|
|
An Article
|
|
British citizens ask British prime minister Gordon Brown to help stop U.S. sponsored home foreclosures
American lawyers, legislators and judges are seizing the homes of Americans, of their soldiers at war, and those of British and other foreign citizens
July 29, 2007
By
British Citizen in America
|
| Camp David, Maryland - This weekend, Britain's new prime minister, Gordon Brown, will meet with George W. Bush in an effort to balance Bush's demand to keep British troops in Iraq, and Britain's dwindling resources (money and soldiers) and virtually non-existent public support for the unpopular Iraqi war.
Millions of homeowners in America (American families, soldiers losing life and limb fighting for America, and large numbers of British and other foreign citizens) struggling to pay the ever increasing demands of the Bush administration to finance the Iraqi war, are having their homes and assets fraudulently seized by the American politicians, judges and lawyers.
The following is a letter by a group of British Citizens sent to to Prime Minister Gordon Brown. ----------------- July 29, 2007
Mr. Gordon Brown
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London SW1 2AA
England
Via Fax: 011 - 44 - 207 - 925 - 0918 and email
Dear Mr. Brown,
I am a British citizen currently residing in the United States.
I am sure that you are more aware than I am, that election to high office requires you to address all the myriad problems that face us as human beings. As you will soon be visiting the U.S. for the first time as prime minister, I am writing this introductory letter to you about a particular problem that reaches into the innermost sinews of a society - housing.
This problem is particularly poignant for the U.S. soldiers in Iraq. While they fight and lose life and limb for their country, lawyers, legislators and judges in this country are attacking one of the very things that these soldiers are fighting to protect - their homes. To cite one statistic that speaks volumes, California has the highest number of homeless veterans in the nation. Having been sent into battle by their government, and profoundly traumatized in the process, they are tossed aside as so much flotsam when they return. As you seek to reduce the number of British forces in Iraq, I hope that they do not face a similar fate upon their return.
Britain has long recognized the centrality of a home in society. It has recognized that citizens need a place where they can raise their children in peace and freedom, and where citizens can be themselves without the interference of government and society.
For the past 25 years, I have observed and studied changes taking place within American society that profoundly attack that cherished ideal. Unfortunately, those changes are being exported to Britain. While these changes may not be easily perceived by the casual observer, and hence, superficially, not a seeming concern currently, nevertheless I believe that they are like termites quietly eating away at one of the fundamental structures of society. One day, in the not too distant future, when significant portions of the housing edifice crumble, we may scratch our heads in bewilderment and wonder what happened. Hence, I believe that this early alert is profoundly important.
For almost 20 years, I and a group of other British and Commonwealth citizens have been members of an international charity called the American Homeowners Resource Center. Its website is www.ahrc.com. This website gets more than 3 million hits a month from more than 72 countries. Its mission is to help stop the financial and psychological destruction of the home, and preserve it as the core institution of a society.
To be brief, the nice way to describe what has been happening in America for the last 40 - 50 years is the commodification of housing. Homes are no longer places where citizens live, move and have their being. They have become pawns in the financial claws of a relatively small group of people who see homes as a way to amass fortunes by wreaking misfortune on homeowners.
The realistic way to describe what has been happening in America is that this relatively small group of people has set up a process to systematically brutalize citizens. Homes have been made into cash registers by the creation of laws that authorize these destroyers of home to fine, lien and foreclose on homes.
This has been most prominent in homeowner associations, which now house in excess of 50 million Americans - almost 1 in 6 - but is not confined solely to them. A key player in homeowner associations - CAI (Community Associations Institute) - has been trying to export these ideas to England and testifying before the British Parliament under your predessor Tony Blairs' watch.
It is impossible here to give you the full range and depth of what all this has led to. A few examples may illustrate. In Northern California, a retired couple lost their $300,000 home over a $120 bill that by mistake had not been paid. In Houston, an elderly lady was suddenly and without warning tossed out by the sheriff onto the street with her furniture without ever knowing that her house had been foreclosed on. Lawyers routinely file lawsuits against homeowners over minor matters and get hundreds of thousands and even millionsin legal fees - $140,000 over a parking ticket for parking in front of their own home, $227,000 over the raising of a wall six inches, a million over a balcony that was 4 inches too large. Currently in parts of California, foreclosures are up 800% over last year, and this figure does not include homes that have been liened. Some of this has led to tragic violence - in Arizona, a disabled, senior with no history of violence walked into a homeowner's meeting with guns blazing and several died, another shot himslef when lawyers and judges sold his home after fining him.
All this is made possible by an incestuous relationship between developers, legislators, lawyers and judges. The developers and lawyers pay the legislators to pass laws that strip homeowners of their fundamental rights, the lawyers rack up phenomenal fees in lawsuits, and the judges enforce those laws.
The fundamental drive behind these forces is the same that drove the oppressors of old to steal land, kill its owners and wreak havoc and chaos. If left unchecked, the current oppressors will do the same in Britain and around the world.
I recognize that you have more than enough problems on your plate. If this were some minor problem, I would not bother you with it. However, as a home is central to a person's life, this new form of home invasion strikes at the very heart of society. Hence, I ask you to look into it as a matter of urgency, and I am ready to help in any way that I can.
Sincerely
British Citizens in America
American Homeowners Resource Center
P. O. Box 97
San Juan Capistrano, Calfironia 92693
United States of America
NOTES:News from Gordon Brown website: 29 July - PM to meet President Bush
Gordon Brown is flying to the USA to meet President Bush for the first time since becoming Prime Minister.
Their wide-ranging talks at Camp David are expected to cover Darfur, Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia, climate change, international trade and missile defence in Europe.
The meeting will also give the two leaders a chance to develop their personal relationship.
In his regular press conference earlier in the week, Mr Brown said:"The American relationship for Britain is our strongest bilateral relationship and I am determined to do everything in my power to make sure that it is strong and effective in the work that it does, not just between our two countries but for the whole world." Voice of America reported that Mr. Brown will arrive at at Camp David the U.S. presidential retreat outside Washington in rural Maryland early the evening of July 29, 2007 for talks with President Bush. After the Camp David talks, Mr. Brown will travel to New York to meet with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He is also scheduled to address the U.N. General Assembly.
Email was delivered to the Prime Minister - July 29, 2007
Thank you for your message which has now been delivered to the Prime Minister's office.
You will now be sent an automated email asking you to confirm your message.
If you do not receive our email, this means that either:
You have provided an incorrect email address, or Your email filters have blocked our email. If you have any problems, please contact the Downing Street web team at @pmo.gov.uk. |
|
