Thirty Years of the CRA in Pictures

Via Patterico, Doug Ross has some interesting data regarding the Community Reinvestment Act that Democrats, beginning with President Carter in 1977, and strengthened by President Clinton in the mid-'90s, has done to our economy.

Of course, Chris Dodd has been in the Senate most of that time, supporting the market interventions that have driven us to the brink. For the record, I don't question the motives of these people. I am sure that they thought they were doing a good thing for people who could not afford homes.

Unfortunately, they were wrong. Very wrong. And they should have known it.

Instead of listening to the lenders who make a living out of gauging risk and determining who can afford a loan, Democrats thought they knew better and imposed their will on the lenders, forcing them to lower their standards or face consequences. Now, after thirty years of this meddling, we are all facing consequences of our own.

There are two things we have to do with this information. First, we must hold those responsible accountable. Chris Dodd is one of those responsible, and he needs to be forced to take responsibilities for the consequences of his policies. He needs to go.

Second, we must do all we can to prevent these policies like these from becoming law in the first place. Of course, that is about to get a lot more difficult with Obama in the driver's seat, but the stakes are high. The garbage we let the Democrats pass now has the potential to ruin our children's lives as they enter adulthood. As Ross notes:

The charts provide ample evidence of the tragic errors associated with attempts to "social engineer" the free market system. As citizens it is our duty to prevent government from engineering more debacles related solely to central planning. We know that central planning does not work: the Soviet Union and the Community Reinvestment Act offer stark evidence.

Well said.