Community Investment Not So Important Anymore (300th Post!)

According to the AP, "President Bush's budget will propose cuts of up to 40 percent in a $4.7 billion program that disperses development grants to communities across the United States.

...The program provides money to more than 1,000 communities each year and is a favorite with state and local officials, who are expected to battle any attempt to pare it back... Last year, Bush's budget applauded the flexibility the program gives local officials for using the money. But it also criticized the grants for spreading the money so broadly that it fails to achieve its primary objective — revitalizing distressed neighborhoods."

I agree with the last point; as with everything, we need to make sure the money is being spent properly, but this is just taking that money away.

Also, according to a joint study by the Federal Reserve and Harvard University, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which supervises banks across the U.S., wants to severely reduce the Community Reinvestment Act obligations to 80% of the banks that are currently affected. They plan to allow all of these financial institutions to "streamline" the CRA review process. Critics say this change will result in harmful restrictions in services to poor communities, especially in rural areas.

The CRA was part of legislation passed as part of ongoing Civil Rights action in the 1970s and was aimed at correcting the wholesale "red-lining" of some communities. Red-lining was a practice where some banks marked off entire communities or neighborhoods as undesirable, refusing to make loans to those areas. The CRA was created to guarantee that banks would participate in community programs and loans would be available to them.

See, this is another example of the kind of things going on (like the rollback of many environmental and other regulations) that people don't hear about in the news media because the White House doesn't put out a press release nor does Tom Delay take the House floor about it. It's not some law that' s being voted on, yet it's having a big effect on public policy.

But as to the issue itself, I see it of the upmost importance to invest in our poor communities. I would think it would have bi-partisan support too, considering that if Republicans want to get people off of "welfare" this is a good place to start. I actually support the faith-based iniative (except with stipulations on their behavior), but I think all community groups should receive federal funding. These are the people really dedicated, who will really make a difference. I hope these changes don't go ahead, and indeed we start doing more to invest in our communities.

Anyway, those are my two cents.