My response from Diane Feinstein,re: Bankruptcy Bill.

[maveric]

Dear MAveRiC,

Thank you for writing to me about proposed
bankruptcy legislation. I appreciate your letter on this
important issue and I welcome the opportunity to
respond.

Congress has considered various forms of
bankruptcy legislation over the past seven years, and the
Senate is again taking up bankruptcy reform in the 109th
Congress. After careful consideration, I have come to the
conclusion that too many people are abusing the current
system. We need bankruptcy reform that is balanced and
requires both debtors and creditors to act responsibly.

However, while I do believe reform is needed, and
have supported it in the past, it is essential that current
legislation being considered contain language not
actually included in it.

Specifically, I am a firm supporter of an
amendment proposed by Senator Charles Schumer's
efforts to amend the bill, so that extremist anti-abortion
protesters will not be allowed to shield their assets from
court imposed sanctions by simply declaring bankruptcy.
This amendment protects both a woman's right to choose
and the ongoing effectiveness of the Freedom to Clinic
Entrances Act that has led to successful cases against
those who employ violence or intimidation to prevent
women from obtaining or providing reproductive health
services. Also, I believe that any bankruptcy reform
needs to sufficiently account for serious medical costs
that are so high that it is literally impossible for people to
ever pay them off. If a court decides the person is unable
to repay the medical debt over his or her lifetime, I feel
that the law should recognize that fact.

Recently, the Senate Judiciary Committee, of
which I am a member, sent bankruptcy reform legislation
to the entire Senate for debate. Please be assured that I
will keep your thoughts in mind as Congress considers
this important topic.

Once again, thank you for writing. I hope you will
continue to write to me on issues of importance to you.
If you have any more questions or comments, please feel
free to contact my office in Washington, D.C. at
[phone].

Whaddaya think?

[Melodybe]

1. I think that Feinstein doesn't get money from the credit card companies

so she is able to speak out against their corruption. Now, if you want her to talk about prescription drugs, well, that's an entirely different story.

[Enquiringkitty]

2. I agree with her about the abortion protesters covering their behinds

through bankruptcy but the wording on medical bills should be changed. There are many medical reasons why someone would really need that as protection like someones spouse dying and leaving a mountain of bills which the remaining spouse just can't ever pay on one income or unexpected illness which takes long treatments and therapy. These are just a couple of reasons why we need bankruptcy protection. I hope it goes down in the final vote.

[SoCalDem]

3. Dear Diane,

Since you are "aware of people who are abusing the system (Enronistas come to mind)why not correct the system to catch the "abusers"..

What you people did was reprehensible.. Following your logic, because there are children who will be parentally abused, we might as well kill all parents, so they will not abuse the kids..

A better plan would be to chastise the credit card companies for offering so much UNSECURED credit.. That's very irresponsible of them.. actually almost ABUSIVE..to wave the offer of "free money" under the noses of the same people whose jobs YOU sent to India or China...or the same people who have no medical coverage because congress cannot get its act together and provide single-payer coverage like most civilized countries..

Perhaps better legislation would have been to LIMIT the amount of credit extended and have an income threshold for GETTING credit (like there used to be) and to mandate interest of no more than 2% above prime ANY TIME..

But alas, I understand your logic.. If the credit card moguls could not make BILLIONS of dollars off the backs of poor and unemployed people, how COULD they come up with the filthy lucre that they line your pockets with every few years ..

[Melodybe]

4. I like it, you should send it to her

It would be even better if you sent a hand written message to her.

Good stuff :kick:

[Kenneth ken]

5. she voted against it

so you might want to hold off on sending that.

:hi:

[SoCalDem]

6. Dear "whoever signed this piece of trash ",

:P..

I should have read up on it,, Diane usually votes for this kind of bill :P

[CindyDale]

7. The Nays

Here is the list of those who voted "no":

Akaka (D-HI)
Boxer (D-CA)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Corzine (D-NJ)
Dayton (D-MN)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Harkin (D-IA)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (D-CT)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Obama (D-IL)
Reed (D-RI)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Schumer (D-NY)
Wyden (D-OR)

I agree that some people do abuse the bankruptcy laws. You can get some real con artists who rip off little people, as well as big companies, knowing they will not have to pay the money back. It's too bad that this law didn't address the abusers more specifically.

We need a better solution to medical costs than bankruptcy, though. When are they going to address that issue?