders,” Jackson said. He added, “People who have been trapped are suffering in the dark alone.” With 30,000 Chicago homes in foreclosure and 85,000 more threatened by late payments, Jackson warned that “the biggest economic crisis” to hit the U.S. since the Great Depression threatens city services.
And Jackson and company couldn’t be happier. The subprime mess isn’t a result of ruthless discrimination. If anything, it’s the result of too little discrimination by lenders too willing and eager to sign on people who had no business taking on mortgages.
Thomas Sowell debunked the “racial profiling” propaganda two years ago:
A headline in the September 14th issue of the New York Times says: “Blacks Hit Hardest By Costlier Mortgages.” Thirteen years ago, virtually the identical story appeared in the Wall Street Journal under the title, “Federal Reserve Details Pervasive Racial Gap in Mortgage Lending.”
Both stories are based on statistical studies by the Federal Reserve showing that blacks and whites have different experiences when applying for mortgage loans — and both stories imply that racial discrimination is the reason.
The earlier study showed that blacks were turned down for mortgage loans a higher percentage of the time than whites were and the later story shows that blacks resorted to high-priced “subprime” loans more often than whites when they financed the purchase of a home. Both amount to the same thing — less credit being extended to blacks on the same terms as credit extended to whites. Both studies also say that this is true even when black and white loan applicants have the same income. The first time around, 13 years ago, this seemed like a pretty good case for those who blamed the differences on racial discrimination.
However, both research and old age tend to produce skepticism about things that look plausible on the surface. Just scratching the surface a little often makes a plausible case collapse like a house of cards.
For example, neither study took credit histories into account. People with lower credit ratings tend to get turned down for loans more often than people with higher credit ratings, or else they have to go where loans have higher interest rates. This is not rocket science. It is Economics 1. Blacks in the earlier study turned out to have poor credit histories more often than whites. But the more recent news story did not even look into that.
Anyone who has ever taken out a mortgage loan knows that the lenders not only want to know what your current income is, they also want to know what your net worth is. Census data show that blacks with the same income as whites average less net worth. That is not rocket science either. Not many blacks have affluent parents or rich uncles from whom they could inherit wealth. The earlier study showed that whites were turned down for mortgage loans more frequently than Asian Americans and the more recent study shows that Asian Americans are less likely than whites to take out high-cost “subprime” loans to buy a house.
Does that mean that whites were being discriminated against? Or are statistics taken seriously only when they back up some preconception that is politically correct?
The question answers itself.
See what others have said
Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.
Trackbacks
- Right Voices » Blog Archive » Oh Look..Jesse Claims Democrats Are Ignoring Blacks…Boo Hoo…
- Michelle Malkin » Hillary and Bush agree: Government should bail out homeowners
- Michelle Malkin » Bad medicine: Hillarycare for the housing market
- Michelle Malkin » SC Democrat debate: Punch, Judy, and Silky; Update Squabbling, mud-slinging, the gloves are off!
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Categories: Subprime crisis
Stop The ACLU
» Reporter to Obama: Didn’t You Belittle Hillary’s Foreign Policy Experience In Primaries?TigerHawk
» Barack Obama's first foreign police gaffe?Patterico
» The Newest SenatorsRedstate
» If You Can't Win, Change The RulesScobleizer
» Nokia N97: the ultimate Facebook deviceMudville Gazette
» Excerpts from a LifeJustOneMinute
» Susan Rice To The United NationsPower Line
» "Our Friends In Bombay"Power Line
» Lessons from MumbaiBelmont Club
» Good enough
I gather personal responsibility doesn’t fit in anywhere here, right?
Sort of like:
1. Driving can be a prelude to an accident
2. Drinking can be a prelude to a hangover
3. Swimming can be a prelude to drowning
Feel free to add more.
Bet you didn’t know the Jess-ter had a degree in economics.
P E R S O N A L
R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y
Get some!
Now you don’t want to confuse ole Jesse with the facts. Taking into account credit history is the biggest ‘No or Yes’ in getting any type of a loan. You either get a good interest rate, or you don’t take out the loan until your credit history improves. I just can’t understand those mortgage companies that actually didn’t bother to check income, either. Here in So Cal, gave every illegal and their friend a loan, no credit check and no income check. Now it is time to pay the piper. Of course, they just run back across the border and come back later with a new identity.
I hear the phrase class action lawsuit coming. Better call John Edwards since it has to do with the two America’s (or class’es could we say)…one with credit and one without?
But wait…didn’t John make money off sub prime lending. “Well yes he did but he’s so damn good at class action lawsuits” says Jesse.
Jesse should read Juan Williams’ book “Enough!” and apply what he learns from it. But it’s probably overly optimistic to think Jesse would learn anything from it, as Jesse never learns.
I am willing to bet that Sharpton is PO’d that Jesse beat him to the trough
Bingo. Michelle has a wonderful way of cutting through the crap!
Je$$ie serves mammon and himself. I am not sure of the order.
Jesse sucks!
Thanks for nothing…
My mortgage company has been trying for years to get me to refinance to an adjustable rate mortgage. Just think, I might could be part of the mortgage mess if I were fool enough to take them up on it.
I hate to agree with the good Reverend, but the subprime market blossomed when these studies wrongly pointed out the blacks had been discrimincated in the mortgage loan arena. The result of the bilge spewing, are loans given out to apease the racial discrimination apologist over sound lending practices. The problem is everyone can qualify for a home loan (short of being in prison) with little capital and bad credit. Underwriting went out the window with the discrimination crapole. We will all end up paying for it in the end.
Nope. Expecting people to be personally and fiscally responsible would be so…politically incorrect…so conservative.
Behind my apartment building, there is a relatively new subdivision full of condos ($300K-plus) and homes ($500K-plus). I drive through this subdivision every day; I’d love to live in one of these houses. But I know I can’t afford it.
I’m certain we could go out, find a lender who’d give us a $500K mortgage, and charge us an astronomical interest rate. While they may be preying on our greed, we’re equally (if not more so) responsible for attempting to live outside our means.
Never will Jackson give consideration to the over 90% of subprime loan holders who are NOT in default and are doing just fine, and are thankful that they were given the chance to buy a house, when they otherwise would not have been.
The worst part of this moron being involved is that it immediately detracts from some legitimate criticism of the way lenders are preying on the elderly in some of these areas. Some of the tactics used by these lenders could make your stomach turn. But the minute Rev. Shakedown gets involved, it becomes all about him.
Unfortunately, be it through class action lawsuits or legislative changes, in the end we’ll all end up paying for their homes.
Personal responsibility is politically incorrect these days. It has to be always someone else’s fault. My parents should have taught me that; but, instead, chose to teach me to accept my own actions and consequences. I feel so left out of today’s society. I’m not offended with every quote and I figure out my own problems. It does help when your father was the budget director of a state. I learned to manage money. Maybe I, too, can spend a little money and be a instant reverend. Then I can preach to everyone here.
The Rev. Jesse Graysonret.
JJ is 6′ 5″ ?
When Jessie comes marching for homes again,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
We’ll give him a hearty boot in the rump
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The men will sneer and the boys cry out
The ladies will all use children as clout
And we’ll all feel used when Jessie comes marching for homes.
The old church bell will peal with joy
Hurrah! Hurrah!
To welcome home our racist boy,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The village idiots and lassies cant pay
With loans they have just thrown away,
And we’ll all feel used when Jessie comes marching for homes.
Get ready for the Jubilee,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
We’ll give the racist free money,
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The laurel wreath is ready now
To place upon his racist brow
And we’ll all feel used when Jessie comes marching for homes.
Let hate and loathing on that day,
Hurrah, hurrah!
His race baiting pleasures then display,
Hurrah, hurrah!
And let each one perform some part,
To fill his pockets and his cold the heart,
And we’ll all feel used when Johnny comes marching for homes.
And we’ll all feel used when
Johnnyjessie comes marching for homes.opps.
30 put it best.
jimwesty put it worst; “the good Reverend”?
Suffice to say if these people of color were not getting these loans, the “Whore Reverend” would have been (and I am sure he was) out screaming about how they were being discriminated against.
AJ, back so soon from the cafine jolt with The Bear?
Yup,had to get back to the homestead
If Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, etc including the Liberals
in DC had not made it un pc to want blacks out of the
slavery of welfare, they just might be able to afford
buy homes at the rate people who have good credit
get. However, the mortgage companies are at fault
for loaning more money to people than they could
afford. And..the borrowers are at fault for buying more house than they could afford or need.
Just never let it be said that a fading from public
consciousness Jesse Jackson doesn’t recognize a way back into the public limelight.
Would liked to have been there.
Love the parody AJ.
To much java with brother bear, messed up last two lines…
but thanks.
Does anyone really take Jesse Jackson seriously anymore?
#28
Jesse does.
If I understand what you are saying, lenders, stung by charges [some legitimate] of racism, abandoned the principle of determining if an applicant could actually repay a mortgage. Instead they viewed the situation in the short-term by mostly looking at color and applied a sort of mortgage-qualification affirmative-action. This resulted in a ton of bad balloon loans, which are now ballooning, ending in a slew of foreclosures on minorities. The result being that lenders who acted to ease charges of racism are being called racists for ignoring their principles.
They ignored tried and true principles for a short-term illusionary gain and ended up making the situation worse.
Are these mortgage lenders a subset of the Democratic party?
I would pay money to hear just one CEO of a corporation tell Jessie to go to hell.
Good question.
Answer: NO!!!, and it’s been that way for a long time.
The only places I’ve seen him getting consistent pub are Foxnews and MM’s cite. I think it’s a mutually beneficial relationship.
edit= site
Jesse always makes money in a down market.
It depends on which convenience store he’s leaving.
Anyone else remember the line from the theme of Good Times t.v. show :”temporary layoffs,EASY CREDIT RIP OFFS”?People haven’t learned anything in all these years.
How long until he says “this is just like Selma”?
nuttin like selma, shes a hottie… lol
rofl 30 pcs… short and sweet.
You mean he hasn’t said it yet? He’s slipping….
geeemaneeckrickets, AJ…..
What type of coffee were you drinkin’!!!!!???? (RE: post #19).
Seriously, bro, you okay?
Well, they would
Coming over here and getting a fixed loan rate for the entire life of mortgage was shocking to me - you cannot get that in England. Everything is adjustable or short time introduction on a fixed rate…
Personal responsibility is, of course, vital… but there are those who were “miss-sold” on the whole adjustable rate mortgage deal…
Jessie also forgot to include Hispanics (legal and illegal) are also being hit hard by the subprime fall out too. But I don’t think there is any money in it for him including other minorities and will only result in upsetting his racist base.
Too bad greedy people ended up getting what they deserved. The market will adjust, stabilize, and grow again over time. Like others have stated “Personal Responsibility” has everything to do with this so called crisis. My biggest fear is the government will bail these unscrupulous lenders out with money stolen from hard working Americans.
true, but I have a hunch it wasn’t because they were black…or white for that matter.
The lenders were in a feeding frenzy. if you were a warm body willing to sign….there ya go!!!
This issue has nothing to do with the color of a person’s skin. This is about people who didn’t bother to take the time to read and understand the financial papers they were signing. As PB said (#4) Personal Responsibility, people should really get some!
What a moron! If lenders were practicing a “form of redlining”, minorities would not be able to get the loans Jess-ter rails against. Maybe it’s like night is a form of day.
I guess the defaulters were being profiled for…Borrowing While Black?
You’re quite right freebiebabe. Jesse Jackson really is going for the next shakedown….
best point on the thread so far.
Hey, Jessie, whip out the checkbook & pay off those people’s mortgages. It’s time to put your money where your mouth is. That’s YOUR MONEY, Jessie.
mr. sausage.
its FEEbiebabe.
FREEbiebabe, has a questionable connotation…. (albiet, I named myself!!!)
thank you, sir.
lol Oy, i need a new Moniker!
Wait a minute, won’t we all get free Homes when Hillary is in office? Free auto, auto insurance, free healthcare, free food, free gas for our homes and cars, free 401ks in every pot….everything is going to be fine. It’s called the Free Dumb act of Queen Hillary.
OT-
The starbucks venti hallucinagenic frapacino’
Mr. Jackson, please move to Paris, they need you.
What were the other three?
I like feebz - Bear’s nick for you!
C’mon!!! Let’s pull for the real victims here…the lenders who didn’t vet the idiots applying for the mortgages. Don’t ya know they would have been sued repeatedly for not lending to the NO-MO-PO crowd of dumbsh*ts. You need to be able to comprehend what you’re reading…that is if you can read, right?
me too. doubt i can change it…wonder what the Need Help button does in the posting section….
nada. looks like I am stuck with my name…only other choice is to contact rick moran. ….
im sticking with my current name….
(after rick layed the smack down on AJ’rs about the Cereal killer in my back yard Fauz news alert,,,i scared of him)!
ps, thanks soap.
BRAT.
Mrs. Soap would work but it is taken. How about Mrs. AJ?
Gee, I didn’t know that all these evil loan officers and mortgage brokers that those poor victims went to to get their loans were all white.
omg
soap, i think you may have just killed the man.
One other point, there are actually sub-prime winners. People who’s credit wasn’t top-notch, but took the chance with historically low interest rates (even if they didn’t get the best rate) to purchase a home for their families - and which they could afford. They didn’t get interest-only loans, nor million dollar homes, but made sound decisions. You won’t hear about them because it doesn’t sell newspapers, you can’t bash Bush over it on the network news, you can’t shake down anyone over it, and the people themselves are at work.
Personal responsibility with a reward for the risk.
Naw Feebz, he has an ex-wife for that!
Over 5 years ago, my husband and I went out searching for our first home. One mortgage rep from Washington Mutual sat us down and basically said we just HAD to choose an ARM… we would be foolish not to. We knew we wanted a fixed rate. He even drew up papers for an ARM after we told him not to so we walked out. We got a fixed rate mortgage from an honest broker and we found a house we could afford (not our “dream house” but a great neighborhood and better than an apartment). A year later we refinanced (still at a fixed rate) when rates hit rock bottom. WE knew what we wanted and what we could afford. I hope that guy from WAMU is unemployed.
Far be it for me to give any ammunition to my brutha Jesse, but folks, this sub prime crisis has the potential to really put a stopper in the economy and the fallout in higher inflation, high interest rates and less liquidity in the credit markets (fewer loans even to good risks) could send the world to bed with a first class economic stomach ache.
The plan with regards to these mortgages with “balloon” payments and other gimmicks was simple - and stupid. It presupposed that homes would continue to appreciate at about 7% a year forever. So these people who couldn’t get mortgages at banks and other primary institutions due to net worth or credit history (Sowell is spot on here) ended up going to Nationwide or some other “sub-prime” lender.
The deal was that these folks would get a great deal for about 3-5 years - low monthly payment, low interest rate - and then face the music when the balloon payment became due.
But in between those dates, the lendee would prove that they could pay on time every month, be a good credit risk, and meanwhile, their houses would appreciate by 25%.
The homeowner would have the option of renegotiating a more traditional mortgage instrument (30-year, 15-year etc) while the lender adds more points to the transaction thus making a bundle. Or, the lendee could move on to another home and start the same thing all over again.
The problem, of course, is that nothing lasts forever. The new housing market became overbuilt and the existing home market collapsed when it became harder and harder to renegotiate their debt instruments. A vicious circle ensued until today, foreclosures are set to rise 300% unless something is done.
Some economists think the problem will bottom out by the end of the 1st quarter next year. If it does, we will probably only have a mild downturn. But if this problem persists into the summer, we might have a full scale meltdown that would be very, very, bad for the ecomony not only here, but around the world.
Cross your fingers…
If I want to play the shell game or three card Monte in Jackson’s sub-culture world do I have a chance to pick the red queen or find the hidden pea. Will the tosser coach an intelligent choice out of me and wow I win. Just as in the sub-culture of business the buyer must beware. Sign language will not render ‘right on bro’ from the lender and one must read the small print about the loan points and method of repayment. Will the tosser of the loan help the mortgagee make a good financial decision. See the rules of the shell game and three card Monte.
Well, it is full scale in South Florida. Greenspan said he would control inflation. Who knew he would raise rates until everyone here was on unemployment.
Of course, it is all Booosh’s fault.
Mom2Jack is correct. One of our younger relatives and
his wife decided to move to Tx and purchase a home.
Three different lenders tried to lie and strong arm them into more home than they could afford ( just
because you qualify for it doesn’t mean you can truly
afford it ) and became really really ugly when they said
no.On the fourth try, they found a lender that
appreciated the fact that they did not want their
entire paychecks going to support the house and loaned them money for a starter home.
See, we haven’t had that boom here that has been
going on across the country, in housing. There is no need for our lenders to act like there is one. It’s
all about greed. Greed on the part of the lenders and greed for a bigger fancier house and address on the part of the buyers.
Does his survey show that these same supposed victims are also driving around in Escalade’s, Range Rovers BMW’s and Mercede’s?
Tough luck on those that live beyond their means.
Remember when Jesse Jackson bused people back into New Orleans. I always thought that was because the Dems counted on the black voting block, being delivered each election, looks like there are new days in old New Orleans.
I hope all the people of New Orleans recover, the entire gulf coast. I also hope anyone who left the area after Katrina, have made good lives for themselves, where ever they call home today. New Orleans population used to consist of 25% living in poverty a quarter of the population was poor.
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/2007/11/new_orleans_council_now_majority_white_/
All you guys putting down ARM’s I don’ think you totally know what you are talking about.
I purchased in 95. I have an ARM and it has served me well. Yes, it did change, a little bit but it was not a problem…ever. I had wanted to go to a fixed by they said “you have a good loan” and they were right.
The problem loans are the ARMS that READJUST. Those are the problem loans. The ones with the teaser rates that adjust after three years. These are the loans that are causing suffering, not ARM’s that move, but very little.
Unbelievable…… I guess anytime you can “make a case” that someone is being victimized, then it is by definition also a time when you can justify playing the race card??? Unbelievable!
ARMs can have any terms. I know people who bought houses with ARMs that could go down but not up. They actually did go down and the lenders were stunned. You can imagine how fast they stopped those.
But leave it to Jessie to find a way to milk a dead horse.
How can you be mis-sold something? Don’t you read the whole loan package? When you are “purchasing” something as substantial as a house, it would seem to me you would want to KNOW what is in all those papers (not just take somebody else’s word for it). There is nobody there who works for you - the realtor works for themselves and wouldn’t stop the deal. The lender works for the lender. The closing attorney works for the lender. The seller works for the seller. Shame on the “buyer” if they signed papers without knowing what those papers said.
)
You can’t cure stupidity.
(But maybe I could get a research grant to try to come up with a cure
Mr. Jackson knows the subprime situation is political as well as economic dynamite. It is futile to argue personal responsibility any more than it is to argue economic causation. Not one in a million voters understands nor cares. The vast majority of the American people believe the government exists to cushion them again any conceivable misfortune. Can’t be done, but try telling them that. In any event, the media will make sure only one “narrative” is heard and soon Republicans will be running around just like the Democrats, all desperate to spend and spend and leave the mess to the next administration which will be . . .
Surprise! Democrats. If this is half as bad as the reports say, a severe recession is coming and it will kill whatever hope the Republicans have for a comeback. The Democrat primary is now the election and for all intents and purposes, it is over.
But cheer up. Things will get much worse. In 2009, Iran will nuke Israel and the Sino-Putinese alliance will, without any opposition from an impotent USA, dismantle Taiwan on one front and strike deep into Eastern Europe on the other. Oil supplies will be cut. Western Europe will submit to the Russian-Islamic Axis. By 2010, the American economy will be in a Depression, one party rule will be declared, elections will be canceled, everyone will be told to really conserve, the Southwest will secede . . .
Yoo hoo Jesse… It was the pressure from Congress to make lending more inclusive that caused this…
But it’s OK… some nice Arabs just bailed out Citi grp.
George W Bush said, he wanted an ownership society, people who had an investment-stake, participated in their government more…I don’t know if he meant eventually the Arabs would buy everyone out though? Freak Enomics?
I needs to be said. “Community Reinvestment” initiatives and demagoguery about racist lending practices gave banks (with deposit insurance — a moral hazard) license to lend where the economic and credit dynamics didn’t support it. In bailout after bailout, we will pay the price for political correctness.
Great post Rick…nail on head.
Freakonomics I know I wasn’t spelling that correctly. I remember Bill O’Reilly had the author on as a guest on the Factor way back but it was very interesting segment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freakonomics
Can You say “Opportunistic, thinly veiled Thug, Racist, Lying Middle Aged Punk?”
I thought You could…now off to Al Sharpton’s house for more propaganda!
Why is this thug not in jail?
I wish we could deport guilty white liberals to Guantanamo Bay so that this black collar criminal would not have a power base to hide behind.
eric aka the Tygrrrr Express
I’m sure I’m reading it wrong, but it sounds to me like he’s calling minorities rats!! Is that P.C.???
You know, if these same lenders DIDN’T offer loans to minorities, Jackson would still complain and threaten lawsuits.
I do feel there is A LITTLE blame to be put on lenders. They should know if a client will be able to consistently make his/her payments. However, if you make $40,000 a year, you cannot afford a $400,000 house!!
BTW, I know plenty of whites who have been negatively affected by the subprime meltdown. Is Jackson fighting for them as well?
Is it a lack of sophistication about how finances work or living beyond a person’s means? Think about it, even if you are approved for the Max amount for a homeloan, you don’t have to Max out, you can buy under your means. This isn’t a secret, so is there some personal responsiblity or not? I understand the problem is in the subprime meaning the vunerable loans to people with low income or shaky credit. Would these people be savy enough in finance, not to Max out a Homeloan and live within their means? Personal Responsiblity. Now The Lender does know all this but in the end the Lender has the property as collateral, and figures one way or another a forecloser, and they can recoup by reselling the property. Is this buyer beware? Yes people were taken advantage of but there was awhole lot of cavalier attitude going on by both partys.
The bankers could care less about color/race — they did not discriminate who the shovelled the money at. They are just greedy bastards who were given the political cover necessary to open up the lending markets to higher risk consumers. They have made huge fees off these loans and will probably get some sort of bailout for their investors. JJ will spew more race bilge and the democrats will line up with “our” check book open. It really is greed at its best….
Thank you Jesse, for continuing to infantilize the American black community.
Ironically, one of the contributing factors to the subprime lending problem in poorer (subprime) ethnic neighborhoods was the Bush Administration’s efforts to extend the “ownership society” into poorer neighborhoods. Was that racism? So what exactly does Jesse want? Exactly. Like always. it’s about lining his own pockets.
.
But just think, if you had refinanced you’d be eligible for a government bailout for the stupid a$$ decision you made all by yourself.
.
Is your mortgage company’s name Backwoods Mortgage? Some real brainiacs there. I always thought refinancing was beneficial for getting a lower rate for a fixed rate loan. Duh!