The Community Reinvestment Act had nothing to do with social welfare programs, which is the point to which you were ostensibly responding.

The CRA focused on pressuring banks to end discriminatory lending practices as a strategy for increasing minority home ownership. It initially worked well, increasing black home ownership by roughly 5% during Clinton's presidency, but it also fueled the subprime loan market and the subsequent mortgage crisis, which had a disproportionately negative impact on blacks. This dynamic exemplifies the Clinton's problematic faith in private enterprise--particularly the financial industry--to solve public problems. There is an obvious conflict between the profit motive and the concept of the common good, a contradiction the Clintons never acknowledge. This myopia has had a disastrous impact on American society generally and blacks in particular--as Alexander outlines.

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that's the best way to state it.

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Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

I don't think your first point is accurate. In the late 80s, John Kerry headed a Senate subcommittee that issued a 1,000+ page report detailing the connections between reactionary Central American political groups (including the Contras), the federal government, and cocaine trafficking. In the 1990s, many in the Congressional Black Caucus attacked the Reagan administration for its role in the crack epidemic. In the first case, the Kerry report was buried by the press. In the second case, liberal-left black politicians like Cynthia McKinney and Maxine Waters faced enormous pushback from a conservative congress and right-wing talk radio.

With regards to your second point, there is significant disagreement about whether or not the Clinton Crime Bill worked since violent crime rates began dropping significantly prior to its passage.

Given that the federal government's role in helping ignite the crack epidemic was well known in the 1990s, it is curious that Clinton supported disproportionately harsh penalties for crack users versus those using powder cocaine. The racial politics in this instance are especially ugly.

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Tm,better be careful or LTG will brand you a racist Trump supporter.

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When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

TM, you are very good at outling the problems and the impact of government policies.

I would say as it respects the mortgage market, including the subprime crisis, the government's paws are all over it. And this in no way excuses the stupidity and illegal activities of many private players:

-The FHLB loan system is a complete ruse. It raises money at U.S. Treasury rates through the Office of Finance and hands iy to member private firms solely to make real estate loans. This very low cost capital given out with a specific purpose allowed WaMU and Countrywide to expand beyond what otherwise would have been possible,
-The Risk Based Capital system favors home mortgages. If you understand how it works, a regular commercial loan is counted 100% in the calculation of total assets. While a home loan is only counted at 50%, thus encouraging home loans over all other types of loans (expecting treasury and agency securities). That allows banks to effectively make twice as many home loans relative to all over types of loans for the same level of equity capital.
-Home loan interest deduction encourages people to not only own one home, but two subsidized by taxpayers.
-The FHA gives out home loans with almost no money down. Its rules allow the minimum down payment of around 3% to be from completed gifted money. Conventional rules do not allow such.
-Fannie and Freddie were actively pushed by its regulatory to make loans everyone knew were no good. This started under the Clinton administration. It was the beginning of the push to get everyone into a home without regards to whether people could afford a home.
-Fannie and Freddie, with their implicit government guarantee (now explicit) was the drug pusher in the conventional loan securitization market. They under charged systematically for their loan guarantee. Government set capital rules for banks and insurance companies encourages the purchase of Fannie/Freddie MBS' by giving company lower capital charges for holding such.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

Social welfare programs without some private incentive aren't the best way to go about it either. You can't make the argument that they disinvested in the black community when the evidence clearly demonstrates that they did. WHo cares if a relationship with private enterprise existed. The intentions were good and black homeownership increased as a result. They also attacked an issue "redlining" that many politicians have ignored for years. You can find plenty of studies which demonstrate that they subprime mortgage crisis was a result of loan repackaging and bundling, not community reinvestment. Blacks who couldn't pay their mortgage were no different than any other group that failed to pay.

My point is that their intentions were good and they attempted to address an issue that specifically plagued blacks. Can you name any politician that has taken on such a cause in the last 35 years?

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No I want but I will brand you an idiot, which you accomplish with each succeeding post. Cogent and thought are never used to describe anything that you post. You are essentially Tully Blanchard to everyone's else's Ric Flair. Is there any doubt that you won't be able to add anything to the actual discussion. The only way you can ever seem to get in the game is by levying personal attacks. As prejudiced as you are I am loathe to ever label you to be a racist. I did on one occasion and on some level I regret it. I have never labeled anyone else to be racist on here and if you ever were able to actually comprehend a post it has nothing to do with whose racist and who isn't. You are merely a lightweight hack that tries to ride everyone else's coattails in the hopes that they will take a shine to your sorry ass. Give it a break as I already have.

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Shut the fuck up.

I don't ever want to hear you complain about people picking on you, or piling on.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

Amazing how two intelligent people can look at one subject and see two totally different things

Huh? I don't know what your point is regarding the Contra connection. It seems to support what 312 is saying. How is what he is saying inaccurate? The connections between the Reagan Administration, the Contras, Norieaga and other Central American drug traffickers was well known. They also are known to have looked the other way on the stuff that Escobar was doing.

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Your first point about private incentives is strictly opinion that is controversial at best. Many respected sociologists and historians reject it. With regards to your second point, of course Clinton cut spending on social welfare programs from which blacks disproportionately benefited. He famously declared that "the era of big government is over" and dismantled some key legislation from the New Deal and Great Society eras. This is why, in part, the extreme poverty rate among blacks sharply increased during the G.W. Bush presidency. Michelle Alexander makes this point in the article I posted. While the Clintons certainly tried to help blacks in position to buy homes, they also waged war on young black men (three strikes, disproportionate sentencing for crack offenders, refusal to pursue an urban jobs program, etc) and single black mothers along with their children (welfare reform). By targeting the most vulnerable members of black society, the Clintons amplified the racial scapegoating of the Nixon and Reagan years while also dividing the black community generationally. That is, the Clintons simultaneously appealed to the respectable aspirations of the older black establishment (via property ownership) while further marginalizing a younger population that was itself being attacked by black elders. The Clintonian exploitation of this generational rift has allowed Bill and Hillary to maintain their image as black allies--there's no question that most black elites love them--even as they pursued a larger racist political agenda. Consequently, while I agree that the Clintons' attempt to end redlining was an obvious anti-racist measure, the Clinton legacy can hardly be construed as anti-racist.

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I don't think you actually read what 312 said. His claim is that no politician has publicly acknowledged the Reagan administration's role in fueling the crack epidemic of the 80s and 90s. My point is that such a claim is wildly inaccurate.

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Simple economics fueled the crack epidemic

That's what makes these threads great. I have heard all that stuff before, and I certainly come to the table with a built in bias. In a broad sense, America as seen in the 70's was one of malaise, high unemployment and inflation about to be overtaken by the Japanese and still fighting the cold war. By the end of the 80's, the country was rejuvenated with the tech boom just getting going, a streamlined tax code, the only remaining super power, and the ground work laid for a long economic expansion that really ran until the subprime crisis. There were periods of economic recession, but they were short lived. I don't believe the country saw double digit inflation or unemployment again until the subprime crisis pushed unemployment just above 10%.

I'll take it. Reagan was the man this country needed at the time he was elected.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

When I first hit the workforce in the mid-80s Japan was King Kong. I figured the Japanese would own the world in short order. But then came the Lost Decade from which they have never recovered driven by their own shitty loans and overall monetary policy. But I think nationalism and anti-immigration also played a role as there was a drastic decline in the Japanese population.

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Freedom is our Strength.

Reagan made white America feel good just like Trump does. He royally screwed the middle class and minorities just like Bill Clinton did. Sometimes make someone feel good is better than helping them.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Your first point about private incentives is strictly opinion that is controversial at best. Many respected sociologists and historians reject it. With regards to your second point, of course Clinton cut spending on social welfare programs from which blacks disproportionately benefited. He famously declared that "the era of big government is over" and dismantled some key legislation from the New Deal and Great Society eras. This is why, in part, the extreme poverty rate among blacks sharply increased during the G.W. Bush presidency. Michelle Alexander makes this point in the article I posted. While the Clintons certainly tried to help blacks in position to buy homes, they also waged war on young black men (three strikes, disproportionate sentencing for crack offenders, refusal to pursue an urban jobs program, etc) and single black mothers along with their children (welfare reform). By targeting the most vulnerable members of black society, the Clintons amplified the racial scapegoating of the Nixon and Reagan years while also dividing the black community generationally. That is, the Clintons simultaneously appealed to the respectable aspirations of the older black establishment (via property ownership) while further marginalizing a younger population that was itself being attacked by black elders. The Clintonian exploitation of this generational rift has allowed Bill and Hillary to maintain their image as black allies--there's no question that most black elites love them--even as they pursued a larger racist political agenda. Consequently, while I agree that the Clintons' attempt to end redlining was an obvious anti-racist measure, the Clinton legacy can hardly be construed as anti-racist.[/quote]




I know that

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They were the China of the day where everyone assumed they were an unstoppable train about to overtake America and rule the world. Now China has a better shot of fulfilling that mandate because of the sheer size of their population and country, and their laser focus on state sponsored capitalism. But I still see plenty of roadblocks that might trip them up.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

I can remember being at McCormick Place back when they had CES there and the place was loaded with Salarymen in their ill-fitting dark suits. I was getting lunch and there were three Japanese guys in front of me all excited about, "Hamburger, Cheeseburger, Pizza!" When they got to the fat black lady working the register, she gave them their total but they didn't really seem to grasp U.S. currency. They had a shitload of it though. So one of the guys pulled out this roll of hundreds that would choke a horse and handed the whole thing to her. She and I looked at each other and smiled while she made their change.

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Freedom is our Strength.

Fast forward thirty five years, and change Japan to America.

It's uh-oh time.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

I am not trying to be a Reagan apologist. It was simply at that point in time it felt like America was in perpetual decline. The mood was sour, and Reagan did bring optimism. Maybe all our competitors fell on their faces, and we just got lucky. But if you fast forward to today, our companies once again dominate global markets. We completely own the vast majority of the tech industry from Google to Facebook. We have a large amount of the intellectual property including in drug development. Our multinationals are prevalent across the world in a way that creates a sort of cultural imperialism. Our music and media sectors are also globally dominant. Our universities continue to be sought by foreigners as evidenced by the large story in yesterday WSJ. Our military is largely unchallenged.

If you go back to 1980, it didn't seem like we would be in this position 35+ years later.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

I think Nas was being sarcastic above (maybe not though), but there is something to be said about a nation "feeling good about itself." I'm not a Reagan fan by any means, but he did restore the American swagger even if that "shining city on a hill" stuff was all bullshit.

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Freedom is our Strength.

This is how Donald Trump is going to make the U.S. feel good about itself again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb3IMTJjzfo.

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I was born in the 80s but I never really got to live them. A six year old just cant really appreciate something like the Berlin Wall being torn down. I came of age in the 90s. By the late 90s, there was never any doubt about where America ranked. We were the best and everyone else can suck it. China is currently making a run at the title but I've never really lived in a world where America wasn't the undisputed champ.

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Freedom is our Strength.

He misinterpreted the Boss, though.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

No. Not even comparable.

The Japanese have a hyper-homogeneous culture and society that has traditionally been, at worst, xenophobic, in an attempt to maintain that culture. The decline in population can be attributed to aging population and a sharp decrease in birthrate (typical for an industrialized society) that is brought about, in part, by females entering the work force, males having an 'all or nothing' oppressive work environment (literally life destroying at times, a story for another time) and the male populations turning beta-asexual, and no that isn't tongue and cheek. Not sure if that behavior is taught in their schools but it's actually a thing.

The most our two nations can really be honestly compared is in our responses to similar economic shocks. Unfortunately the Japanese keep making the same mistakes and so do we.

It's not surprising because no one really gives a shit anymore.
Anyway... didn't Obama himself say he wasn't born here to get lower tuition? I thought I remembered seeing that somewhere. I guess he was just fibbing to get a break on education costs.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Those are the so-called herbivores. They estimate that 27% of the 20 something male population in Japan is an herbivore. They are more interested in video games than pussy. Someone should tell them that those interests are not mutually exclusive. You can have both!

Edit: The percentage is much higher. Read this crap...

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_ ... lemma.html

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Hawaii (fuck) You