21st Century Black Codes

Early this year, controversial Illinois House Bill 4050 (HB4050) was suspended because the State was not able to implement it for a variety of reasons. But HB4050 is back, with a renewed effort to implement it in Springfield. This bill is a frightening one, and just one more step by the Government to curb your rights and run your life. In effect, it is also very racist, and has been called "21st Century Black Codes" by critics. So-called "progressives," of course, love HB4050. The following excellent post explains it well; here is an excerpt. Now let’s bring this issue closer to home and examine yet one more reason why House Bill 4050 is one of the dumbest pieces of legislation ever conceived by the People’s Republic of Illinois. If you recall, HB4050 is the attempt by Governor Blagojevich and Speaker of the House Mike Madigan to force mandatory credit counseling on home owners in Cook County. However, the law only applies if you obtain your home loan through a mortgage broker. So if you decide to get the same loan through one of the mega banks, you aren’t subject to the mandatory credit counseling or your personal information being submitted to the State database. Makes a whole lot of sense doesn’t it? The law is like saying if you buy a gun from a small gun dealer, you will need a background check. However, if you go to Wal-Mart to buy a gun, no background check is needed. Of course, this is completely ignoring the fact that a gun is a gun regardless of where it is obtained. The same applies to mortgages. The negative amortization option ARM from Washington Mutual is just as toxic to average consumers if you get from WAMU directly or if the mortgage broker gets it for you wholesale. FULL ARTICLE... RELATED: Gov. Rod Blagojevich...directed a state financial office to immediately suspend the controversial HB 4050 pilot law program that many critics claimed unfairly blocked consumers from selling and buying homes in 10 predominately African-American zip codes. Since enacted in September of last year, thousands of Black and Hispanic residents in mainly 10 zip codes - 60636, 60621, 60620, 60623, 60629, 60632, 60638, 60643, 60652 - have protested HB 4050 and stated that the law doesn't do what it proposed to do in protecting homeowners from predatory lenders. They claimed that in fact the new law was a version of "21st Century Black Codes." FULL ARTICLE at the Chicago Defender... SAY NO TO HB4050