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In our system of checks and balances, Congress has the power to legislate law. The Justice Department (DOJ) is given the responsibility to uphold the laws as written, never to interpret or legislate their own laws. But has the DOJ been running amok, forcing their own self-serving agenda?
According to a recent news report, Attorney General Eric Holder, who was a deputy under Janet Reno, is advocating a new crackdown on alleged discrimination. The DOJ has asked several banks to relax mortgage underwriting standards, approve loans for minorities with poor credit, and insisted minorities cannot be turned down for credit because they receive public aid.
These actions prompted one banking executive to ask, “how can someone both be financially stable enough to merit a mortgage at the same time theyre on public assistance?” He further commented, “By definition, you dont have the kind of employment that can support such a loan.
The DOJ has threatened prosecution of all banks who cannot or will not comply. Smaller banks who cannot afford legal representation to fight the DOJ are prime targets, and they usually settle before prosecution. Many worry by unwittingly pushing the banks into a panic cycle to avoid prosecution, the threats might lead to a repeat of the housing crisis which was caused in part by lax lending standards.
The DOJ has acknowledged it did not prove charges of intentional discrimination in every case. According to the news article, “Many, in fact, earned outstanding ratings from anti-redlining regulators enforcing the Community Reinvestment Act.” Nevertheless, the DOJ has demanded non-disclosure statements from the banks barring them from talking about the methods used to allege discrimination. These actions have caused bank lawyers to claim that the DOJ prosecutors are trying to hide the shaky legal grounds on which the cases are built.
The DOJs actions has caused the House Judiciary committee to plan an investigation into the alleged abuses. One congressional investigator was reported to have said, Theyre pushing the envelope as far as they can go in the enforcement of civil rights. Restated another way, the DOJ may be interpreting and/or legislating their own brand of law.
The Constitution protects minority groups, and we have the freedom to legally pursue happiness . When we give one group of Americans more individual rights than another, this is discrimination. The DOJ has gone overboard in their collectivist thought and is now discriminating against Americans who are not in the minority.
It is the governments responsibility to legislate laws to even the playing field for all Americans. Collectivism is the philosophy that a society should have all its individuals live for the collective group as a whole. The collective group, or state, is to be served at all costs, even to the detriment of individuals. This is not democracy, this is the foundation for communism, fascism, and socialism.
Similar practices may well have contributed to the housing crisis. Because of the housing crisis, which has been driven by millions of home foreclosures, individuals from all walks of life have been forced to file for bankruptcy protection.
If you need relief from the stress of debt and you live in or around the metropolitan area of Washington, D.C., contact us at . We will help you find a bankruptcy attorney in your area who will answer your bankruptcy questions.
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