From: Jonathan Watts Hull [mailto:jhull@slcatlanta.org]
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2004 9:33 AM
To: Comments
Subject: Community Reinvestment -- RIN 3064-AC50
I strongly oppose the proposed changes to the Community Reinvestment
Act. Gutting the CRA amounts to pulling the rug out from under those
with the least resources. The downstream effect of this will be less
money flowing to poor communities, urban and rural, and greater
insecurity in those areas. This will in turn lead to increased
government transfer payments, growing blight, and a perpetuation of the
downward spiral many poor communities find themselves in. The CRA offers
a lifeline to poor communities by directing capital to areas where
traditional bank financing is patchy at best.
The CRA represents in almost every way the right way to help poor
communities. Directing banks to set aside a portion of their business
for what amounts to public service is a very appropriate way to insure
that the public good--which the government is charged with promoting--is
protected and served.
Do not adopt changes to the CRA. In a time when resources for poor
communities are reeling from job loss, sluggish income growth, curtailed
public services, and minimal prospects for the future, I cannot think of
a more cynical, mean-spirited action than to allow the majority of
financial institutions a pass on providing services. Indeed, we should
be doing much more to make sure that essential financial services ARE
available to the poor. Gutting the CRA as the rule proposes is a
mistake, it's wrong, and it will hurt America.
