Protesters Disrupt MBA Meeting

Attendees of the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual conference in San Francisco found anti-eviction and foreclosure advocates picketing their national conclave, with one protester getting inside to disrupt the meeting. The Bay Area chapter of ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) protested the MBA's opening activities on Sunday and the Monday appearances of the new government-appointed heads of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. "The banks are responsible for creating the housing crisis that is forcing millions of people out of houses and apartments across the country," the group said in flyers it handed out to attendees. "Despite receiving hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayers' money to rescue them after their sub-prime and other high risk schemes collapsed, the bankers are opposed to reforms that would allow people to renegotiate their mortgages and stay in their homes." The advocacy group, whose position was endorsed by others including Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney and Congressional candidates Natalie Hrizi and Cindy Sheehan, said, "The banks and politicians-including Bush, Pelosi, McCain and Obama- blocked adding a point to the bailout bill that could have prevented millions of evictions."