The Star Players in the ShoreBank Story

The Shorebank story is quite complicated and filled with literally hundreds – if not thousands — of individuals who have been in some way involved in the unfolding of an intriguing saga. It has been difficult to narrow down the field of characters in order to focus on just a few. Some of the names are familiar, and some are relatively unknown (except, perhaps, within the context of their own circles of influence).

The original founders of Shorebank probably didn’t dream that this bank would have the worldwide influence that it now has. They were all very active in their communities and had a desire to see the South Shore neighborhood re-built to its former state of safety and community life. The neighborhood had suffered economically and was becoming run-down and plagued by crime. Their hope was to re-invest and re-enliven this neighborhood of Chicago. They made loans towards the renovation of many of the buildings which were deteriorating and in disrepair. They also invested in new building projects to benefit the residents of South Shore.

For 30-plus years Shorebank has seen its founders’ dreams realized; and beyond those dreams, Shorebank has become the catalyst for international financing — especially that directed toward low-income people in many countries of the world. The Community Reinvestment Act, passed into law in 1977 during President Jimmy Carter’s term of office, encouraged financial institutions to make loans to low-income borrowers. Ron Grzywinski (one of the original founders of Shorebank) was the only banker to testify before Congress in support of the Community Reinvestment Act. Its passage was instrumental in paving the way for Shorebank’s success. The bank steadily grew financially and facilitated the renewal of poverty stricken areas through the rest of the 1970’s and early 80’s, catching the attention of then-Governor Bill and Hillary Clinton of Arkansas (in fact, according to the IFA, Bill is still advocating on behalf of ShoreBank).

(more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: Adele Simmons, Arkadelphia, Arkansas, bailout, Barack Obama
Posted Mar 13th 2010 at 6:01 am in Economics, Featured Story, Financial Services, News, Politics | 8328255 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/centralillinois912project/2010/03/13/the-star-players-in-the-shorebank-story/The+Star+Players+in+the+ShoreBank+Story2010-03-13+14%3A01%3A14Central+Illinois++9%2F12+Project

ACORN Still Owes $2.3 Million in Overdue Taxes

ACORN and its affiliates are content to impose crippling big-government laws, regulations, and taxes on Americans, but when called upon to obey those same rules, ACORN’s network of scofflaws and deadbeats simply refuses to comply.

ACORN and its affiliates currently owe more than $2.3 million in long overdue back taxes to all levels of government.

It's deathly quiet at the former funeral home at 1024 Elysian Fields Avenue, New Orleans. (photo: Kevin Kane)

As of Nov. 11 the exact figure was $2,328,596.95.

ACORN owes money to the IRS, Arkansas, California, Delaware, District of Columbia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, and to the cities of New York and Philadelphia.

(more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: ACORN, Arkansas, Barack Obama, Buddy Caldwell, California
Posted Nov 16th 2009 at 1:03 pm in ACORN, Obama | 3160655 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/mvadum/2009/11/16/acorn-still-owes-2-3-million-in-overdue-taxes/ACORN+Still+Owes+%242.3+Million+in+Overdue+Taxes2009-11-16+20%3A03%3A59Matthew+Vadum

Understanding ACORN’s Taxpayer Scheme

In my last post, I noted the millions of taxpayer dollars flowing into ACORN’s housing corporation and that at least twice, Democratic administrations have caught ACORN misusing taxpayer money allocated for community work. To understand ACORN’s repeated scams, it’s important to know that the group has again and again been accused of funneling government grants to ACORN’s political and labor activism (in effect using our money to fund their growth).

It didn’t take long after the group’s founding in 1970 to work its way into the radical Left and sign up for government largess. After Jimmy Carter took office, the group used its connections to win a contract worth almost $500,000 to train community volunteers under the VISTA program.

It took virtually no time for the group to show its true colors. The grant was no small thing; the Heritage Foundation concluded, “It appears that the VISTA grant was crucial to the survival of ACORN.” The money may have helped the far-left group, but the results, as you might imagine, were not pleasant:

Under the ACORN/CORAP grant, VISTAs engaged-in blatantly political activity in Arkansas and Missouri, while five VISTAs were active in a labor organizing campaign in New Orleans.

(more…)

Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this |

Tags: AmeriCorps, Andrea Kydd, Arkansas, Arkansas Democrat, Corporation for National Service
Posted Sep 17th 2009 at 8:00 am in ACORN, Congress, History, Politics | 279836 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/bjacobson/2009/09/17/understanding-acorns-taxpayer-scheme/Understanding+ACORN%27s+Taxpayer+Scheme2009-09-17+15%3A00%3A25Bret+Jacobson