Bankrupt
Here is the roll call for the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, quite possibly the worst and most potentially destructive piece of legislation the Senate has considered thus far. Note that Senator Clinton did not vote (possibly because her husband was in surgery, though let the record show that she was an early Democratic supporter of the bill). Krugman's editorial on the bill is still worth reading, especially when he recites the desperate efforts of Democrats to affix some minor good to a purely evil bit of legislation:
One increasingly popular loophole is the creation of an "asset protection trust," which is worth doing only for the wealthy. Senator Charles Schumer introduced an amendment that would have limited the exemption on such trusts, but apparently it's O.K. to game the system if you're rich: 54 Republicans and 2 Democrats voted against the Schumer amendment.
Other amendments were aimed at protecting families and individuals who have clearly been forced into bankruptcy by events, or who would face extreme hardship in repaying debts. Ted Kennedy introduced an exemption for cases of medical bankruptcy. Russ Feingold introduced an amendment protecting the homes of the elderly. Dick Durbin asked for protection for armed services members and veterans. All were rejected.
In the end, 24 Democrats voted for the bill, and all should be ashamed.
posted by Mark D. @ 12:26 PM |
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6 Comments:
Evil may be a little harsh of a description. Why is it when our Government tries to hold individuals accountable for themselves It's a terrible thing. I can share my own experience to show you I'm not asking others to do what I have not. 10 years ago I had kidney stones and had to go to the hospital, I had no insurance. They had to surgically remove and I was home 5 hours later. I month later I recieved a bill for 12k F'n dollars. I setup a payment plan and had to put aside the new car or vacation for a couple years. Did it suck? yes. But that Is life, you get punched in the face and you pick yourself up and keep on going. It's called life. You recieve goods or services you should be held accountable to pay for those goods and services.
FYI: Medical and hospitals CAN NOT go after your house to collect, You may have to get rid of the escalade in the garage though.
Scott K.
Scott says: "FYI: Medical and hospitals CAN NOT go after your house to collect, You may have to get rid of the escalade in the garage though."
Might want to read the text of the new bankrupcy bill, Scott.
Now, they can.
Not only did our bought-and-paid-for Senator Coleman vote for the bill, here are his recorded votes on some of the amendments offered to blunt the harshness of the bill’s “Means Test”:
Coleman voted against amendments which would have exempted debtors from means testing if their financial problems were caused by identity theft or catastrophic illness. Scott, almost half of the bankruptcies in this country involve those drieven into debt by people WITH medical insurance who become seriously ill. The loss of income and other expenses drive them over the edge. The hospital knows it might take some time to recover from an ill person, but MNBA doesn't have to care, and they don't.
Coleman voted against an amendment which would have amended the wage priority provision and protected the insurance benefits paid to retirees.
Coleman voted against an amendment which would have protected employees and retirees from corporate practices that deprive them of their earnings and retirement savings when a business files for bankruptcy, protecting retirees driven into poverty because their pensions vanished into the pockets of a corrupt and thieving executive.
But at the same time, Coleman voted against an amendment which would have limited the exemption for asset protection trusts. Coleman voted to keep this section, known as the "Millionaire's Loophole," and the very rich will still be allowed to hide their assets in other states while declaring bankruptcy at home. Screw the little guy but reward the jerk who stole his pension!
Coleman voted against an amendment which would have discouraged predatory lending practices.
Coleman voted against an amendment which would have limited the amount of interest that can be charged on any extension of credit to 30 percent.
This is all of course in addition to the Senate Republicans voting against protections that would have been extended to families of military personnel forced to declare bankruptcy because the breadwinner was forced to leave a job to go fight the war on Terra. Knowing how THAT one would play with the crowd back in Minnesota, Coleman played hookey on that vote, and was strangely absent during the voting.
Of course, he did take pity on one oppressed segment of the bankrupt public that couldn’t use the “Millionaire’s loophole”: He voted for the one amendment that appears to actually protect a debtor and allow the discharge of judgments imposed by courts of law upon violent protesters at abortion clinics who injure people and are forced to pay damages to those they harm.
That’s our senator, folks.
Hey luke, I did read or should I say skimmed over portions of the bill. The fact that I had to read the same paragraph 3 times to understand what the hell they are talking about may be my own shortfall. But I couldn't find where they talk about legally what they can and cannot take as far as personel property. Could you point me in the right direction?
MN Observer, From the reports I have been hearing It sounds like alot of Senators on both sides have voted down any amendments to soften this bill.
Scott K.
Sarah sent me this bill summary which is shorter but just as confusing. If you do a text search for the phrase "automatic stay" you'll see some interesting results though...
Even though the terms of the new bankrupcy legislation may seem to be a bit harsh, both President Bush and VP Cheney, I am sure are aware of some of the hardships of many Americans. President Bush said that he will serve all the Americans equally whether or not they voted for him.
I think now is the time to rally around both President Bush and VP Cheney with reference to the Bankrupcy Bill.
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