American Banker
By Eugene A. Ludwig

The following is an excerpt from a speech on corporate social responsibility Mr. Ludwig delivered Sept. 23 at Adelphi University.

Many companies today have admirable programs and foundations designed to serve their communities beyond the products and services they create and sell. However, many companies do not.

I come from an industry where at least one part of it, the banking business, has an affirmative, statutory, and regulatory set of duties to serve its entire community, in particular low- and moderate-income elements of that community. These duties are part of something called the Community Reinvestment Act. (more…)

By KELLY BENNETT
Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008

City Attorney Mike Aguirre made a big splash last week with his plans to sue Washington Mutual for predatory lending, but questions have been raised whether a local official has the authority to challenge the federally chartered bank. (more…)

The New York Times
October 15, 2008

In recent weeks, Republicans in Congress have been blaming a lot of things, besides themselves, for the subprime mortgage debacle. And many of these same Republicans have long wanted to abolish the Community Reinvestment Act, a landmark law that helped to rebuild some of the nation’s most desolate communities by requiring banks to lend, invest and open branches in low-income areas that had historically been written off. (more…)

LegalNewsline.com
BY SCOTT SABATINI

TOLEDO, Ohio (Legal Newsline)-A grassroots effort that began near the U.S.-Mexican border reached the heartland of America on Monday when Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama advocated a 90-day moratorium on some home foreclosures during a rally on Monday in this blue-collar swing state. (more…)

Berkeley, CA – The Greenlining Institute, a national public policy and advocacy center that has been highly critical of Countrywide’s predatory subprime lending, had urged Attorney General Brown to bring suit at a December 2007 meeting. The organization labeled the so-called $8.7 billion dollar settlement “ far less than appears on the surface.” (more…)

California – The House of Representatives joined the Senate’s vote on Wednesday in affirming the $700 billion dollar bailout of financial institutions. The bailout contains virtually no language that will compel financial institutions to effectively address the foreclosure crisis or to embrace adequate measures to keep people on Main Street in their homes. The bailout also includes a wide range of benefits for big business but nothing for the small business community that will keep our economy going through a recession. (more…)

Berkeley, CA – Today, in response to the strong opposition from Main St. and the heavy Congressional criticism of the $700 billion dollar bailout, Greenlining Institute has proposed to the Secretary of the Treasury and the federal banking regulators an alternative or supplement to any future bailout. The proposal entitled the “$200 Billion Dollar Sovereign Wealth Fund Investment in Homeownership” could be headed by the two most respected Americans knowledgeable about housing and investments, Sheila Bair the Chair of the FDIC (listed by Forbes magazine as the most powerful woman in the United States) and Warren Buffet, the world’s most respected investor. (more…)

By Cheryl Miller

SACRAMENTO – Six plaintiffs, including Attorney General Jerry Brown, will ask a federal panel <http://www.jpml.uscourts.gov/>  on Thursday to keep their individual lawsuits against Countrywide Financial Corp. untangled and out of a single federal court. (more…)

Main Street Homeowners Propose 150-Day Moratorium and Cap on CEO Compensation as Part of One Trillion Dollar Wall Street Bail-out

Berkeley, CA – Today, September 22, 2008, The Greenlining Institute called for a 150-day foreclosure moratorium and a cap on CEO compensation to be included in the Bernanke/Paulson one trillion dollar bail-out of Wall Street (see attached letter to Bernanke and Paulson.) (more…)

By Capital Research Center  Saturday, September 6, 2008
By Matthew Vadum

Oh, the liberal apoplexy.

The hard left has responded with delicious howls of indignation to GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s belittling of ‘community organizing.’ (more…)