Bertha Lewis of ACORN DEFENDING ACORN's latest...encourage people that defaulted on their home loans and are being foreclosed on to break into the homes and squat...daring authorities to kick them out...
Here is the transcript of Stuart Varney, FOX Business network, interviewing Bertha Lewis, Executive Director of the New York branch of ACORN:
Stuart Varney: Do you think you got a right to these houses?
Bertha Lewis: I think the homeowners have a right to stay in those homes until the administrations plan can be implemented…yes I do.
Stuart Varney: They got a right to the house even though they haven’t paid their bills?
Bertha Lewis: They have been paying their bills…I think it’s a false thing to say that people haven’t been paying their bills.
Stuart Varney: No, their delinquent on their mortgages.
Bertha Lewis: Well, they maybe delinquent on their mortgages but there are people still do that.
Stuart Varney: They haven’t been paying their bills
Bertha Lewis: There are millions of millions of people who are…
Stuart Varney: Doesn’t matter, they haven’t been paying their bills.
Bertha Lewis: Being foreclosed on every day and so we have a plan in place and people need to stay there..
Stuart Varney: What right do you claim to stay in a house that you can’t afford and you cannot pay the bills and what right do you have to get my money to pay for you? I’ve read the constitution, I don’t see that right…
Bertha Lewis: Well, I don’t see the right that banks have to get 700 billion dollars to get bailed out
Stuart Varney: No, no, that’s a different thing…
Bertha Lewis: That’s all part of the same thing…
Stuart Varney: No it’s not…
Bertha Lewis: Every 13 seconds, Stuart, people are getting foreclosed on and they have the right to protect their homes and to protect their communities. It’s the most American thing you can do to protect your community.
Stuart Varney: ACORN is well known for looking at banks and saying “give us a loan,”….they don’t give you a loan so you scream racism you then invade their offices and demonstrate outside the private homes of bank executives, you embarrass the banks and you force them to give you loans on favorable terms, now…those loans cannot be repaid, you will not leave those homes and your claiming a right to stay in them and have a right to my money to make sure you stay in them, again…I come back to it Bertha, they may be be foreclosing every 13 seconds but you have absolutely no right to that house.
Bertha Lewis: Well banks don’t have a right to discriminate.
Stuart Varney: Again, your taking a parallel track you see….Where is the right?
Bertha Lewis: I wish we could force banks to our will but….
Stuart Varney: Where is the right? Where is the right to my money? You are demanding money from me.
Bertha Lewis: We’re not demanding money from you.
Stuart Varney: Yes you are.
Bertha Lewis: We’re demanding that the banks renegotiate these loans
Stuart Varney: It is taxpayer money in this plan, which you propose to bail out your people to stay in the homes they cannot afford. You are demanding my money and your saying you have a right to my money. It is no excuse to go on a parallel track and say “well the banks have no right to 700 billion dollars,” that’s not the point madam. You are demanding my money directly to your people. And that’s wrong.
Bertha Lewis: First of all these are not my people, these are millions and millions of hardworking homeowners who are paying their bills, paying….
Stuart Varney: They are not paying their bills….I can’t believe your getting away with this….they are not paying their bills.
Bertha Lewis: Well I know people who are.
Stuart Varney: They are delinquent on their mortgages that’s why they are being foreclosed on.
Bertha Lewis: They’re paying their bills, they’re paying their taxes.
Stuart Varney: They are not paying their mortgage bills and you know it.
Bertha Lewis: Yes they are.
Stuart Varney: No, if they were paying their mortgage bills they would not be foreclosed on, they would not be leaving the home….right?
Bertha Lewis: First of all, you are wrong because millions of millions of people are (ineligible), they are late on their mortgages
Stuart Varney: They are delinquent on their mortgages
Bertha Lewis: And that means late.
Stuart Varney: They have not paid their mortgage bills and you know it
Bertha Lewis: They have been foreclosed on and people need to be able to stay into their homes and so that they can take advantage of the President’s new plan.
Stuart Varney: So you invade these homes with a lot of guys. Your not going to leave, your gonna protect these people, we’re gonna stay in the home….Your a nice lady, your a gentle and a nice lady
Bertha Lewis: No I’m not…
Stuart Varney: But I put it to you….this is political thuggery.
Bertha Lewis: Well, I’m a very determined lady, I don’t think it’s political thuggery and I think it’s thuggery when you put out hard working members of home owners from their homes…..here’s the thing….
Stuart Varney: And it’s not when you invade a bank managers office so you shout racism? That’s not political thuggery?
Bertha Lewis: Well, it is true….
Stuart Varney: It is….that’s exactly what it is…
Bertha Lewis: Well you don’t want to tell a lie and a lie doesn’t make it the truth…
Stuart Varney: You are operating on taxpayer money. You’ve received…ACORN has received since 1998 thirty one million dollars of taxpayer money, three million dollars a year, you are doing this with my money.
Bertha Lewis: You want to know what we’ve done? We’ve counseled 2,300 people to stay in their homes, renegotiation their mortgages, and…here’s the thing. Every single penny we competed for and we can tell you this, if the industry had listened to us ten years ago when we said this was coming we wouldn’t be in this crisis. So now here’s what we’re gonna do.
Stuart Varney: Listened to you? You’ve invaded their offices
Bertha Lewis: No we didn’t
Stuart Varney: …you are political thugs, you embarrass banks to give them loans which they could not afford to repay and now they cannot afford to repay them and your claiming the right to my money to stay in those homes and you will have big burly guys who say “we’re not going to leave here no matter what!”
Bertha Lewis: No, we have homeowners who are protecting their homes.
Stuart Varney: Your a nice lady….come on!
Bertha Lewis: I’m a nice lady and I’m very determined lady to tell the truth and the truth is this…
Stuart Varney: You are not telling the truth…
Bertha Lewis: Here’s the thing…
Stuart Varney: Your telling me these homeowners have paid their bills and they have not…
Bertha Lewis: We cannot force anybody to do anything….here’s the thing, you know who are the thugs? The thugs are the banks, the thugs are the mortgage brokers who bilk people so they are delinquent and they deserve to be helped just like big banks and institutions are we intend to stay.
Stuart Varney: And they have not paid their mortgage bills and they have no right to those houses…that is my last word. Bertha Lewis….
Bertha Lewis: Housing is a right.
Stuart Varney: It is not a right.
Bertha Lewis: Yes it is
Stuart Varney: I’ve read the Bill of Rights, I’ve read the Constitution, no where does it say that housing is a right.
Bertha Lewis: Yes it is.
Stuart Varney: Can you show me? Which page? Which line?
Bertha Lewis: Well we have the right to the pursuit of happiness.
Stuart Varney: You have a right to a house? Where does it say that?
Bertha Lewis: If your a hard working American and you pay your taxes and you do the right thing you do have a right to protect your home.
Stuart Varney: I tell you what Bertha, we have a Constitutional lawyer in a few minutes, I’ll ask him if there is a line in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights that spells out a right to a house which you claim.
Bertha Lewis: That’s good….good.
Stuart Varney: But Bertha, we’ve run way over our allotted time..
Bertha Lewis: Have we, well you have to have me back and we will show you how many homes we have defended.
Stuart Varney: Defended? Invaded and stolen but that’s another story entirely. Thank’s Bertha.
And thanks to Stuart Varney for having the guts to tell it like it is...trouble is, is anyone listening? Let's hope so!!
DR
MAJOR H/T to Flopping Aces on this transcript
