Monday, June 6, 2016

Obama's 'Slush Fund' for Liberal Groups

"Bank of America has been able to reduce a multi-billion dollar mortgage fraud penalty imposed by the Justice Department by giving millions of dollars to liberal groups approved by the Obama administration.
"The bank has wiped about $194 million off its record $16.6 billion 2014 mortgage settlement by donating to nonprofits and legal groups. Thanks to little-known provisions in the settlement, the bank only had to make $84 million in donations to do that. ...
"Among the groups receiving the money were Hispanic civil rights group the National Council of La Raza ($1.5 million), the National Urban League ($1.1 million) and the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America ($750,000).
"Republicans have sharply criticized that part of the settlement as well as near-identical language in multi-billion settlements with Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, arguing that the administration has created a 'slush fund' for liberal groups. The settlement skirts federal law, which says that any revenue obtained by the government must go to the Treasury and cannot be redirected to third parties. The deals circumvented that by requiring the banks to make 'voluntary' donations before they officially entered into the settlement." — Sean Higgins, The Washington Examiner
There's that phrase "Republicans have sharply criticized" we've heard all these many years. Ya know the phrase that has put so much fear in the administration and stymied the progress of the Obama agenda.