In an NRO blog post, Krikorian asked if WaMu's diversity policy was "[c]ause" of bank's demise
In a blog post on National Review Online, Mark Krikorian asked if diversity policies touted by Washington Mutual, which was seized by federal regulators and sold to another bank on September 25, were the "[c]ause" of the bank's collapse.
As Salon.com's Glenn Greenwald noted, in a September 26 blog post on National Review Online's The Corner titled "Cause and Effect?" Mark Krikorian reproduced part of a press release by Washington Mutual bank -- which on September 25 was seized by federal regulators and sold to another bank -- touting its diversity policies and programs. Crediting a blog post by Steve Sailer, Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, wrote: "I really thought this was a joke, but it's not. WaMu's final press release, before it sank beneath the waves." The release that Krikorian partially reproduced was headlined "WaMu Recognized as Top Diverse Employer--Again" and included the subhead, "Company ranks in top ten of Hispanic Business' Diversity Elite and earns perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index."
From Krikorian's September 26 blog post:
Cause and Effect? [Mark Krikorian]
I really thought this was a joke, but it's not. WaMu's final press release, before it sank beneath the waves (h/t Sailer):
WaMu Recognized as Top Diverse Employer-Again
Company ranks in top ten of Hispanic Business' Diversity Elite and earns perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index
SEATTLE, WA (September 24, 2008) - Washington Mutual, Inc. (NYSE:WM), one of the nation's leading banks for consumers and small businesses, has once again been recognized as a top employer by Hispanic Business magazine and the Human Rights Campaign.
Hispanic Business magazine recently ranked WaMu sixth in its annual Diversity Elite list, which names the top 60 companies for Hispanics. The company was honored specifically for its efforts to recruit Hispanic employees, reach out to Hispanic consumers and support Hispanic communities and organizations.
The Human Rights Campaign, the largest national gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) civil rights organization, also awarded WaMu its second consecutive 100 percent score in the organization's 2009 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), which measures progress in attaining equal rights for GLBT employees and consumers. WaMu joins the ranks of 259 other major U.S. businesses that also received top marks in the annual survey. The CEI rated a total of 583 businesses on GLBT-related policies and practices, including non-discrimination policies and domestic partner benefits.
In both surveys, WaMu earned points for competitive diversity policies and programs, including the recently established Latino, African American and GLBT employee network groups, all of which have a corporate executive sponsor and champion.
"Diversity is an integral part of cultivating a welcoming, innovative and dynamic workplace here at WaMu. We are proud to be recognized for the opportunities and benefits we offer to all of our employees, including the specific efforts we have made to engage Hispanics and the GLBT community," said Steve Rotella, WaMu president and COO. "We are committed to diversity at WaMu and pledge to listen to our customers and work closely with our employees to continue to make progress."
These two recent honors build upon diversity recognitions WaMu received earlier in 2008. WaMu was named one of 25 Noteworthy Companies by Diversity Inc magazine and one of the Top 50 Corporations for Supplier Diversity by Hispanic Enterprise magazine.
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It's those damn immigrants! It's all their fault. If they'd just stayed in their own countries all the jobs would've come to them anyway.
God, I am ashamed to be Armenian-American today. It disgusts me to no end that we have a virulent racist such as Mark Krikorian in my community considering our history of being oppressed and savaged by bigots.
Despicable. And there will be no shortage of americans who will read that and nod their heads and say "Yep - that's it!"
Not deregulation. Not reckless & unsustainable business practices. But DIVERSITY.
Unbelievable.
Yes, and Lehmen Brothers collapsed because they gave away fresh donuts in their employee breakroom every morning.
Really! And here I thought it was bad management. :)
And what would be the explaination for Bear Stearns, AIG, or Lehman?
This guy gives new meaning to the word douche.
Sorry Tommy you beat me to the trigger and I had not refreshed my screen.
Doesn't Kathryn Jean Lopez have some sort of editorial control over what's posted there? Did she read this and think something other than "My God that is racist"?
There's that race baiting thing again. I swear, the righties really do have a hangup about minorities.
Do you know how much BS I've gotten about the CRA from my (conservative) friends and families lately? As if 30-year old legislation is somehow more relevant than what's happened in the last 15 - especially ridiculous since most of the banks that failed recently didn't even fall under CRA governance. But the CRA benefited a few minority groups over the years, so therefore it MUST play some role. And indeed it does, just a relatively minor one. Esp cosidering the number of republican prsidents and congresses that never bothered to reform it further, if it was such risky legislation as their base claims.
Eddy, to truly understand the conservative mind you have to go where they go to see what makes them tick. Take conservapedia, for instance...
So out of 1,959,240 views, 24,313 were not pathologically concerned about homosexuality &or closeted?
Irresponsible race-baiting, again. When things start to look bad, the right wing always finds some sinister Others to blame for the problem. Too bad it has worked so well for them so many times.
BofA and JP Morgan, who have been the "rescuer" banks on Wall Street, and Goldman and Morgan Stanley, the two surviving old-guard I-banks-turned-Banks, all have similar and agressive diversity programs in terms of lending and hiring. So I guess they succeeded because of diversity, huh?
WaMu went under because of poor management, not diversity. Nice Racism here.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/26/151545/710/630/611606
WaMu went under because the entire system is creating fear - with fear comes withdrawl - with withdrawl comes collapse...
Must be some sort of "uppity" minorities causing the failure of all of these banks. Of course, they always ignore the "minority" part of that. I'm more than willing to bet that the majority of WaMu's customers were of the majority population of the country and all. Meaning, us white folks. Or it could just be that, they were horrible as far as managing their bank goes. I'm betting on the bad management angle.
Concentrating on the demise of an individual bank, for whatever reason misses the point. Do these twits even have the vaguest idea of what Mortgage backed securities, pass-through participation certificates, collaterized mortgage obligations or mortgage derivatives are and how they have contributed to the crisis? This is junk that belongs in the vaults of those who created this financial toxic waste. Will the economy collapse if the taxpayer doesn’t bail these pirates out of the financial Superfund site they have created? No one knows. The real fear may be that if everyone loses assets that the rich may become poorer and the poor may become (proportionally) better off. This is what is unacceptable to a class that perceives itself as entitled to its ill gotten gains, and now expects its risks to be socialized. Diversity is behind any aspect of this? Hogwash.
In my humble layman's opinion, this whole mess is the inevitable result of building an empire on paper wealth. Wall Street has fostered an entire industry that creates nothing and exists for the sole purpose of generating more wealth for the wealthy by sucking money out of other people's business transactions. It is an incestuous, parasitic, rancid cesspool of greed. When you actually buy and sell debt as a commodity, is it really a surprise when it comes back around and bites you in the ass?
Again, just my opinion, but if we don't restore our manufacturing base, we will share the fate of every other great society that has disappeared into the dustbin of history. Buying and selling money may be fun, but how long can it sustain our economy?
No. it was those economic geniuses that ran the bank.
they always ignore the "minority" part of that. I'm more than willing to bet that the majority of WaMu's customers were of the majority population of the country and all. Meaning, us white folks. Or it could just be that, they were horrible as far as managing their bank goes. from a bi guy FindBilover dotcom
Replace taxes on economic activity and virtually all government expenditures with a citizens’ dividend funded from a use fee for the net, in-place liquidation value of property rights beyond those that an individual would successfully defend in the absence of government (home and tools/weapons) —a use-fee equal to the risk free interest rate on said in-place liquidation value.