The Left, Activists and the Sub-Prime Mess

Finally, what would seem like an obvious question, what role did the left and the Community Reinvestment Act play in the sub-prime mortgage mess? The lack of reporting on the issue is unremarkable, beyond the fact that it is not an easy event to explain, it involves Democrats, it involves activists and this year an activist is running on the Democratic ticket for President. For years urban members of the Democratic Party have hauled banking executives before various committees and accused them of redlining and racism, they demanded that the bankers write mortgages in areas that the bankers deemed too risky. Eventually they all found a way to make less than prime risks conform to the financial norms required by the Federal guarantee agencies, those were the sub-prime loans, loans that apparently were used throughout society.

Well the Investors Business Daily had an excellent editorial this morning that covers that ground very well. The Democrats and the media will not want this story to gain traction with the public but to ignore this factor, one of many in the disaster, is to ignore one of the basic, easier to understand issues involved with the sub-prime mess. Read it.

Hat Tip: Instapundit