Saturday, May 8, 2010

WHY THESE EVICTIONS?

Thomas Riggins

This from Friday’s New York Times front page (5-7-10 by David Streitfeld): Nearly four million households nationwide are severely delinquent on their mortgages, THE BIGGEST BACKLOG SINCE THE HOUSING CRISIS BEGAN. As more and more of the homes edge toward repossession-- A RECORD QUARTER OF A MILLION WERE SEIZED BY LENDERS IN THE FIRST THREE MONTHS OF THIS YEAR....

Why hasn't the government acted to halt these evicitions and change the terms of these home loans? We all know who these lenders are-- bailed out banks living off of our tax money but with no government oversight (they should have been nationalized) AND lenders who misled vulnerable people into taking out loans they could not afford, often by telling them lies about the terms of the loans.

These lenders have one thing in common. They are all run by big shot capitalists who, on the whole, see the government as working for their interests.

The people being evicted are mostly working class people trying to stay alive and feed their families. The government is NOT looking out for their interests. It is not clamping down on the lenders and halting evictions.

This is a major battle in the CLASS WAR between working people and their exploiters. Where is the progressive outrage? Where is the leadership to stop this outrage? Why have not the White House and the Congress taken action?