Here I am with my Bernie sign, standing on the sidewalk in front of this beautiful, historic house in Guildhall, Vermont, just one lot away from my own residence.
Oh, except the house–as you can sadly see–is not so beautiful anymore. That’s because it’s been in foreclosure, sitting empty since 2009. It’s the first thing you see when you drive across the bridge from New Hampshire into our little village.
For our neighbors, a married couple who once lived here, the road to foreclosure was rapid and devastating. There was a job layoff, unemployment, low wage work, a divorce, and then, foreclosure.
The wife repeatedly begged the lender to re-negotiate the terms of the loan so that she could stay living here and caring for the house. Repeatedly, the lender refused.
Perhaps the lender preferred to sell the house, to make more money. That would make sense, I guess. But it hasn’t been sold. It has deteriorated badly, and been vandalized. I have never seen a for sale sign outside. Occasionally during summers, someone comes and mows the lawn. (Word on the street is that the lender, upon foreclosure, loaded the house heavily with insurance, let it languish and fall into disrepair, and now submits periodic claims for damage which allow them to collect big bucks).
What does this sad story have to do with Bernie? Well, actually, it has more to do with his opponent Hillary Clinton. The house went into foreclosure within a year after the now-infamous housing and foreclosure crisis of 2008. In the fall of 2008, Congress determined that the big banks and lenders were “too big to fail.” There was a long and passionate debate about whether the government should bail out the banks–in short, whether to give those banks and lenders a giant welfare check. In the end, on October 1, 2008, TARP was passed, and the banks were bailed out. Senator Bernie Sanders, who is now running for President, was the only member of our Congressional delegation to vote against that shameful bailout. He refused to support a bill that would bail out Wall St criminals, but do nothing to help regular homeowners.
Where did Hillary Clinton stand? Unlike Bernie Sanders, she supported the bailout of the lenders. But more important, as we now know, Mrs. Clinton has deep and long-standing ties to the same financial institutions which devastated our economy, and were rewarded for it with taxpayer dollars. Her ties to Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns, and Lehman Brothers are well-known. She now refuses to come clean with the American people as to what she said in speeches for which she earned upward of $650,000.
This is why I call it the Hillary House. And this is one reason why I am voting and campaigning my heart out for Bernie Sanders.
Life, Law, and Politics in the Northeast Kingdom 
7 responses to “Hillary’s House (or one reason I’m voting for Bernie Sanders)”
Good for you! As a former Vermonter (I now live in New Mexico), I bemoaned the fact that I would no longer be able to vote for Bernie. But now I can! #FeeltheBern
Just FYI. You can’t have homeowner’s insurance on a vacant house. The insurance people come out and look at the home and if it’s vacant, they will not pay the claim. We owned a home that was vacant for two years and the insurance company cancelled the policy. No claims or anything. Just cancelled the policy, because they said insurance companies won’t insure vacant dwellings.
Exactly what happened to my property they piled on the insurance -the bank and made over 52 thousand all together then sold it over the net auction to another bank for 101.00 dollars from there it ended up on the market by a reality company owned by another Bank thus pretty much washing my chances of clouding the title and any effort to afford legal representation but it set me on the sidewalk and hung me out to dry -Compliments to Federal ,State ,and County court System for delaying and accelerating Legal ?foreclosures at their pleasure and sometime inconsistent with the letter and timing of the law to the Banks advantage of course against the Homeowners !
Time is here to vote and please bring someone with you to vote! Senator Bernie Sanders has all the qualities of a true leader. Bernie is fair, kind, honest, humble, energetic, authentic, intelligent, experienced, and passionate about helping each child succeed in this country, thus building a stronger and brighter USA for future generations. Check Bernie’s record on you tube and learn the truth about him. He has been wise in his decision making skills and fought against needless wars including the Vietnam war and the Iraq war which took 1000’s of lives of young Americans while leaving others severely crippled. Bernie recently received the highest congressional award for his fight for veterans’ care from the Veterans of Foreign wars. 170 top leading economists and most physicians as well as nurses praise his budget for America. The medicare for all plan will save American families an average of 5,000 a year. Bernie’s plan will grow the middle class while ending the bribes and schemes going on in our government today. He will raise the min wage to a fair wage of $15.00 an hour which is long overdue! When people earn a fair wage they contribute more to the economy, keeping businesses competitive in prices because more small business will spring up! During the primary election, Bernie received 86% of the vote from his home state where he served as mayor and still serves as a member of the United States Senate. This 86% vote speaks volumes about his character and no other candidate even reached 50% in the states they served. He has been endorsed by many reputable organizations including the US post office, the nurse’s union, teacher unions, labor unions, top economists, etc. Bernie is Jewish (not a communist). He calls himself a democratic (by the people) socialist (for the people). Socialists programs built this country including our roads, utilities, national parks, (which saved the buffalo), public schools and libraries, our US military, social security, etc. Before our great country is turned into a system of total oligarchy, where the 1% club continues to buy our public servants, making the laws to benefit themselves, or trading scams and schemes to make big bucks for themselves, join the revolution to put an honest president in the White House. Our ancestors warned us what will happen to our country by allowing the shady deals to go on within our government.. Please get involved today by going to berniesanders.com and make calls, pass out fliers, or contribute $5, $10, what you can afford! The revolution is here. All of our children’s future is at stake. Our country needs your vote! Vote smart! Vote Bernie!
Great article..Its definitely a HRC house, you got that right. #BernieSanders 2016! #Bernieorbust….#LongIslandNYforBernieSanders2016
You know, this is a story full of holes and this is what I always see with Mr Sanders and Mr Trump. You do not know the credit score of the couple that were losing the house. Believe this or not but in banking there is a set of regulations you have to abide by in order to do a loan. In this race for the white house these two contestants have done a lot to fuel the blame game. I am not saying what happened to this couple isn’t sad it is. I am saying that in a perfect world this couple could afford this house. When her husband lost his job apparently there was no nest egg for emergencies as a matter of fact there was no room to wiggle at all. I guess what I am saying is where is the personal responsibility and why is this the banks fault. If their FICO score was below a certain number or their debt to income was to high. That’s right DEBT. That has nothing to do with Hillary Clinton or the banks. Quit this Blame Game and then focus on personal responsibility. I know …that’s a tough one because it makes us look at ourselves. Please quit pretending you know information you do not and knock off the blame. Mr Trump and Mr Sanders have been blaming Madame Secretary for everything except the Immaculate Conception…Give me a break
Maze, I think you are missing the larger point here. There is plenty of blame to go around for the foreclosure crisis. No doubt some homeowners made imperfect decisions, who doesn’t? But let’s remember what happened in 2008 and 2009. The lenders, after their criminal behavior, got bailed out with taxpayer money. There were no bailouts for homeowners. That was beyond unfair, it also essentially constituted socialism for the rich, but rugged individualism for regular people. The banks/lender got a big handout, but remained free to screw over homeowners however they like, because no meaningful regulations were put into place for owners. No relief provided for my friends, whose only “fault” was that they had fallen upon hard times. My friend and neighbor tries to get the terms of the loan rewritten so she can stay in, and care for the home. The answer to her is a big fat no, but the answer to the banks’ call for help is a big fat yes, along with a giant welfare check from us taxpayers. Why is there only talk of personal responsibility for regular schmucks like us? What about personal responsibility for these banker thugs? I am sorry, but there is no excuse for refusing to renegotiate the terms of a loan, and then turning around and letting the house languish empty into disrepair and then use the disrepair, apparently, to collect big insurance settlements. Hillary Clinton bears responsibility for this shameful state of affairs because she voted for the bailout, and more, because she has enabled these criminal lender thugs. She is essentially one of them. She may never have stepped near our little town and probably does not know this lender. But this is part of her world. And Bernie is fighting that world.