Loading ...The great American ‘homewashing’ is happening under our noses
The most prominent purveyor of homewashing is the massive government-sponsored enterprise known as the Federal Home Loan Banks. There are 11 regional FHLBs from Boston to San Francisco and points in between. They and their 6,500 member institutions follow a simple business model.
What it says is that for every $20 of taxpayer support for the FHLBs, only $1 is set aside for affordable housing. The other $19 goes directly to the FHLBs and indirectly to the FHLBs’ members. It is worth noting here that each of the CEOs of the 11 FHLBs receives million-dollar pay packages. This is for distributing a government benefit to their members.
In sum, taxpayers’ dollars support the FHLBs in exchange for which the taxpayers receive little to no benefit. Meanwhile, the FHLBs suppress the taxpayers’ returns on their bank accounts thus enhancing bank profits.
Bankers think this is a fine arrangement and it should be left alone. “Don’t mess with success,” the American Bankers Association has warned the public.
Every taxpayer is the victim of the FHLBs’ homewashing. Every taxpayer contributes to the FHLBs’ estimated $6.3 billion subsidy.
If you ever needed conclusive evidence that our government has gone completely evil – there it is.
Gov’t and Banks (financial industry generally) are so joined at the hip that I think tax receipts and interest payments all wind up in the same pool. The entire system is designed to sheer the sheep or a better analogy, a host/parasite relationship.