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A new Letter to the Editor...
About that bankruptcy bill I've been nattering on about. It's behind the cut. Tried to make it something that wouldn't just seem like ranting about Republicans, so it might get through to people around here.
Comments and suggestions would be more than welcome. I'm going to mail this off tomorrow.
Politicians talk a lot about supporting the troops and protecting families, but they've been proving all their talk is just talk. The Senate is debating a bill called the "Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005" which is nothing more than a giveaway to credit card companies. When given the option, all of the Republicans and several Democrats voted against amendments that would have protected many, such as soldiers and veterans, senior citizens, and people bankrupted by ballooning medical expenses, from being driven out of house and home and into permanent debt. They voted down an amendment that would cap interest rates at 30%, rates loan sharks dream of. These Senators wouldn't even approve forcing the credit companies to disclose the interest rates and how long it would take to pay back the debt. They talk about "preventing abuse" and "personal responsibility," but their votes show their real priorities.
These aren't people gaming the system. These aren't people using bankruptcy as financial planning. These are desperate people who've run out of money and are at the end of their rope. People like Leanna and Eric Brunner, who ended up owing over $28,000 for surgery to save the life of their young daughter. The stress and the debt broke their marriage apart, even though they were able to default on much of the debt. People like Larry Herman, who lost his insurance when the company he worked for closed down. He ended up owing $40,000 for medication after he had a heart attack. Having to pay hundreds of dollars a month for the pills to keep him alive sucked away his savings and drove him into bankruptcy. There's millions more examples. Millions of people living just one emergency from disaster. These are the "abusers" this bill targets.
Their constant speeches about personal responsibility don't stop Congress from writing bills to keep companies from having to take responsibility for their own bad management and investments. They talk the talk, but don't walk the walk. Taking responsibility for your mistakes is only for people who can't afford lawyers or campaign contributions. Last year, there were 1.4 million bankruptcies in the US. Two thirds of these were people driven to desperation by medical emergencies and the costs of treatment and medication. Altogether, 90% of bankruptcies in the US were caused by emergencies like death, divorces, being fired, or getting sick. These are the "abusers" the bill targets. This bill makes it easier for people to lose their house, car, retirement, and all of their possessions and still owe more. Between rates of 30% or higher, late fees, overcharge fees, and whatever other fees they cook up, it's easy for people to end up with more debt after a year than when they started.
And Congress ignores the real abuses, celebrities and executives who slide their multimillion dollar mansions under "homesteading acts" designed to protect small farmers from bankruptcy, and similar dodges. But it's not about the abuses. It's about aiding and abetting the credit card companies in their predatory loan shark tactics, so they can make another five or six billion, on top of the thirty billion dollars profit they already made last year. This bill is nothing but a giveaway to their contributors and a chance for Congress to act tough, grandstand about a crisis that doesn't exist, and ignore the crisis that does. Given the chance to do something to help soldiers, veterans, and average Americans who're struggling, Congress spends its time on bills like this.
This is a matter of responsibility. Responsibility the credit companies won't take, responsibility most of Congress doesn't want. The responsibility of doing something to help the millions of decent, moral, hard working Americans who get hit with an emergency, then have their lives and jobs and families fall apart. It's hard enough on families when one parent's off in Iraq, gets sick, or even dies, without Congress signing them into permanent debt as a favor to contributors. If Congress was at all serious in their talk about supporting the troops and protecting families, they wouldn't even be considering this abomination of a bill.
I shoulda been in bed half an hour ago, I was gonna be, but I got distracted by editing this. Thought it was going to be quicker.
Comments and suggestions would be more than welcome. I'm going to mail this off tomorrow.
Politicians talk a lot about supporting the troops and protecting families, but they've been proving all their talk is just talk. The Senate is debating a bill called the "Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005" which is nothing more than a giveaway to credit card companies. When given the option, all of the Republicans and several Democrats voted against amendments that would have protected many, such as soldiers and veterans, senior citizens, and people bankrupted by ballooning medical expenses, from being driven out of house and home and into permanent debt. They voted down an amendment that would cap interest rates at 30%, rates loan sharks dream of. These Senators wouldn't even approve forcing the credit companies to disclose the interest rates and how long it would take to pay back the debt. They talk about "preventing abuse" and "personal responsibility," but their votes show their real priorities.
These aren't people gaming the system. These aren't people using bankruptcy as financial planning. These are desperate people who've run out of money and are at the end of their rope. People like Leanna and Eric Brunner, who ended up owing over $28,000 for surgery to save the life of their young daughter. The stress and the debt broke their marriage apart, even though they were able to default on much of the debt. People like Larry Herman, who lost his insurance when the company he worked for closed down. He ended up owing $40,000 for medication after he had a heart attack. Having to pay hundreds of dollars a month for the pills to keep him alive sucked away his savings and drove him into bankruptcy. There's millions more examples. Millions of people living just one emergency from disaster. These are the "abusers" this bill targets.
Their constant speeches about personal responsibility don't stop Congress from writing bills to keep companies from having to take responsibility for their own bad management and investments. They talk the talk, but don't walk the walk. Taking responsibility for your mistakes is only for people who can't afford lawyers or campaign contributions. Last year, there were 1.4 million bankruptcies in the US. Two thirds of these were people driven to desperation by medical emergencies and the costs of treatment and medication. Altogether, 90% of bankruptcies in the US were caused by emergencies like death, divorces, being fired, or getting sick. These are the "abusers" the bill targets. This bill makes it easier for people to lose their house, car, retirement, and all of their possessions and still owe more. Between rates of 30% or higher, late fees, overcharge fees, and whatever other fees they cook up, it's easy for people to end up with more debt after a year than when they started.
And Congress ignores the real abuses, celebrities and executives who slide their multimillion dollar mansions under "homesteading acts" designed to protect small farmers from bankruptcy, and similar dodges. But it's not about the abuses. It's about aiding and abetting the credit card companies in their predatory loan shark tactics, so they can make another five or six billion, on top of the thirty billion dollars profit they already made last year. This bill is nothing but a giveaway to their contributors and a chance for Congress to act tough, grandstand about a crisis that doesn't exist, and ignore the crisis that does. Given the chance to do something to help soldiers, veterans, and average Americans who're struggling, Congress spends its time on bills like this.
This is a matter of responsibility. Responsibility the credit companies won't take, responsibility most of Congress doesn't want. The responsibility of doing something to help the millions of decent, moral, hard working Americans who get hit with an emergency, then have their lives and jobs and families fall apart. It's hard enough on families when one parent's off in Iraq, gets sick, or even dies, without Congress signing them into permanent debt as a favor to contributors. If Congress was at all serious in their talk about supporting the troops and protecting families, they wouldn't even be considering this abomination of a bill.
I shoulda been in bed half an hour ago, I was gonna be, but I got distracted by editing this. Thought it was going to be quicker.