Jonathan Adams

Restucture Loans Don’t Repossess Homes

Right now, Jesse Jackson is marching on Wall Street calling for bankers to take responsibility for the looming economic crisis brought on by subprime lending practices. Also called predator lending, Jackson argues that it was large bankers like Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch among others that are responsible for loaning to the predators that go after the most vulnerable, most specifically low-income families of color.

At the Movement Vision Lab, James Mumm from NW Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition asks if we have been Naughty or Nice. Also, writing about the limited government response to the crisis and the campaign that he, Jackson, and others are calling for.

The Save the American Dream Campaign is asking big investment banks to donate their holiday bonuses to a national rescue fund that will provide immediate relief to homeowners at risk of foreclosure. We’re asking Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson to convene a holiday season stakeholder summit of homeowners, grassroots community groups, national community advocates, and investment banks to design how the rescue fund will operate. And we’re asking that Wall Street firms take immediate action and allow modifications for all owner-occupied home mortgages at risk of foreclosure.

While the federal government has tried to halt interest rates to help the crisis, I agree with Jackson that Bush has offered, “an umbrella when we need a tent.” But this “Christmas is a time for giving” attitude always bothered me. It seems temporary and disingenuous. We need government to lead the way in making sure that mortgage companies and big bankers alike cannot prey upon the working families of this country.

Posted at 10:04 AM, Dec 10, 2007 in Economy | Permalink | View Comments