Economics

A New Plan to Make Wall Street Pay for Creating the Foreclosure Crisis

Published

6 years ago

April 18, 2019

Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.

Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.

Last week, as Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., convened a House Financial Services Committee hearing, featuring the CEOs of Wall Street’s biggest banks, the financial watchdog group Better Markets released a stunning report on the banks’ criminal records: Wall Street’s Six Biggest Bailed-Out Banks: Their RAP Sheets and Their Ongoing Crime Spree.

The report profiled the records of Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo. Detailing the staggering $8.2 trillion that was committed to bail out these banks when their excesses blew up the economy in 2008, the report laid out what it called their RAP sheets — the record of illegal activity for which they have been fined a cumulative total of $181 billion in over 350 major legal actions.

The report concludes that these big banks “have engaged in — and continue to engage in — a crime spree that spans the violation of almost every law and rule imaginable. …That was the case not just before the 2008 crash, but also during and after the crash and their lifesaving bailouts. … In fact, the number of cases against the banks has actually increased relative to the pre-crash era.”

The scope of the illegal activity is breathtaking — overcharging soldiers on their mortgages, conspiring to fix the price of credit card fees, massive improper foreclosure practices, billing customers for services never provided, rigging interest rates, violating sanctions against countries like Iran, and more.

The large fines are, for these mega-banks, merely a cost of doing business. And so the crime wave continues.

The banks particularly prey on the vulnerable, regularly pleading guilty of discriminating against African Americans and Latinos. Long after the bailout, for example, JPMorgan Chase paid $53 million to settle charges that it had discriminated against minority borrowers by charging them more for a mortgage than white customers.

The banks were at the center of the housing bubble and its collapse. About 10 million people were displaced from over 4 million homes across the country. Minority neighborhoods were hit the hardest.

For decades, the banks red-lined minority areas, depriving residents of access to mortgages or loans for small business development. Then, when the banks inflated the housing bubble, they targeted minority neighborhoods, peddling predatory mortgages to customers who they knew could not afford them. As one former Wells Fargo mortgage broker explained in a sworn affidavit, “The company put ‘bounties’ on minority borrowers.

By this I mean that loan officers received cash incentives to aggressively market subprime loans in minority communities.” At the height of the rapacious lending boom, nearly 50 percent of all loans given to African American families were deemed “subprime.” The New York Times described these contracts as “a financial time bomb.”

When housing prices cratered, the bomb exploded. Mass evictions left entire neighborhoods scarred by empty houses. The banks then failed their legal duty to keep the homes up, with neighborhoods turning into waste pits. With homeowners evicted, local revenues declined. Stores were shuttered; schools closed; local services decimated.

Those victimized were most often those who did the right thing: working steadily, putting together the money for a down payment on a home for their children.

A rising African American middle class was eviscerated. In 2012, the National Fair Housing Alliance reported that African Americans suffered “the largest loss of wealth for these communities in modern history.” Between 2009 and 2012, African Americans lost just under $200 billion in wealth, bringing the gap between white and black wealth to a staggering 20:1 ratio.

According to the Better Markets report, the six biggest banks have paid over $181 billion in fines and settlements for their criminal activity. This money generally goes back into the general fund, unless the settlement agreement provides for some relief to those injured.

That too often leaves those most injured by the illegal practices out in the cold. What would make sense is that any fines that aren’t used to recompense the direct victims be put into a fund to rebuild the communities most injured. Supplement that with revenues from sensible taxes on the banks — like Elizabeth Warren’s call for a simple corporate tax on the profits they report — and a multibillion-dollar fund could be created to help repair the communities most impacted by the bankers’ crimes.

Use that money not to line the pockets of the big banks again, but to seed community banks and cooperatives, to support nonprofit affordable housing development, to create postal banking services that could liberate the poor from the usurious charges of payday lenders.

That might not end Wall Street’s addiction to crime, but it would help repair the communities that they have devastated. One would think that law-and-order conservatives might support this act of simple justice.

Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.

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California Black Media

Controller Malia Cohen Convenes Auditors from Counties Across California

The conference focused on key issues related to county financial management and reporting. This annual event is mandated by Government Code 12422, which requires the State Controller to convene county auditors at least once a year. The conference served as a platform to discuss county budget procedures, financial transaction reporting, and property tax revenue allocation, promoting consistency in the duties of county auditors statewide.

Published

2 days ago

November 3, 2024

Oakland Post

California State Controller Malia Cohen. File photo.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

California State Controller Malia Cohen welcomed auditors from across the state for the 79th Annual County Auditors Conference, a three-day event and award ceremony hosted in Santa Cruz.

The state controller honored the award recipients by celebrating their excellence in producing accurate financial data.

In her opening remarks, Cohen emphasized the significance of collaboration between her office and the county auditors.

“I want to congratulate all of the counties receiving today’s County Financial Transactions Reporting award,” stated Cohen. “Your county’s diligence in reporting is critical for my office to produce accurate local government financial data, which is of vital importance to policymakers, researchers, and constituents throughout California. Thank you for your contribution to the quality and transparency of public finances.”

Cohen also moderated a panel discussion featuring Assemblymember Gail Pellerin and Department of Finance Director Joe Stephenshaw. The panel addressed critical topics such as the upcoming state budget, technological advancements, and anticipated fiscal challenges for local governments in the coming fiscal year.

In addition, Cohen recognized counties that received the California State Controller Financial Transaction Reporting Award, highlighting the importance of accurate and timely financial reporting.

More than 40 counties won the coveted Financial Transaction Reporting Award, celebrating their commitment to excellence in financial management. Counties that won an award include Alameda, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, and Sacramento.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of October 30 – November 5, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of October 30 – November 5, 2024

Published

4 days ago

November 1, 2024

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

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Business

Special Interview: Rep. Barbara Lee Discusses Kamala Harris’ Plan for Black Men

On Oct. 16, California Black Media (CBM) spoke with Harris-Walz campaign surrogate, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA-12), who shared more insights on Harris’ agenda and the importance of securing the Black Male vote. “She has said very clearly that she wants to earn the vote of everyone. And that means earning the vote of Black men,” said Lee of Harris. “She understands the systemic and historic challenges that Black men have. You haven’ t heard of a presidential candidate coming up with a concrete actual plan and policy agenda.” The agenda includes five focus areas based on insights she gleaned from hosting discussions with Black men during her Economic Opportunity Tour.

Published

1 week ago

October 28, 2024

Oakland Post

(File Photo) U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-13-Oakland) chides Justices on the Supreme Court of the United States for voting to strike down Affirmative Action. She is shown here speaking in front of the California Reparations Task Force in Oakland on May 6, 2023. CBM photo by Antonio Ray Harvey. By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

By Edward Henderson, California Black Media

Last week, the Kamala Harris campaign released its Opportunity Agenda for Black Men.

“She has said very clearly that she wants to earn the vote of everyone. And that means earning the vote of Black men,” said Lee of Harris. “She understands the systemic and historic challenges that Black men have. You haven’ t heard of a presidential candidate coming up with a concrete actual plan and policy agenda.”

The agenda includes five focus areas based on insights she gleaned from hosting discussions with Black men during her Economic Opportunity Tour:

Provide 1 million loans that are fully forgivable to Black entrepreneurs and others disadvantaged groups to start businesses.
Champion education, training, and mentorship programs that help Black men get good-paying jobs in high-demand industries It will also develop more accessible pathways for Black men to become teachers.
Support a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency and other digital assets so Black men who invest in and own these assets are protected.
Launch a National Health Equity Initiative focused on Black men that addresses sickle cell disease, diabetes, mental health, prostate cancer, and other health challenges that disproportionately impact them.
Legalize recreational marijuana and creating opportunities for Black Americans to succeed in this new industry.

“[Vice President Harris] knows that Black men have long felt that too often their voice in our political process has gone unheard and that there is so much untapped ambition and leadership within the Black male community,” the language in the agenda states. “Black men and boys deserve a president who will provide the opportunity to unleash this talent and potential by removing historic barriers to wealth creation, education, employment, earnings, health, and improving the criminal justice system.”

Diving into Harris’ agenda, Lee says, reminded her of her own record of supporting Black men over the years as an elected official. In the 90’s, she established the first California Commission on African American Males through which she pressured the state to address urgent economic, health and social challenges specific to Black men.

“No group of people are a monolithic group of people,” said Lee She’ s not taking any vote for granted. I’ve known her over three decades and I believe she is being herself. She’ s authentic,” Lee added.

Each of the 5 key points addressed in the Harris Campaign’s agenda, Lee says, has additional clauses that can potentially help Black men and their families thrive. This includes lowering rent; up to $25,000 in downpayment help for first time homebuyers; and cutting taxes for Black men in lower-wage jobs by increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit maximum to $1,500.

“I think the messages is one of empowerment for Black men — regardless of whether they’ re a blue-collar worker, if they’ re not working, if they’ re in business, if they’ re an entrepreneur, whatever background or whatever they’re doing or experiencing life. I think the authenticity of their experience can only be articulated through them,” said Lee.