Maxine Waters in ethics trouble too

One of Los Angeles' most enduring black politicians, Waters came under scrutiny last year after Massachusetts-based OneUnited Bank, one of the nation's largest minority-owned institutions, received $12 million in bailout funds.

The funding came three months after Waters, a senior member of the committee that oversees banking, helped arrange a meeting between officials of the bank, other minority-owned financial institutions and Treasury Department representatives.

Waters' husband, Sidney Williams, had owned stock in the bank and served on its board.

The Los Angeles Times conveniently forgets to touch upon the fact that Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass) was also involved in the bailout of this bank. As head of the House Financial Services Committee, he was able to insert legislation designed to replenish the coffers of OneUnited with taxpayer money.

Troubled OneUnited Bank in Boston didn't look much like a candidate for aid from the Treasury Department's bank bailout fund last fall.

The Treasury had said it would give money only to healthy banks, to jump-start lending. But OneUnited had seen most of its capital evaporate. Moreover, it was under attack from its regulators for allegations of poor lending practices and executive-pay abuses, including owning a Porsche for its executives' use.

Nonetheless, in December OneUnited got a $12 million injection from the Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. One apparent factor: the intercession of Rep. Barney Frank, the powerful head of the House Financial Services Committee.

Mr. Frank, by his own account, wrote into the TARP bill a provision specifically aimed at helping this particular home-state bank. And later, he acknowledges, he spoke to regulators urging that OneUnited be considered for a cash injection.

These efforts were made despite the FDIC and Massachusetts bank regulatory officials alleging that poor lending practices and executive-compensation abuses contributed to the failure of the bank. Barney Frank justified his actions, in part, by citing the bank as the state's only financial institution owned by African-Americans.

Or was Barney Frank just logrolling (the trading of favors in politics so that the true perpetrators fingerprints are left off actions designed to favor them) for his political ally Maxine Waters. One can only hope that Congresswoman Waters continues her defiant stand towards the Ethics panel, refuses to accept a trivial "reprimand" and that some facts about Frank's role in this scandal come to light. This is the type of oversight that would be done if the Republicans took over the House and Darrell Issa, who heads the Government Oversight Committee, took charge.

Come to think of it..maybe the Ethics Panel, whose docket is filled with Democrats in trouble, is trying to rush through resolutions of these problems before Republicans take over in January. After all, these issues have lingered for a long time; yet, only now as November approaches, are we seeing a rush in Congress to sweep them under the rug. Or is it just a Congressional Coincidence? Uh, no.