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Holy hell

Robert

Sorry for the incoherency of the following, but I have a lab in 30 minutes, and I didn’t want to have to wait to post this. From Atrios, Terry Neal of the Washington Post did an interview with Rep. Ellen Tauscher of California, who is the chair of the New Democrat Coalition (NDC), about the bankruptcy bill, which is scheduled to be voted on in the House tomorrow. In the interview, Rep. Tauscher gives her support for the bill, saying

If we were in the majority we would have a much better bill. Suffice it to say I would prefer that and I am for us being the majority so we are in the legislative writing business. But, I am also very much opposed to us being just the party of ‘no.’

The bill is one that I have been following since the week before the Senate passed it, and it has destroyed any little remaining respect I had for several Democrats on the Hill (including, but not limited to, Joe Lieberman and Joe Biden). It lines the pockets of the credit industry while hurting those who need help most (like every other fucking piece of legislation in the last, oh, 10 years or so). Atrios has a good portion of the interview, plus a memo that Tauscher — along with Reps. Ron Kind of Wisconsin, Artur Davis of Alabama, and Adam Smith of Washington — sent to members of the NDC encouraging the members to actually vote for this piece of shit legislation. If you are represented by any of these assholes, or by any NDC member, or if you are just pissed about the legislation and want to do something about it, write a letter to your congressperson and tell them how you feel. For nerds like me or people who are just curious, the bill is S 256, The Bankruptcy Abuse and Consumer Fuck-Over…excuse me, Protection Act, and you can look it up on either http://www.house.gov or http://www.senate.gov.

Robert, aka randomliberal

6 thoughts on Holy hell

  2. Does this legislation mostly involve added protection to just credit card companies or does it reach farther than that? Does it give these guys the power to come ‘take yo shit?’

    I haven’t heard much on this…I know, I could just read it, but I was hoping for the short answer.

  3. What the bill does is limit a person’s ability to have debt cancelled when he/she files for bankruptcy. Under current rules, it is relatively easy to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which allows a judge to cancel your entire debt. Under the proposed legislation (which is very likely to be passed), if your annual income is above the median income in your state, you must file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which means that you must have a payment plan of a certain number of years, and if you can make all those payments, then the rest of your debt is cancelled. Obviously, that will make it very hard on a family with an income just over the median income who has, say, a catastrophic illness for which they cannot afford to pay treatment costs.

  4. right on, Robert. it’s good to see this issue getting a bit more exposure. i agree with Thomas above that this bill should really be called something like the “Glorious Return of Debt Slavery Act” or somesuch cuz that’s about the large & small of it.

    i’m not surprised so many Dems are voting in favor of it. if there’s one thing the two major parties agree on it’s fighting for the right of corporations to screw us all.

    demanding accountability & integrity, raising some holy hell, is a worthwhile path to take – it’s too bad more folks don’t feel the same way. considering the implications of the act i’m surprised folks aren’t rioting in the streets of DC. but i guess alot of folks have gotten used to debt as a way of life.

    remember when credit card companies only gave cards to people with good credit? now, it’s the exact opposite – they go out of their way to court folks already in debt- they’ve become institutionalized loan sharks.
    gangsters of the world are riding high…

  5. Part of the reason that there isn’t rioting in the streets is that it has not been well covered in the news media. The only major coverage that I’ve seen has come in the couple of days surrounding first the Senate vote and now the House vote. I don’t think very many people who don’t read blogs know about the bill or what it actually does.

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