Please DU, go to war on the bankruptcy bill - THIS IS WORTH THE FIGHT ....

[moggie12]

(Reposting this from GD -- want to reach as many people as possible)


The Washington Post had a front page story today showing what a hypocritical piece of garbage the bankruptcy bill is.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10361-20...

Please DUers, can you help defeat this horrendously unfair bill?? It's coming up for a vote on Tuesday. The Republicans -- joined by Joe Biden and 3 other turncoat Dem Senators -- spent last week defeating amendments that would've made this bill more fair, including amendments that would have given some measure of protection to people whose indebtedness was caused by huge medical bills, identity theft, or the need to care for a sick family member!! They even voted against a so-called "homestead exemption" that would've helped the elderly and those driven to bankruptcy by medical expenses keep their homes! Meanwhile, they voted to allow wealthy people facing bankruptcy actions to continue to use "asset protection trusts" to shelter their money!! Does this not seem hypocritical and unfair? There are more amendments coming up this week, including Kennedy and Santorum's minumum wage amendments and Schumer's abortion-related one, which has killed the bill before and may do so again if the Dems can get enough votes. All is not yet lost!

THIS IS A JOB FOR DU!!! DU helped convince Barbara Boxer to stand up and contest the vote, helped get dozens of Dem Senators to vote against Gonzales, and helped get Howard Dean installed as DNC Chair. Didn't all three of them look like lost causes at the outset?? But the grassroots got organized and raised holy hell and made things happen. WE CAN DO THE SAME ON THE BANKRUPTCY BILL. And what the hell, it's better to do something than nothing! We shouldn't sit here whining about the corporations running America and then not try to do something about it: This bill was WRITTEN BY THE CREDIT CARD COMPANIES -- Ted Kennedy said so right on the floor of the Senate!!

PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO DO THE FOLLOWING:

1) Fax, e-mail and call Joe Biden and tell him he's got no chance in hell of winning the Democratic nomination if he keeps actively pushing this bill (he's a backer because MBNA and other credit card companies are headquartered in Delaware). Senate contact info:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

2) Get on the case of the other 3 turncoat Dem Senators -- Tom Carper (Delaware's other Senator), Tim Johnson of South Dakota (Citibank's operations are headquartered there, as well as other credit card companies), and Ben Nelson of Nebraska.

3) Fax, e-mail and call your Senators -- whether Republican or Democrat -- and tell them how strongly you feel. The Republicans have been voting en masse against all the Democratic amendments -- even moderate Republicans like Snowe, Chafee, etc. (Jeffords, to his credit, has voted with the Dems). How can these people have voted not to protect those faced with enormous medical bills, identity theft or old people forced to care for a sick spouse?? IT'S FREAKING MIND-BOGGLING that these Repubs voted against these very reasonable amendments!!! Call them on the carpet for it!!!! Turn up the heat on these guys!!

4) If you haven't already e-mailed your Senators, this is an easy-to-use site that let's you e-mail both Senators and your House Rep at once: http://ga3.org/campaign/senateindebt Another sample e-mail is below. Please e-mail, but also please consider making phone calls on Monday!!


Please DU, spread the word to your friends & e-mail lists -- and keep this post kicked so people see it!!! Thanks!!



********

The rest of this is additional info about, 1) turncoat Dems votes on Dem amendments, 2) a sample e-mail for you to use, 3) background info sites if you want more info about the bankruptcy bill:

1) On the 11 Democratic-sponsored amendments:

-BIDEN voted "No" to 7, "Yes" to 2, and was "absent" for 2
-CARPER voted "No" to 10, and "Yes" to 1
-JOHNSON "No" to 8, "Yes" to 3
-NELSON voted "No"to all eleven

Note: All four of these guys voted against the Dem-sponsored amendment to protect soldiers and veterans facing bankruptcy but FOR the Republican's version of the amendment, which passed.

I have posted full details of which amendments Biden, Carper and Johnson voted for and against in the Delaware and South Dakota state forums.

2) Sample e-mail/fax to Republican Senators (and the turncoat Dems):

Re: Senate Bill 256

I am appalled by your votes against amendments to the bankruptcy bill now under consideration by the Senate. The bill as currently written sweeps away protections for worthy and unworthy debtors alike: Senior citizens who have huge medical bills are treated just as harshly as 30-year-old yuppies who run up their credit cards for no good reason! Instead of rectifying this glaring defect in the bill, you voted against amendments designed to protect those whose financial difficulties occurred through no fault of their own, for example, those whose indebtedness was caused by huge medical bills, identity theft, or the need to care for a sick family member!! At the same time, you voted against an amendment that would have limited the amount of money wealthy people can put into trusts to shield their assets from bankruptcy. You also voted against the so-called "homestead exemption", which would have helped the elderly and those driven to bankruptcy by medical expenses keep their homes. Meanwhile, wealthy people facing financial sanctions can legally shield their money by buying huge homes in Florida and Texas, states whose laws protect homes, regardless of the value, from being touched by the bankruptcy courts!! Your votes appear to me to be extremely hypocritical and unfair. Every last cent will be wrung from average Americans who've encountered severe problems, while those with substantial assets are allowed to shelter them?? Fat-cat executives who've driven their companies into bankruptcy will get to keep their mansions and their money while hard-working Americans who have had the misfortune to become sick or had some other tragedy befall them will be treated like irresponsible spendthrifts?? I can't understand how you could have voted against these amendments. How could you have voted to treat your fellow citizens this way?


3) Links:

Good general background piece:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15399-20...

WP editorial:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64440-20...

Article about the one financial company not in favor of the bill:
http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/business/2005...

[babylonsister]

1. Hey, Moggie12, your link to senate addresses

isn't working for me (or maybe/hopefully it's too busy?). You inspired me to give Biden/Carper/Johnson/Nelson my 2 cents.

[moggie12]

3. Here's link (I fixed in OP - thanks for catching that)

And thanks for writing your Senators -- what an abomination this bill is!

[TerdlowSmedley]

2. I couldn't connect either, Moggie, but I want to. I am really

miffed with the Senators, Biden in particular. I've been a cheerleader of sorts for him lately and I feel very let down. This bill is grossly unfair. If anything at all should be done about bankruptcies, it should take place in the form of corporate bankruptcy legislation that allows CEOs to run companies into the ground, profit from it, leaving jobs lost and people unemployed, while they live richly, and for asset shelters for the rich who file bankruptcy while keeping multimillion dollar homes in Florida, among other riches.

[moggie12]

4. Here's link -fixed it in OP, I think

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm


I feel let down, too, especially by Biden, since sometimes he manages t sound like a real Dem. This is old-fashioned politics, I guess -- he's voting as the big financial interests in his state want him to. But the hyposcrisy of this bill and the amendments they shot down is sickening -- the corporate crooks get to keep their houses but poor Joe Schmoe with a heart condition gets kicked out onto the street. Disgusting!

[Guaranteed]

5. They even voted down an amendment that would have allowed

our own soldiers coming back from Iraq more leeway.

[moggie12]

8. They killed the Dem version, but then the creeps voted for the Rep version

The full list of amendments they voted against makes me gag (and the 4 mutinous Dems voted against most, too!!)

1) Protecting those affected by their employer filing for bankrupty (thereby wiping out their wages & health insurance):
Biden: Yes
Carper: Yes
Johnson: Yes
Nelson: NO

2) Wage priority provision:
Biden: NO
Carper: NO
Johnson: Yes
Nelson: NO

3) No longer allowing wealthy to shield money in asset protection trusts:
Biden: Yes
Carper: NO
Johnson: NO
Nelson: NO

4) Provisions to stop predatory lending practices by credit co's:
Biden: NO
Carper: NO
Johnson: NO
Nelson: NO

5) Provision to protect those who were victimized by identify theft:
Biden: NO
Carper: NO
Johnson: NO
Nelson: NO

6) Provision to protect those whose financial problems rsulted from having to be caregivers for sick family memmbers:
Biden: Not voting
Carper: NO
Johnson: NO
Nelson: NO

7) Provision to help protect people whose financial problems resulted from illness from losing their homes:
Biden: Not voting
Carper: NO
Johnson: NO
Nelson: NO

8) Provision to exempt from the wage guidelines those whose financial problems were the result of illness:
Biden: NO
Carper: NO
Johnson: NO
Nelson: NO


9) Require credit card companies to disclose financing costs to consumers:
Biden: NO
Carper: NO
Johnson: NO
Nelson: NO

10)Provision to help protect elderly bankruptcy filers from from losing their homes:
Biden: NO
Carper: NO
Johnson: Yes
Nelson: NO

11) Provision to protect soldiers/veterans:
Biden: NO
Carper: NO
Johnson: NO
Nelson: NO
(But all four voted for the Rep-sponsored amendment on this that passed)


Yecchhh.......

[flpoljunkie]

6. Moggie, here is an easy link from The Nation magazine to email Congress.

http://capwiz.com/thenation/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=7085876

Bankrupt Reform

Urge your senators and representatives to oppose the Consumer Bankruptcy Reform Act


Your credit card issuers are hoping that the sixth time will be the charm for a bill they've been pushing since the Clinton years: "The Consumer Bankruptcy Reform Act" (now S.256 & H.R.685). This legislation would make it more difficult for people turning to bankruptcy as a last resort to actually discharge their credit card debts.

Considering that most people who file for bankruptcy are squeezed middle-class homeowners who experience a job loss, divorce, or medical emergency, you'd think that Congress might be timid about introducing such a draconian bill with 46 million uninsured and on the heels of record job losses. The reality is that many families are borrowing to make ends meet, and are just one missed paycheck away from financial collapse. And passage of this bill will make it still harder for many of them.

Somehow, though, that kitchen-table reality hasn't reached the Washington bubble. In DC, the banking lobby's line about frivolous debtors lacking personal responsibility plays well on both sides of the aisle. Perhaps that's because the industry was Washington's single largest contributor in 2000. Or perhaps it's because they haven't heard from you. Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) is the main sponsor of the bill in the Senate, and Democrats Kennedy (MA) and Durbin (IL) are leading the fight against it.

Contact your representatives now. If you've got a credit card, you've got a problem with this bill. With the threat of consumer bankruptcy defused, issuers will have no reason to refrain from escalating the fee and penalty rate waves they've been riding to record profits in recent years.

http://capwiz.com/thenation/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=7085876

[moggie12]

13. Thanks for the link -- "kitchen-table reality" is what's needed

"The Nation's" piece is very good. Today's Washington Post article exposed how the credit cards companies are ripping-off hard-working Americans -- this bill is a travesty!!

[AzDar]

7. Done. ...and Joe Biden is a plagiarizing 'ho, bought and paid for! n/t

[moggie12]

16. Yes he sure is on this issue

Marshall righly rips him (and other turncoat Dems) at "Talking Points -- he's got a special "bankruptcy bill extra" on his site now:

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/bankruptcy/

Snip:

"Bankruptcy is not a sexy issue. Supporters of the bill can utter a few paeans to personal responsibility, maybe even refer to filers as “deadbeats." In the end, officials have been able to support these sorts of lobbyist bills without consequences because they believe people just aren’t paying attention. Thus, Joe Biden can continue to entertain his champagne wishes and White House dreams while supporting a bill that is a clear giveaway to credit card companies. Others, like Tom Carper, Mary Landrieu and Ben Nelson can sate key contributors and avoid a headache at minimal political cost."


That's the truth, sad to say...

[kentuck]

9. Why are CC companies permitted to charge higher rate than local pawnshop?

Seems like it should be against the law?

[moggie12]

12. One of the amendments sought to limit the rate that could be chargedto 30%

AND IT WAS DEFEATED!!!!!!

The line was that it stepped on State's rights!! (Baloney!)

They refused to enact provisions preventing predatory lending procedures -- or to even require disclosure to consumers of the true cost of borrowing -- while simultaneously enacting laws that make it easier for credit card companies to put consumers in a vise and squeeze every last nickel out of them. Makes me wretch.....

[PassingFair]

10. Done and

KICK!

[babylonsister]

11. A very important kick! nt

[Wilms]

14. kick n/t

[babylonsister]

15. a.m. kick

[madmark]

17. kick

[Darkhawk32]

18. I've already contacted a lawyer about declaring....

Can't take the chance that at some point, if I lose my job, I won't be able to pay my bills (that I wanted to honorably pay) and go homeless. If I were single, fine. But I have to watch out for my kids.

[moggie12]

19. Yikes, sorry to hear that

You are not alone -- I know tons of people who are one paycheck away from insolvency. What an absurd time to tighten the bankruptcy laws -- when jobs are being outsourced faster than you can say, "The GOP doesn't give a damn". Good luck to you.....hope things work out okay.

[Darkhawk32]

20. The credit card companies and the govt have made it impossible to do ...

the right thing.

[moggie12]

21. You're right -- that was part of what yesterday's WP article said

They said people who tried to do the right thing -- paying off their cards -- were the ones most hurt:

Excerpt:
The way the fees are now imposed, "people would be better off if they stopped paying" once they get in over their heads, said T. Bentley Leonard, a North Carolina bankruptcy attorney . Once you stop paying, creditors write off the debt and sell it to a debt collector. "They may harass you, but your balance doesn't keep rising. That's the irony."

What a country...

[madmark]

22. Does anyone know if the dems are even going to attempt a

filibuster? Understand there may be enough turncoats to undermine this are but are they even going to try in the first place?

[Jacobin]

23. KICK

[QuidditchFan]

24. Here's my note...It will never work, but it felt good to write it anyways!

Has it really come to this in our country? Are we really at a point in our history where the rich and powerful are given carte blanche by the government while the barely-surviving downtrodden are victimized to bloat the profits of large corporations?

I ask you to please exercise your consicience on this issue. Please
remember back to what motivated you to enter public life in the first
place. When you were a young congressman or congresswomen aspiring to
serve the public, was the "public" that you were going to serve MBNA or CitiBank? Or, did you think that your service might better benefit the motivated, patriotic citizen working two jobs, paying taxes, and contributing to the common good?

Please...Do not let this atrocity get through the Senate and House.
People NEED the government to look after them. They don't need the
government undermining their ability to lead a prosperous life.

Any senator or congressperson from my state or district who votes for
this bill will not get my vote...Moreover, I will put my energy and
financial resources into removing the aforementioned from office.

Sincerely,