Priorities.
Via IBD:
Emboldened by its shakedown of mortgage lenders, the administration is now accusing car lenders of racism. On what grounds? It refuses to say, raising suspicion of another witch hunt.
Some of the nation’s largest auto lenders, including Ally Bank, are now under federal investigation for allegedly discriminating against black and Latino borrowers — a deplorable crime, if true.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is heading the new crusade with help from the Justice Department. It claims it has “statistical evidence” showing car lenders and dealers marking up loan prices for minorities vs. whites. Lenders and dealers insist they’re pricing for risk, not race; and if there are differences, they’re explained by neutral credit factors affecting loans.
Still, the administration claims loan pricing policies that have a “disparate impact” on minorities are discriminatory — the same shaky legal ground it trod to go after home lenders. For the first time, federal civil-rights enforcers are relying on stats rather than actual acts or intent to prove racism.
While that’s bad enough, the administration won’t reveal the methodology it’s using to find discrimination in the numbers. CFPB, the consumer bureau, is keeping its analytical formula secret.