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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > September > 08
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Guest column: Bankers are tying us to railroad tracks again
This column is written by Richard Stock, director of the Business Research Group at the University of Dayton.
If you own a home or saved for retirement, you got hit by a train this last year when the collapse in the financial markets destroyed housing and stock values.
The collapse in the financial markets was linked to uncertainty regarding the true value of subprime mortgage loans. As of August 2009, more than two-thirds of all foreclosures are still tied to those subprime loans. Fifteen percent of subprime loans are in foreclosure, while just 3 percent of all prime mortgage loans are in foreclosure.
For years, consumer groups had warned that fraudulent practices in the subprime mortgage market were creating problems for the borrowers and the neighborhoods in which they lived. They proposed modest common-sense reforms at both the state and federal levels.
Here in Ohio, and at the national level, bankers successfully stopped those reform efforts. Like the villain in the silent movies, they tied the consumer to the train tracks and walked away. They did so because they were making money hand over fist on those mortgage products.
Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act is pending in Congress. This legislation would streamline financial consumer protection that is currently fractured between seven federal agencies (and regulated by more than 20 laws) into one office, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
The protection agency’s sole mission would be to protect consumers by preventing discriminatory, deceptive or fraudulent loans; ensuring products are fair and suitable to the buyer; and providing transparent, uniform enforcement. The agency would examine the safety of credit products, features and practices, no matter what kind of lender offers them.
This is the kind of oversight that would have stopped the reckless lending that has scarred the Dayton area. It is what we needed five years ago, and it is what we need now.
President Barack Obama put the basic rationale for the act quite simply: “When you buy a toaster, if it explodes in your face, there is a law that says your toasters need to be safe. But when you get a credit card, or you get a mortgage, there is no law on the books that says if it explodes in your face financially, somehow you are going to be protected.”
These days, bankers are once again battling against the reform effort. They argue that the proposed relationship between state and federal regulation will make compliance costly and complex. They used this same argument to stop state legislation in the past, arguing they preferred regulation at the national level.
Now that regulation would be at a national level, it is somehow “too complicated.” Further, the bill is structured so that states have flexibility in putting an end to unsavory practices before they can even reach the national level, thus protecting all of us.
Bankers are saying the proposed agency creates another layer of bureaucracy that we don’t need. Actually, the proposal would consolidate and streamline consumer protection. It would have consumer protection staffers from relevant federal agencies working in one place.
Putting the consumer protection staff and functions into one agency would reduce the burden on banks, not increase it.
So here we are again. We are lying on the train tracks, waiting to be hog-tied by the same financial interest groups that brought us the Great Recession of 2009, waiting on the train to run us down. It’s time to be your own hero. Call your representative in Congress and tell him or her to vote for the Consumer Financial Protection Agency Act.
Permalink | Comments (8) | Post your comment | Categories: Economy, Guest Columns
Editorial: There’s no pill for disease of violence
On the surface, it’s hard to see anything encouraging about 2009 when it comes to gun violence in Dayton. By the end of August, the 30 homicides already recorded equaled the total for all of last year.
But there are some hopeful signs in the city’s statistics that suggest Chief Richard Biehl’s Community Initiative to Reduce Gun Violence can help make a difference. Chicago’s similar CeaseFire program, built on the same principles as the chief’s effort, is generating a lot of buzz for its success reducing violence in key neighborhoods in that city.
CeaseFire, which was hailed last week by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, applies public health principles that are used to control epidemics to combating violence. The idea is to focus attention on a small group that is especially at risk — in this case, those most likely to end up on one side or the other of a pointed gun in “hot spot” neighborhoods — and attempt to change their behavior.
In Dayton, the chief’s effort began in November. As a condition of parole or probation, young men who fit a profile that suggests they are likely candidates to be involved with gun violence are brought in for straight talk with law enforcement and community leaders.
The message: We will help you take a better path, but we will come down on you hard if you choose the wrong road.
Chief Biehl said the men were most affected by an ex-prisoner’s words of regret and the grief of a mother who lost her son in a shooting. The Rev. Daryl Ward of Omega Baptist Church liked what he saw when he attended one of the sessions.
“It’s only a start, but it’s a start in the right direction,” he said.
The theory behind these programs has three strands.
First, individuals are coached about what to do in potentially ugly situations instead of grabbing a gun or pulling a knife. Second, they’re asked to think about the risks, from death and prison to causing a mother so much pain. Finally, the hope is to establish new norms that lead to less violence.
An evaluation of Chicago’s program last year by the National Institute for Justice said it was making a measurable impact on reducing gun incidents in the targeted neighborhoods.
Despite the spike in gun deaths here, Chief Biehl said other statistics are not all depressing. In March, a month in which one of the first “call-in” meetings for probationers and parolees was held, the city had a worrisome 31 gun-related injuries. But in April, gun injuries dropped to seven.
Gun-related injury remained at about 15 per month until another spike in late summer. The education and outreach program looks promising. Even moderate success in getting would-be offenders to think twice before they reach for a gun can make a big dent in the violence that is shattering lives and neighborhoods.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: City of Dayton, Editorials, Law Enforcement and Public Safety, Scott Elliott
