“So, in 2001 Bush was calling for stronger oversight of FM/FM, but in 2001 he signed the P4P agreement, then in 2002 he called for FM/FM to increase spending by $400 billion and called on Congress to fund the American Dream Downpayment Act and in 2003 he created the NATF to allow FM/FM to buy the sub-prime loans of millions of Mexican illegal aliens and then in 2004 signed both the American Dream Downpayment Act?”
Two answers here.
You try and make this sound like W did all of this only for “illegal Aliens or Mexicans” (innuendo). I can tell you personally that this is not true. My wife and I were beneficiaries of the American Dream Down Payment act. There was also state down payment assistance as at the time. I’m not black, and I’m not Hispanic. A lot of the people I know had their down payment reduced, or eliminated, and were able to buy houses. They are still paying for them or sold them over the years, and none were foreclosed. Over all this added strength to the economy.
I’m glad you have always had every dime you needed when you needed it. For us to have saved for the down payment we would be buying it about now. 12 years of throwing away money on rent, and raising our daughter in an apartment.
So tell me why this was a bad thing.
The second point, I guess asking FM/FM to buy those mortgages might not have been the best idea, but letting those banks fail, that close to the economic damage of 911 would have been a good idea? We were standing on pretty wobbly legs back then in case you don’t remember.
By the way, what is NATF, I find no reference to this anywhere on the web. Are you really implying that all the sub prime bought by FM/FM were illegals that year? Millions? All those illegals bought houses with sub prime mortgages in the 2 years Bush had been President?
So you do admit that the sub-primes began during the Clinton years. You can’t lay all of this at Bush’s feet.
The source about the banks is my memory. Sorry. I remember reading stories in The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte is/was the second largest banking center in the US), and it’s a pay site, and it costs more to go back into the archives. I clearly remember the attack stories about First Union, Wachovia, and Bank of America / Nations Bank trying to scale back sub primes because of increases in foreclosures.
I clearly remember a hit piece on a bank foreclosing be because this woman refused to pay a $30 per month increase in monthly payment that she signed for in closing. She had a new car, new furniture, highest cable package available, etc., but wouldn’t give up a cup of coffee a day to keep her house. According to the paper, it was the bank’s fault.
I was a Sunday paper. the wife and I read it in bed every Sunday, and she fussed at me for yelling at the paper.
Again sorry. Best I can do on that.
Bush wasn’t perfect, he clearly made mistakes, but he inherited most of the sub-prime problem.
Yes but he could have done something. Instead he went on and pushed more Home Ownership also.
There is plenty of blame to go around here and both parties helped us dig the hole we are in.
I thought I'd made myself clear. Bush did this for his true constituents, the Wall Street bankers. It was they who wanted to tap into this market segment.
How big?
The most significant recent waves of immigrants to this country, according to the 2000 Census, are from Latin American countries. This group's purchasing power is expected to almost double from $491 billion in 2000 to $926 billion by 2007.1 The international remittance market, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean, also is expected to grow considerably. Billions of dollars are flowing from the United States to Mexico and other countries, and a significant share of these transactions is taking place outside the formal banking system. (See: Linking International Remittance Flows to Financial Services: Tapping the Latino Immigrant Market)
I’m glad you have always had every dime you needed when you needed it. For us to have saved for the down payment we would be buying it about now. 12 years of throwing away money on rent, and raising our daughter in an apartment.
Now you're just being hostile. You don't know me or my background. We can either keep this discussion civil or we can end it right now. Your choice.
The second point, I guess asking FM/FM to buy those mortgages might not have been the best idea, but letting those banks fail, that close to the economic damage of 911 would have been a good idea?
Why is it a good idea for the federal government to use taxpayer dollars to bail out the banks for their own speculative practices?
By the way, what is NATF, I find no reference to this anywhere on the web. Are you really implying that all the sub prime bought by FM/FM were illegals that year? Millions? All those illegals bought houses with sub prime mortgages in the 2 years Bush had been President?
New Alliance Task Force. (See: Linking International Remittance Flows to Financial Services: Tapping the Latino Immigrant Market)
Are you really implying that all the sub prime bought by FM/FM were illegals that year? Millions? All those illegals bought houses with sub prime mortgages in the 2 years Bush had been President?
First, Bush was President for 8 years, not 2. He was elected in 2000 and inaugurated in 2001. All of these policies were put into place during his first term.
Second, not all, but the vast majority of FM/FM sub-prime loans were targeted to Mexican illegal aliens.
From my link above:
Targeting the Unbanked Latino Immigrant Population
Several other key barriers contribute to the high number of unbanked immigrants, primarily a limited ability to understand and speak English and cultural distrust of financial institutions. These barriers create real challenges. However, in Chicago and other parts of the Midwest, organizations are bringing unbanked Latino immigrants into the financial mainstream with the right mix of innovative products, financial education programs, effective outreach programs, and a strong commitment from banks to serve this market, all of which are being facilitated by the development and activities of a few organizations, including the New Alliance Task Force (NATF).
| New Alliance Task Force |
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The NATF was launched in May 2003 by the Consulate General of Mexico in Chicago and the Chicago Office of the FDIC's Community Affairs Program in support of the U.S.-Mexico Partnership for Prosperity. The NATF is a broad-based coalition of 62 members, including the Mexican Consulate, 34 banks, community-based organizations, federal bank regulatory agencies, government agencies, and representatives from the secondary market and private mortgage insurance (PMI) companies. The majority of the participating financial institutions are community banks in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. The coalition's programs and initiatives address the critical need among Mexican immigrants, both established and recently arrived, to successfully develop asset-building strategies to improve their quality of life in the United States. This goal is critical as Latinos continue to have lower homeownership rates and less access to mainstream financial services and credit instruments.
In addition to promoting general educational opportunities for immigrants, NATF members sponsor financial education programs and are developing financial products that include remittance features and mortgage products that help immigrants overcome barriers to homeownership.
The NATF's Financial Education Working Group educates immigrants on the benefits and importance of holding accounts, the credit process, and mainstream banking as an alternative to the "fringe" banking system. Ten thousand immigrants have participated in financial education classes and workshops using the FDIC's Money Smart, a Spanish-language adult financial education curriculum, and similar financial education programs in the Chicago area. A number of delivery channels exist, including financial institutions, churches, housing organizations, job training centers, and community colleges. In addition to these programs, the Mexican Consulate of Chicago, in collaboration with local banks, launched a financial education program in Spanish in January 2004. Several institutions donated simulated ATMs to train immigrants on banking technologies.
The NATF Bank Products and Services Working Group encourages banks and thrifts to develop financial service products with remittance features as a strategy to reach the unbanked immigrant community. In recent years, banks in the Midwest have begun to realize the significant dollar amounts generated by remittance transfers and have taken steps to break down some of the barriers preventing immigrants' access to the banking system. Community banks in Chicago and Milwaukee, for example, have taken the lead in offering international remittance services. Second Federal Savings and First Bank of the Americas were the first community banks in the country to accept the Mexican Matricula Consular card and develop remittance products through dual ATM cards. Soon afterward, Mitchell Bank and North Shore Bank in Milwaukee followed suit. These institutions are aware that many immigrants, regardless of their current immigration status, will eventually settle in this country. This offers an opportunity for banks to cross-sell other products and offer a wider range of financial services.
Fifteen of the 34 NATF banks are now offering products with remittance services that allow immigrants to open bank accounts, avoid high-cost wire services, and incur lower remittance costs for sending money back home. Dual ATM cards or stored-value cards offer the lowest transfer cost: 1.5 percent of the amount sent.29 In the past two years, 50,000 new accounts totaling $100 million (with an average account balance of $2,000) have been opened at NATF banks in the Midwest. Many of these accounts were opened using the banks' remittance services. Other NATF banks, including South Central Bank and Lakeside Bank, are using the Federal Reserve System's recently unveiled FedAutomated Clearing House International Mexico Service as a cost-effective alternative to expensive wire transfers.30
Conclusion
Recent economic and demographic trends, coupled with increased financial flows across international borders, have significant implications for U.S. banks and thrifts. As more insured financial institutions reach out to the Latino immigrant market, these institutions are expected to experience more rapid deposit and loan growth. In the Midwest, both small and large banks are capitalizing on remittance flows as a short-term strategy to draw immigrants into the formal banking system. Leveraging these relationships will help these institutions offer a broader range of financial services, positively contributing to their bottom line.
Many Latino immigrants will eventually settle in the United States and raise families. Banks in the Midwest are taking steps to capitalize on the growing presence of this immigrant group. The continued success of the New Alliance Task Force demonstrates that unbanked Latin American immigrants can be brought into the financial mainstream. As a result, the FDIC is considering the feasibility of expanding the NATF pilot to other parts of the country where there are significant immigrant populations. These broad-based private-public sector alliances will help immigrants increase savings, build assets, and strengthen their financial security.
So, how many Mexican illegal aliens are we talking about? The link above gives us a general idea.
"As an example of the effectiveness of using this form of identification, Wells Fargo opened more than 400,000 new accounts for Mexican immigrants, using the Matricula Consular card between November 2001 and May 2004. In recent months, Wells Fargo has averaged 22,000 new accounts per month, many of which feature the bank's remittance product.20 For example, the bank offers InterCuenta Express, an account-to-account wire transfer service that charges $8 to transfer up to $3,000 per day directly into a beneficiary's bank account in Mexico. Transfers can be initiated at the bank's branch or ATM in the United States, and the receiving party can access monies via the bank's sizeable remittance distribution network of more than 4,000 banking offices and 10,700 ATMs in Mexico. According to the Mexican government, 178 banks in the United States accept the Matricula Consular card to open bank accounts; 86 of these institutions are in the Midwest."
Keep in mind this is just Wells Fargo and that sub-prime lending would not reach its peak until 2005-2007. This does not include all the other major banks, such as CitiGroup, Bank of America, Chase, Washington Mutual, or the hundreds of other smaller regional banks and lenders who were also taking part in this feeding frenzy.