Community Development Financial Institutions

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H. R. 1999 To authorize appropriations for assistance for the National Council of La Raza and the Raza Development Fund. (1) provide technical and financial assistance for site acquisition and development, construction financing, and short- and long-term financing for housing, community facilities, and economic development; (2) leverage capital from private entities, including private financial institutions, insurance companies, and private philanthropic organizations; (3) provide technical assistance, training, support, and advice to develop the management, financial, and administrative capabilities of housing development organizations serving low-income households, including Hispanic households; and (4) conduct such other activities as may be determined by the Secretary and the National Council of La Raza. (b) Authorization of Appropriations- There is authorized to be appropriated for grants under this section-- (1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2008;and (2) $10,000,000 for each fiscal year thereafter. Everyone should thank Dianer, She originally posted it and it got deleted... WOO HOO!!

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High five to you, excellent question. Hard to believe that our government could systematically destroy our country. It makes you wonder if their ultimate objective is to be the world leader for the New World Order.

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Reality check. The philippines has good sound laws but corrupt political influences always delay the implementation of these laws. By the time these laws are enforced, they become so obsolete that another law must be passed (just like the politicians who regularly pass gas - i.e. fart through their mouth).

These Facts; President Clinton?s Record on the Economy: In 1992, 10 million Americans were unemployed, the country faced record deficits, and poverty and welfare rolls were growing. Family incomes were losing ground to inflation and jobs were being created at the slowest rate since the Great Depression. 1.Strong Economic Growth: Since President Clinton and Vice President Gore took office, economic growth has averaged 4.0 percent per year, compared to average growth of 2.8 percent during the Reagan-Bush years. 2.Most New Jobs Ever Created Under a Single Administration: The economy has created more than 22.5 million jobs in less than eight years?the most jobs ever created under a single administration, and more than were created in the previous 12 years. Of the total new jobs, 20.7 million, or 92 percent, are in the private sector. 3.Unemployment at Its Lowest Level in More than 30 Years: Overall unemployment has dropped to the lowest level in more than 30 years, down from 6.9 percent in 1993 to just 4.0 percent in November 2000. The unemployment rate has been below 5 percent for 40 consecutive months. 4.Unemployment for African Americans: has fallen from 14.2 percent in 1992 to 7.3 percent in October 2000, the lowest rate on record. Unemployment for Hispanics has fallen from 11.8 percent in October 1992 to 5.0 percent in October 2000, also the lowest rate on record. 5.Highest Homeownership Rate on Record: 6.President Clinton?s Record on Fiscal Discipline: 7.Largest Surplus Ever: The surplus in FY 2000 is $237 billion?the third consecutive surplus and the largest surplus ever. 8.Largest Three-Year Debt Pay-Down Ever: Under Presidents Reagan and Bush, the debt held by the public quadrupled. Under the Clinton-Gore budget, we are on track to pay off the entire publicly held debt on a net basis by 2009. 9.Lower Federal Government Spending: the lowest level since 1966. 10.. Reduced Interest Payments on the Debt: , interest payments on the debt were $125 billion lower than projected. 11.Double Digit Growth in Private Investment in Equipment and Software: 12.With government no longer draining resources out of capital markets, private investment in equipment and software averaged 13.3 percent annual growth since 1993, compared to 4.7 percent during 1981 to 1992. 13.Enacted the 1993 Deficit Reduction Plan without a Single Republican Vote. 14.Negotiated the Balanced Budget Agreement of 1997. 15.Dedicated the Surplus to Save Social Security and Reduce the National Debt. 16.Opening World Markets to American Goods and Providing Leadership on Globalization 17.The Most U.S. Exports Ever. 18.1.4 Million More Jobs due to Exports: 19.Lowest Inflation since the 1960s: 20.To Create Trade Opportunities and Expand the Benefits of Globalization, President Clinton: 21.Won Ratification of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993, 22.Won Approval of Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China. 23.Successfully Completed the Uruguay Round. 24.Fought for the First-Ever African and the Caribbean Basin Trade Bills. 25.Promoted Trade Opportunities for High Technology. 26.Secured Historic Debt Relief. 27.Dramatically Expanded U.S. Efforts to Fight Child Labor and Expand Basic Education. 28.Defused International Economic Crises. 29.Rewarding Work and Empowering Communities 30.Higher Incomes at All Levels: 31.Lowest Poverty Rate in 20 Years: 32.Lowest Poverty Rate for Single Mothers on Record: 33.Smallest Welfare Rolls Since 1969: 34.To Help All Americans Benefit from Prosperity, President Clinton:] 35.Ended Welfare as We Knew It. 36.Rewarded Work by Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit. 37.Created Empowerment Zones. 38.Created Community Development Financial Institutions. 39.Strengthened the Community Reinvestment Act. 40.Encouraged Investment in America?s New Markets 41.Raised the Minimum Wage 42.Helped People with Disabilities Work 43.Investing in Educating and Training the American People 44.More Americans Are Enrolling in College: 45.More High School Students Are Preparing for College: 46.More Americans Are Earning College Degrees: 47.Americans Are Becoming Lifelong Learners: 48.Created the College Tax Credits, the Largest Single Investment in Higher Education since the G.I. Bill. 49.Doubled Student Financial Aid. 50.Created Direct Student Loans and Reduced Interest Rates. 51.Created New Paths to College through GEAR UP, AmeriCorps, and TRIO. 52.Strengthened Elementary and Secondary Education. 53.Passed the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. 54.Reducing Tax Burdens for Average and Hard-Pressed Working Families. 55.Lowest Federal Income Tax Burden in 35 Years: 56.Higher Incomes even after Taxes and Inflation: 57.Expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit. 58.Created the $500 per Child Tax Credit. 59.Won the Hope Scholarship Tax Credit. 60.Won the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit. 61.Established Education IRAs. 62.Created Empowerment Zones. 63.Simplified Pension Rules. 64.Simplified Tax Laws and Protected Taxpayer Rights. 65.Closed Tax Loopholes. 66.http://clinton5.nara.gov/WH/ Accomplishments/eightyears-03.html Which you are wrong it is a president that united the democratic and republican parties. Obtuse way to point out the tings most inportant to the US. all you did with that answer is show your ignorance Krytox If you open your eyes all the money is in the military now what is the country because of it This question has demonstrated exactly what I thought. Those who are Obama supporters and those who are Clinton haters are blind. You can put the facts right in front of them and they will try to bash with the biggest thing that really matter. Bill got his weiner sucked and that was the downfall of America.

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Couldn't have said it better myself! I sure hope Hillary wins and straightens out this country.

SOMALILAND In Africa, an island of democracy asks: Where is US help? Posted by: Khadar Mohamed Abdikare Originally Posted by The Christian Science Monitor Hargeisa, Somaliland - Under the Bush administration's theory of creating regional stability by supporting islands of democracy, leaders in Somaliland say it should be a shoo-in for official recognition as Africa's newest nation state. Instead, this breakaway republic, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991, is marooned in diplomatic limbo. Having not yet achieved statehood, it is without access to formal trade agreements or international financial institutions such as the World Bank. "The international community has abandoned us," says Hussein Ali Nur, editor of the weekly English-language Republican newspaper published here in Somaliland's capital, Hargeisa. "America talks about supporting democracy, but everything is distorted by the fight against terrorism. Our success is overshadowed by [US] strategic interests in Somalia." During the last 16 years, as Somalia has torn itself apart, Somaliland's leaders have disbanded a guerrilla movement, drafted a constitution, and held multiparty elections. Development consultant Mark Bradbury, who monitored parliamentary elections in 2005, says the republic performs as well as, if not better than, other countries in the region, such as Ethiopia and Eritrea, on public participation in the democratic process and freedom of speech. Said Noor, the foreign minister, goes one step further: "We have created a modern, African parliamentary system. It's a model for the region." The house of representatives is directly elected and the upper house, the house of guurti, is composed of clan elders. Both houses are based on ethnic power-sharing quotas. Bradbury says the arrangement has helped to foster stability by accommodating traditional social structures. While Somalia is fractured by tension between numerous clans, Somaliland is more homogenous ? dominated by one single clan, the Isaq. This social cohesion has played a large part in defining Somaliland's sense of identity and promoting the notion of a separate future. But not one country has endorsed its claims of sovereignty. Political scientist Roland Marchal at the Center for International Studies and Research in Paris says the US ? and the rest of the international community ? may well support Somaliland to achieve independence in the long run, but "timing is everything. What's to be achieved by recognizing a breakaway region in the middle of a bloody and protracted civil war?" For now, the US State Department seems content to follow the lead of the African Union, which says it's focused on resuscitating failed states such as Somalia ? not breakaway republics. Some African analysts believe Somaliland's independence could form part of a future peace deal within a solution for the whole of Somalia ? but fulfilling Somaliland's ambition prematurely could undermine Somalia's fragile Transitional Federal government (TFG), still fighting to establish control over the capital, Mogadishu. A former British protectorate, Somaliland achieved independence in 1960, but quickly joined with former Italian territories to form Somalia. "We jumped too soon," says Mr. Noor. "It was a mistake." Key posts in the new unity government went to southerners from Mogadishu and Somalilanders rapidly felt excluded. Their mounting resentment gave birth to a rebel movement that Somalia's dictator, Said Barré, attempted to crush. His bombing raids of the main urban centers in 1988 killed 50,000 people and left Hargeisa in ruins. Mr. Barré was ousted in 1991, starting the civil war in Somalia that is still raging ? but Somalia's implosion was Somaliland's moment of opportunity. Now its population of 3 million Sunni Muslims wants nothing more to do with rule from Mogadishu. Noor, a former guerrilla, says that memories of Barré's repression are still so bitter that "any political leaders who agreed to reunification would be killed one by one by our own people." Bradbury thinks foreign diplomats could learn a lot from Somaliland's experience of reconciliation and reconstruction. He notes that Somaliland "has made huge strides with minimal outside interference, and that hasn't been allowed to happen in Somalia." While the international community maintains a close interest in Mogadishu's future, Bradbury is concerned that Somaliland is not strategically important enough for foreign governments to invest the time and resources required in recognizing and sustaining independence. "Paradoxically," he says, "that may have contributed to its achievements to date."

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Forget it. There is not much chance the US will do anymore foreign intervention or 'help'. The American people consider it war of choice, immoral, illegal and unconstitutional. They no longer have the stomach nor the budget for it. No politicians in our future will have the courage to risk their legacy like Bush did. You and every other country in the world is on their own dealing with all the pocket dictators. Good luck. Pass it on

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL As U.S. leaders craft policies to curb illegal immigration from Mexico, the U.S. Federal Reserve is devising programs to extend banking services to undocumented immigrants. A new remittance program aims to bring Mexican migrants who send money home into the mainstream U.S. financial system, regardless of their immigration status. Dubbed "Directo a Mexico," the remittance program enables U.S. commercial banks to make money transfers for Mexican workers through the Federal Reserve's own automated clearinghouse, which is linked to Banco de Mexico, the Mexican central bank. To use the service, a Mexican need only possess a matricula consular, an ID issued by the Mexican consulate in most major U.S. cities to those with proof of Mexican birth or citizenship, or a picture ID card issued by the U.S. or another foreign government. The idea is to make it cheaper and safer for Mexican workers to send funds to their relatives. "We offer an extremely competitive exchange rate," said Elizabeth McQuerry, an Atlanta-based assistant vice president for the Federal Reserve Bank's retail payments office. "We cost a third of other providers." The majority of immigrants currently make transfers, which average $350 each, through companies like Western Union or a hodgepodge of wire-transfer firms, couriers and others that operate out of storefronts in Hispanic enclaves. Family members then collect the wired cash at a shop in their town or village. The Federal Reserve Bank and Banco de Mexico launched a cross-country road show during the summer to promote the new funds-transfer program to commercial banks. Banks that offer the service hope to attract new customers. Indeed, one of the Federal Reserve Bank's goals is to use the program as a springboard for drawing hundreds of thousands of immigrants into the formal U.S. banking system because commercial banks require that those wanting the service first open a savings account. "People who didn't have bank accounts establish a relationship with us," said James Maloney, chairman of Mitchell Bank in Milwaukee, one of the first banks to offer the Federal Reserve Bank's remittance scheme. "It's great for our business." Acknowledging that many Mexicans sending money home are illegal immigrants, the Federal Reserve's brochure poses the following frequently asked question: "If I return to Mexico or am deported, will I lose the money in my bank account?" The answer: "No. The money still belongs to you and can be easily accessed at an ATM in Mexico using your debit card." A team at the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta joined forces with a team at the Mexican central bank to design the Directo a Mexico program in response to a mandate by President Bush, following the U.S.-Mexico Partnership for Prosperity struck by Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox in 2001. One of the stated objectives was to lower the cost paid by Mexican workers to send money to their native country. The Federal Reserve Bank's brochure touts the favorable foreign-exchange rate, based on the official rate, and a low transfer fee. "In addition, your money is safer in the bank than in your pockets or underneath the mattress," the brochure says. Retail banks that participate in the program charge as little as $2.50 a transfer compared with $40 charged by some transfer services. Retail banks in the program pay the Federal Reserve 67 cents per transfer. Most immigrants operate in a cash economy outside the formal banking system, where they have neither credit nor identity. In a post 9/11 era, bringing immigrants into the banking system - and tracking their remittances - is vital to security, supporters say. Critics, however, say the Federal Reserve Bank is coddling illegal immigrants and helping them engage in capital flight. "Anything that makes it easier for people to live in this country illegally is an inducement for illegal immigration," said Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, an immigration-restrictionist group. "On top of that, it is draining money out of our economy." Latin American migrants in the U.S. transferred $53 billion to $55 billion to their native countries last year, according to the Inter-American Development Bank. About $20 billion went to Mexico, $12 billion to Central America and the Dominican Republic, and the rest to South American countries. Remittances sent by Mexicans topped $15.5 billion in the first eight months of this year, 20 percent higher than the amount sent during the same period in 2005, according to Mexico's central bank, and this year's annual figure is expected to hit a new record. Savings scraped together by nannies, painters and others working abroad are now Mexico's second-largest source of foreign revenue, after oil exports and ahead of tourism. Since the Federal Reserve launched the program last year, about 150 U.S. financial institutions have enrolled. While most Mexicans continue to avoid banks, consumers using the program seem happy with it. Julian Gimenez, who works for a landscaping company in Milwaukee, for years had sent money to his wife, Catalina, in Jalisco, Mexico, through a wire-transfer company in his Latino neighborhood. Now, Gimenez uses Mitchell Bank. "It's cheaper to send the money and it arrives faster than any other place," he said. Last month, the program was expanded to enable migrants in the U.S. to open an account for relatives to whom they plan to send money. A bank teller in the U.S. can open the account remotely on a Web site set up by Mexico's Banco del Ahorro Nacional y Servicios Financieros, the development bank known as Bansefi, which has a vast network of branches in urban and rural areas. The beauty of the program, says Bansefi's Chief Executive Officer Javier Gavito, is that the "unbanked population" on both sides of the border gets into the formal banking system. In Mexico, only half of all adults hold a bank account. Directo a Mexico "revolutionizes the remittance market," said John Herrera, co-founder of Latino Community Credit Union, which has five branches in North Carolina and participates in the remittance program. "U.S. banks have realized that these working-class folks are sending real money back home," said Herrera. M O R E N E W S F R O M ? Federal Reserve Bank ? Business News ? Banking ? George Bush ? North Carolina ? World News ? Financial Services ? Mexico ? Western Union ? Country ? Jalisco, Mexico ? Discuss Jalisco, Mexico

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Another example of our own government giving preferential treatment to criminal illegal aliens. I'm so sick of our government coddling these illegals just so they can make a "Dishonest Buck" from Big Business! We should confiscate their money and possessions and deport them. Just like we do drug dealers only drug dealers go to jail if they are Americans. DO YOU EVER GET THE FEELING OUR OWN GOVERNMENT IS TRYING TO KILL US?