CBC Presses Republicans: Do You Agree With Bachmann’s Assertion That ‘Minorities’ Caused Financial Crisis?
CBC Presses Republicans: Do You Agree With Bachmann’s Assertion That ‘Minorities’ Caused Financial Crisis?
During a House hearing on Thursday, Rep. Michele Bachmann pinned blame for financial crisis on President Clinton, “blacks,” and “other minorities.” To make her point, she read from an article written by Terry Jones in the right-wing publication Investor’s Business Daily. Jones criticized the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and said Clinton was misguided for pushing “homeownership as a way to open the door for blacks and other minorities to enter the middle class.” Watch Bachmann’s speech, followed by sharp criticism from Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) here.
In a new letter to House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) obtained by ThinkProgress, 31 members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) call Bachmann’s claims “ridiculous” and ask Boehner whether her comments represent the views of the Republican Caucus:
It is clear from Rep. Bachmann’s comments that she believes that the bipartisan laws enacted over the past decade ensuring that minority communities have equal access to banking and other financial services are the cause of this financial situation. [...]
There is no evidence to support Rep. Bachmann’s assertion that “minorities” caused the current financial crisis. Laws designed to open opportunities for equal access to credit do not require banks or thrifts to make loans that are unsafe or unprofitable. In fact, laws like the CRA mandate exactly the opposite. [...] Additionally, research clearly shows that the majority of the predatory loans that have led us to this financial mess were originated by non-bank financial institutions and other entities that did NOT have a CRA obligation and lacked strong federal regulatory oversight. Shifting the blame for the current economic crisis to laws that allow equal access and opportunities to communities of color is ridiculous.
As members of the CBC, we simply ask if Rep. Bachmann’s position that it was lending to minority communities that caused the current financial crisis, represent the position of Republican Caucus?
The Center for American Progress’s Robert Gordon has more in the American Prospect on why this right-wing talking point is nothing more than a pernicious myth.
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62 Responses to “CBC Presses Republicans: Do You Agree With Bachmann’s Assertion That ‘Minorities’ Caused Financial Crisis?”
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Ms. Bachman is as wacky as Ms. Palin. Could they be related? Did they attend the same schools or churches?
September 27th, 2008 at 5:21 pmceltic cynic Says:
Ms. Bachman is as wacky as Ms. Palin. Could they be related? Did they attend the same schools or churches?
celtic,
As I said in the original thread on this, I think they are twins separated at birth.
September 27th, 2008 at 5:23 pmThe CBC is gettin' all uppity.
September 27th, 2008 at 5:25 pm/sarc
How about starting with the minority homeownership rates in this country. It's telling!
This is nothing but a partisan stunt to draw lines between races headed into the fall elections. It is unfortunate that those who have created a system of competition and reduced the rewards so much (jobs, school, etc) are then able to benefit. If white people anywhere go for this...
September 27th, 2008 at 5:26 pmBachmann’s Asssertion That ‘Minorities’ Caused Financial Crisis?
- - It's a tossup for GOP Bimbo of the Year between Bachmann and Palin.
September 27th, 2008 at 5:41 pmShe Was Really Bombed,
And I was really blown away,
Until I asked her what she wanted,
And this is what she had to say:
A pearl necklace.
She wanna pearl necklace.
She wanna pearl necklace.
She gets a charge out of bein' so weird,
Digs gettin' downright strange.
But I can keep a handle on anything,
Just this side of deranged.
She was gettin' bombed,
And I was gettin' blown away,
And she held it in her hand
And this is what she had to say:
A pearl necklace.
She wanna pearl necklace.
She wanna pearl necklace.
She is so tough, as pure as the driven slush.
And that's not true what she's talkin' about, [see notes]
It really don't cost that much.
She was gettin' bombed,
September 27th, 2008 at 5:41 pmAnd I was gettin' blown away,
And she took it in her hand,
And this is what she had to say:
A pearl necklace.
She wanna pearl necklace.
She wanna pearl necklace.
It's time to amend Obama's original comment about bitter people in bad times "cling to guns and God".
Bimbo Bachmann is proof that bitter people in bad times "cling to their guns, their god and their bigotry".
September 27th, 2008 at 5:42 pmoops sorry I didn't intend to post anything more than the chorus. Still she is one crazy woman...
September 27th, 2008 at 5:43 pmdbadass Says:
Hard to Top that...it might shut her up for a moment.
September 27th, 2008 at 5:46 pmRemember, they just need to create the memes that the pundits will later pontificate over.
There real strategy is to disenfranchise voters and take the election by hook or crook. Since we don't have free, open, fair, and verifiable elections, they don't have to have the most votes.
They stole 2000 amd 2004 - they can steal this one too. They just need the talking points.
Racist lies like this will work in their favor because one of the talking points will be that whites won't vote for an African American once they close the curtains at the polls.
September 27th, 2008 at 5:56 pmdbadass,
That was a mouthful...
September 27th, 2008 at 5:56 pmI am not a minority but I am one of those people who are on the brink of disaster from job loss (shipped to Mexico) and can barely make ends meet. To lump this all together and blame the people who thought that they would keep their jobs and did enter into the agreement of home-ownership with the full intention of making their commitments only to have the rug yanked unexpectedly out from under them is unfair. This is not a minority issue in any sense of the word. It's the economy, stupids.
If there are no jobs that pay a living wage to be had, how are people supposed to meet their obligations? If I have to feed my family or make the mortgage payment I know which one I will have to pick. And I know that I am not alone.
September 27th, 2008 at 5:57 pmI don't think there is a hateful view or thought Bachmann doesn't support when it comes to minorities.
I wonder what her views on Jews and money are?
September 27th, 2008 at 5:57 pmFear
September 27th, 2008 at 5:58 pmI'm glad the CBC called them on this one. The best thing to do when people make outlandish statements like this is to call them on it.
Watch the back=pedalling start real soon.
September 27th, 2008 at 5:58 pmBy the way she looks like the Enzyete guy in that picture
September 27th, 2008 at 5:59 pmAt some point these politicians become such a big embarrassment they reflect badly on the people who elected them. Ms. Bachmann has made so many idiotic statements in the last year alone that the people of Minnesota who voted for her should be given a sanity test.
On the other hand, if I was an inept and dishonest politician I would be making plans to move to Minnesota because the voters in this state clearly have little or no capacity for rational decision making. They are apparently so dumb the would elect a Ham Sandwich to Congress...
September 27th, 2008 at 6:01 pmThe MSM will dutifully catapult the propaganda - there political hacks will spew these lies and, going into the election, they will endlessly play video of mclame proclaiming "I have a veto pen" before cheering crowds of pre-selected wingnuts.
That is how they slandered Gore and Kerry and set the memes to cover stolen elections.
September 27th, 2008 at 6:02 pmZooey,
September 27th, 2008 at 6:05 pmSort of Brings to mind an audience line from Rocky Horror...
Shouldn't you be watching the magic box?
The fact that this woman was actually elected is what worries me. The American people have been so dumbed down, including some friends and family members of mine, that I wonder if there's any hope for really saving this democracy. Palin being McCain's running mate is not only a symptom of this incredible ignorance, but the result.
September 27th, 2008 at 6:06 pmI'm from Minnesota and all I can say is, "Sorry."
September 27th, 2008 at 6:09 pmTypical response to any problem. "We're pasty white old Republicans. That makes us perfect. We are incapable of doing anything wrong. It's obviously the other guy's fault. The ones who aren't like US."
Kind of like the excuse my brother makes every time something goes wrong in his life. He's perfect, it must be someone else's fault.
Of course, my brother is a drug addict and an alcoholic. What are the Republicans' excuse?
September 27th, 2008 at 6:11 pmThat's ok, Above the Clouds, it's not your fault that others choose to be lazy and ignorant
September 27th, 2008 at 6:11 pmBachmann resembles Katherine Harris more and more all the time... I say leave her cannon loose, so to speak.
September 27th, 2008 at 6:16 pmShe is scary, she was scary in the state legislature. You have her famous hiding behind some hedges here while monitoring a GLBT rally.
Or you could check out her hot for God video.
I could go on, but it is too painful. What distresses me is I haven't seen any ads pro or con on her 6th district race so far. But before you put down Minnesota or our citizens, remember we did elect my Rep. Keith Ellison who rocks!
September 27th, 2008 at 6:17 pmSluggo--Help us out up here. Bachmann can be beat this year. Donate to her opponent, El Tinklenberg:
http://www.tinklenberg08.com
More on Bachmann here:
http://www.dumpbachmann.blogspot.com
We're not all ham sandwiches up here!
September 27th, 2008 at 6:18 pmSeems to me we have too much Bachmann and not enough Turner Overdrive
September 27th, 2008 at 6:22 pmFolks in Minesota,
Shallow, dumb, stupid......incurious
September 27th, 2008 at 6:41 pmFacts as always unmask the racist right wing talking points.
Fact #1 Fannie and Freddie do not by charter invest in subprime mortgages. To the extent the wingers blame imprudent investments by the GSEs for the problem, their KKK hoods are showing;
Fact #2 Nevada is ground zero for the housing crisis. research demographics on that state's population and you see how racist this meme is;
Fact #3 The worst hit parts of California and Florida are predominantly caucasian bedroom communities (think Stockton). It isn't universal since less afluent communities which include minority dominated towns and cities are affected by the housing crisis but if you do the math many of the hardest hit areas in both states are lilly white;
Fact #4 If you look at Ohio outside Cleveland you will see higher foreclosure rates in caucasian suburbs like Clermont and Warren Counties than in urban areas.
Don't let them get away with this people. Ask Boehner what the foreclosure rate is in his extremely pale district.
September 27th, 2008 at 6:43 pmI'm a Minnowsnowtan and have, half seriously, considered moving a few miles just so I can vote against psycho-Shelly.
I feel I must defend the fine people of her district by saying that she won by collecting delegates through church activism and was a surprise nomination. She then received massive support from the national Republicans against a candidate who just wasn't very appealing.
And while she will retain some appeal among idiot Reichwniners, because of her avowed religious convictions, I don't think many sane people can stand her. Among people I know in the area, and local media, she is viewed as an embarrassment on the national stage. Though I must admit I've met none who voted for her in the first place.
September 27th, 2008 at 6:44 pmI'm quite relieved to see this right-wing talking point thoroughly debunked.
My god, this is the party of Stuck On Clinton (SOC).
I'm also f ucking sick of fundie dipshits like Michelle Bachmann (could someone please tell me that her election prospects are dim?) singling out struggling people in our society. THAT is unAmerican.
September 27th, 2008 at 6:49 pmStill going with the troll-like, ignorant, blanket statements JBaddo? She was elected, like so many politicians, because her faults were marketed as strengths to people who didn't know her because she came on the scene so suddenly. Plus the aforementioned weak opponent and even a third party candidate.
She was elected through a weakness in the electoral system. However, now that she has a body of work? She doesn't have a very good chance of reelection. And her numbers sink every time she opens her mouth.
September 27th, 2008 at 6:53 pmThe Republicans have been building an impressive record of hate-mongering and race-baiting in the last generation. They are NOT the Party of Lincoln!
September 27th, 2008 at 6:56 pmLizard-brain racist Republicans have been using the "race card" for years, dating back to Ronald Reagan and his "welfare queen" lie and Lee Atwater's "Willie Horton" ad.
The debate Friday night between Obama and McCain was just another example.
It must have been "torture" for John McCain to be on the same stage standing beside Barack Obama, semi-interacting in a
"face-to-face" pseudo-debate (McCain never looked at the "uppity Negro" next to him nor spoke to him directly. This was done intentionally).
This has to have been the "Massah" strategy of the Republican racists running John McCain's campaign...with John McCain playing the "Massah" role to Barack Obama's "uppity Negro" role...which is how the racist Republicans were trying to portray the debate...to their racist base.
This also explains the McCain campaign advertisement that followed, showing the "uppity Negro" Barack Obama agreeing with certain of "Massah" John McCain's positions, implying that "uppity Negro" Obama is acknowledging the superiority of "Massah" McCain...all meant to appeal to the lizard brain of racist Republican voters.
All subtle. All intentional. All part of the racist Republican strategy to use the "race card" to try to win in November.
September 27th, 2008 at 6:59 pmOnly right wingers in the state.....you seem to be one of them.
September 27th, 2008 at 7:01 pmNot speaking to Obama is working against them just as not speaking to the Iranians etc. is working against them.
Americans are tired of cowboy forign policy. It doesn't work unless you want trouble.......I think America was ready to kick some ass when bush started this bullshit but it has played out to it's inevitable end and the result has been a failure to get anything constructive done. Leaders are supposed to be more intelligent than this.
They have I think, miscalculated the number of bigots in our country. This crap is driving sensible people to register and vote for Obama.
My kids don't understand the racial slurs. They have grown up in an era where a lot of it has necessarily been driven underground. It is not out in the open as it was when we were young.
I grew up in the deep south....they still had colored drinking fountains and restrooms and signs at restaruants, etc. that said "whites only"
They are still living in the past....a place they want to take us all back to.
September 27th, 2008 at 7:20 pmHere's lots more on crazy Shelly, including how she used unique circumstances to get elected, for those who are curious.
http://dumpbachmann.blogspot.com/
September 27th, 2008 at 7:23 pmOne of them tells lies and the next one swears to it. She is one crazy byatch.
September 27th, 2008 at 7:31 pmAs members of the CBC, we simply ask if Rep. Bachmann’s position that it was lending to minority communities that caused the current financial crisis, represent the position of Republican Caucus?
Of course it is...they are Repukes and I have yet to meet a Repuke who was not a huge bigot.
September 27th, 2008 at 7:35 pmThis is just more of the blame the victim mentality that the right wing is so fond of. Don't blame the predatory lenders that were so interested in getting their percentage at closing that they gave mortgages to people and convinced them they'd be able to afford it. Anybody who has ever bought a house has had a real estate person try to sell them too much home so they'd get a bigger commision. In the old days the mortgage company wouldn't approve the loans. Most of us didn't even realize those days were gone or we'd have looked out for newcomers more than we did.
September 27th, 2008 at 7:42 pmI think we can safely say Michelle is a rightwingnutjob cum wackodoodle...
BTW--She's a former Carter Dem who supposedly turned GOPer after reading Gore Vidal's outstanding historical novel Burr . She didn't like the way he mocked the Founding Farters...
====
September 27th, 2008 at 8:51 pmI live in Minnesota, beautiful land of 10,000 lakes, the Mayo Clinic, the University of Minnesota, the Jolly Green Giant, home state of Nobel Prize Winner Sinclair Lewis, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Hubert Humphrey and may I remind you, Paul Wellstone. Bachmann comes from a very up-tight, religious district. If you blame all Minnesotans for Bachmann, then blame Texas for George Bush, or all people in Arizona for McCain, or Alaskans for Palin. Get real.
September 27th, 2008 at 9:12 pmI was living in Minneapolis when this thing was elected (from Stillwater--formerly a small independent city, now more or less an outlying suburb of St. Paul). It was astounding. Never thought she had a snowball's chance in hell, even though St. Paul is more conservative than Mpls. generally speaking. She's a certifiable, nasty embarrassment--kind of reminds me more of a calculating Katherine Harris than a clueless Sarah Palin, though.
September 27th, 2008 at 9:15 pmSpeaking of racism: there may be another reason McCain didn’t look at Obama at last night’s debate or acknowledge him in the White House bailout photo-op last week. McCain is quite probably a racist and it’s undoubtedly a product of his career as a U.S. Navy officer.
The Navy relegated blacks and Filipinos to mess duties throughout World War II, while the Army grudgingly put African-American infantry, air force and armored units into the field in Europe. The navy experimented with an all-black destroyer crew, but more typical of the wartime navy were the ammunition loaders at Port Chicago in San Francisco, who mutinied over conditions there after 320 were killed in a 1944 explosion. 208 of the protestors received bad-conduct discharges; 50 of them were convicted of mutiny and sentenced to 8-12 years at hard labor.
Thirteen African-Americans were commissioned by the Navy during the Second World War—again, it was billed as an “experiment.” Again, by contrast, the Army commissioned 639 officers in the First World War, opened its first integrated OCS in 1941; there were thirty black officers in the 761st tank battalion alone.
[By contrast, 1 in 5 sailors in the antebellum Navy were African-Americans serving in integrated crews.]
As late as 1972, the (late great) Admiral Elmo Zumalt encountered terrific resistance in trying to introduce wider integration into what he called the “Lily-white Navy.”
At that time, only 1% of Navy officers were African-American.
This is the culture in which John McCain matured. Those ingrained racial attitudes—and I say “ingrained” because McCain is a third-generation Annapolis man—may have even played a role in his strange and determined resistance to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. West Point graduated its first African-American officer in 1877—Annapolis, although it admitted a student in 1872, didn’t graduate an African-American until 1949.
I am by no means an expert on the Navy, but I do have relations who graduated from Annapolis and while I have always enjoyed attending the Naval ceremonies (and I am a huge fan of the Blue Angels!) they were connected with, I was always struck by what seemed to be a near-incestuous cliquishness which must have resisted integration and, again, formed McCain—who was serving and/or a POW in the civil rights years—in profound ways.
I think McCain can tolerate speeches before the NAACP—he is, after all, on the podium and above his audience, but I think the idea of competing with—an possibly losing to—an African-American must enrage him.
September 27th, 2008 at 9:47 pmCan you imagine that in 2008 that some lunatic like Bachman can become a congress person in the USA.She represents a district that thinks little of minorities & blacks,How shameful.
September 27th, 2008 at 9:51 pm<<<<<<<hangs head in shame for fellow Minnesotans. Thankfully, I'm in Jim Oberstar's district.
September 27th, 2008 at 10:18 pmJBaddo Says:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Folks in Minesota,
Shallow, dumb, stupid……incurious
Wow. Come out of your shell dude. Wow. We *were* one of the finest states in the country under Governor Wendy Anderson. Just take a look at what we've become under republican rule. Falling bridges, failing education. Yep, those republican values sure helped. We also receive less than half of every dollar we pay into federal taxes. You red state a-holes need to pull your heads out of your a*ses and realize it's those of us in blue states who are keeping your sorry b*tts alive. Low tax states, give me a break! You're subsidized to the max and
September 27th, 2008 at 10:31 pmI AM PAYING FOR IT!!!!!! (sorry for the disconnect, hit tab instead of caps).
September 27th, 2008 at 10:32 pmWhy is there a CBC in 2008?
September 27th, 2008 at 10:50 pmHey Trixie Says - Thankfully I'm in Jim Oberstar's district also.
September 27th, 2008 at 11:19 pmI live in Las Vegas. We have taken a pretty big hit when it comes to foreclosures. I can tell you for certainty that most of the forecloses are by white people and I would assume the same for Arizona, since it is our neighboring state I also know for certainty also
September 27th, 2008 at 11:20 pmCBC Presses Republicans: Do You Agree That Bachmann’s an Ass?
September 27th, 2008 at 11:42 pmYa spose Bush gave her that pearl necklace?
September 27th, 2008 at 11:44 pmBogtrotters
I agree with everything you said. I was in the Navy as an enlisted man from '59 to '63. The segregation was still apparent because most of the officers stewards (servants) were black. Although more Filipinos were brought in for this purpose. Whole companies in boot camp in San Diego were all Filipinos when I was there. All of the Naval officers, especially the ones from the academy were a$$holes. Of course the Navy has always been that way, officers and the scum enlisted. No wonder that McSame seems to be out of touch with normal human beings.
September 27th, 2008 at 11:53 pmMichele will be happy to know that authorities identified the welfare mother whose posse took down Bear, Lehman, AIG, Fannie, Freedie and sent Goldman and Morgan scurrying to the safer waters of commercial bank status.
September 28th, 2008 at 8:59 amIs this woman crazy or just plain stupid?? With people like her holding a congressional seat, it's no wonder this country is going into the shitter.
September 28th, 2008 at 10:56 amLooks like she is kinda cute, batshit insane and dumb as a post. How did the McZZZZ VP comittee miss her?
September 28th, 2008 at 2:33 pmI think it goes without saying that plenty of us here in Minnesota have been aware for much longer than the rest of you, what an abysmal disgrace Ms. Bachmann is and always has been to our state, and well, just to politics in general.
September 29th, 2008 at 1:05 amSpeaking of racism: there may be another reason McCain didn’t look at Obama at last night’s debate or acknowledge him in the White House bailout photo-op last week. McCain is quite probably a racist and it’s undoubtedly a product of his career as a U.S. Navy officer.
Sounds plausible, but I think there was another factor involved as well.
A little mental exercise: Have you ever told a lie? If so, think about what was the hardest thing about telling the lie... looking the other person in the eye while you spoke the lie, right?
September 29th, 2008 at 1:09 amMore financial savy from Rep. Bachmann
http://tinyurl.com/3kybt9
Could the media please interview someone with a brain? David Gregory, ex-White House reporter who participated in Bush's version of the Lincoln Bedroom, asked Michele Bachmann for her prescription for our nation's financial ills, in light of her support for John McCain.
I thought the Paulson/Bernake plan was already a tasty banquet for America's financial firms, but Michele rented out a whole Hooter's and invited corporations completely outside the banking realm. Here's what Rep. Bachmann added to the menu in her free market, capitalistic solution:
1. Incentivize the marketplace to put equity in
2. Drastically reduce income taxes
3. Suspension or elimination of capital gains taxes
4. Do away with Freddie and Fannie
5. Make the American business climate friendly to receive equity
6. Change the marketplace so we're more business friendly
Michele, you might want to give Senator Elizabeth Dole a call. My guess is she knows what happened, given her credit default swap question at today's Senate Banking Committee hearing.
A completely unregulated, as in totally free market went a kilter the last week or so. Credit derivatives, specifically credit default swaps are the "insurance" or peace of mind that moves corporate backed securities. In the case of Goldman Sachs, what cost $100,000 last summer roared to $900,000 last week. That's an eightfold increase in coverage for one year's worth of peace of mind on $10 million in Goldman debt.
For the free market buyer to make any money, interest rates need to shoot up drastically overnight. Or the paper needs to be discounted dramatically. The buyer won't purchase without some risk protection. Thus, nothing moves. Credit dries up in this totally free market. And why? Because the big money boys don't trust each other to make good on their bets.
Knock, knock, Michele! A ten year run of your totally free market solution failed miserably last week. The investment houses fled to safer, regulated waters to avoid shark-like risk.
So what does, Rep. Bachmann offer, other than the next page on the blueprint of disaster capitalism? Nothing. Welcome to corporafornication and the complete death of the American media as messenger of information.
September 29th, 2008 at 12:07 pmHere is the propaganda film to go along with the R talking points
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5tZc8oH--o
September 29th, 2008 at 12:31 pmabarts,
The only reason that there is a need for the CBC in these days and times are because of right wing imbeciles like Bachmann who let nonsense like that come out of their mouth. It is indeed a shame that even in these modern times of global reach and push button communications with people half a planet away of various cultures, we have home grown idiots who just have to blame their own shortcomings on their favorite scapegoat: Minorities. And when they are done playing the 'Black' card, they'll move on to Latino's, and maybe even Asians' will get a shot this time around, hmm?
I'm sorry for ranting, but it just eats at me that there are people today still running around that think and talk like that.
September 29th, 2008 at 3:53 pm