"Community Groups" Still Pressuring Banks to Lend

Someone wake me up because I thought we just learned the dangers of pressuring banks to lend to minorities and other lower income Americans based on political, rather than economic factors.

But groups like the Community Reinvestment Association and other "community organizer groups" didn't get the message. They are pressuring Wells Fargo and others to lend more to those who might not be able to pay those loans back.

After mergers, many big banks lay out specific community reinvestment plans, but San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. doesn't do that. "Now essentially there's no goals and no public transparency," said Peter Skillern, executive director of the Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina.

B of A already got sucker-punched into a 10-year goal of $1.5 trillion of lending to minority and low-income groups. Fortunately, some banks like Wells Fargo still understand that they are owned by public shareholders and are not arms of the Obama government.