Lenders Agree to Prop Up Ailing ShoreBank - FOXBusiness.com

Lenders Agree to Prop Up Ailing ShoreBank - FOXBusiness.com

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So, some major Wall Street firms, such as GE, Citigroup, and even Goldman Sachs are bailing out Chicago-based ShoreBank, which has well documented and strong ties to the Obama Administration.  The White House has also pledged "tens of millions" in additional taxpayer funds.  So why is this bank so important?  And why would Wall Street, and in particular, Goldman Sachs, which the Administration is 'aggressively' pursuing for alleged criminal investment fraud, be hunky-dory with shelling out $140 million for this bank.  What interest do Fortune 500 companies have in rescuing a small, politically connected community bank with taxpayer money?

Obama himself has apparently singled out the bank for praise for lending to low-income communities, despite the fact the bank has made some bad investments to put itself into this situation.  And these major Wall Street firms have all been the recipients of huge sums of government financial assistance during the financial crisis.  It would therefore be reasonable to deduce that the government has strong influence over these firms.  According to this same report, "[...] some of the Wall Street firmst that have given money have said they've received political pressure to contribute to the bailout of a business that under normal circumstances would have been left to fail."

So the banks were pressured into lending the money.  It would also be reasonable to assume that at least some of that money was received from the government (i.e. your tax dollars), not to mention the unspecified "tens of millions" coming directly from the government for the bank.  So rather than demonizing and railing on Chicago-based ShoreBank for its bad investments like the rest of Wall Street, the President praises this particular bank to which his administration just happens to have strong ties, for lending practices that he happens to politically agree with when convenient.

Is it too much to conclude that the government is once again cherry-picking which institutions are deserving of assistance?  From ShoreBank's own website, "[...] our mission is to help build thriving communities with opportunities for good jobs, quality education, affordable housing, and a healthy environment."  Sounds all rosy and wonderful, but it's euphemistic language for social justice, which is itself a euphemism for redistribution of wealth.  ShoreBank is no longer just a small community bank with a few political connections.  It has evolved into a bank with very important political connections to both the Obama and Clinton Administrations (it only takes a few Google searches to find out more), which is highly interested in domestic and foreign microfinancing, "green jobs," minority owned business, and all kinds of other politically motivated investment practices.

It gets even better.  As recently as February, ShoreBank reported $50 million in losses, according to the Chicago Tribune.  ShoreBank could be eligible to receive TARP money if it were recognized as a "Community Development Financial Institution," but in order to receive the TARP funds (and not be seized by the FDIC), it would have to secure matching funds from private sources.  Looks like ShoreBank magically got Wall Street to come to the rescue, while ten other Illinois banks have closed this year alone.

So let's connect the dots, shall we?  A "community" bank is selected to get hundreds of millions of dollars from big, politically pressured Wall Street banks which received taxpayer money, plus tens of millions more in direct taxpayer money, to make it eligible for even more taxpayer money in the form of TARP and keep it from being seized by the regulatory arm of the government, all because of the bank's political agendas and far-reaching connections.  What does that mean?  The government determines winners and losers, who gets money or who is left to fail.  More importantly, the government just gave your money to a politicized investment firm, which in turn will invest it in foreign and domestic "social justice" initiatives.