Reply #2: Daily Kos has excellent new report analyzing the Bankruptcy Bill [View All]

[AnnInLa]

http://dailykos.com/story/2005/3/6/63144/06015

The Bankruptcy Bill Examined

The details of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 reveal it to be a bill crafted as a Republican paean to MBNA, the largest single contributor to the Republican party. Far from being either an effort to stem "Bankruptcy Abuse" or an effort at "Consumer Protection", the bill is in fact an attempt to rewrite bankruptcy laws to reduce the ability of those laws to protect consumers from predatory lending practices on the part of MBNA members, and to stiffen the capabilities of those corporations to collect from consumers already suffering from extreme financial hardships.

The "Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005" will almost certainly pass, absent a filibuster -- and at present, it is questionable whether Democrats would have the votes for a filibuster. Nevertheless, it is instructive to examine the structure and proposed amendments to this bill, to examine exactly how insistent Republicans are in passing this bill while blocking all Democratic efforts to protect even the most at-risk consumers.

On the Democratic-sponsored amendments discussed below (you can learn a lot from the Role Call Vote Summary, which lists each Amendment to S.256), the voting was consistent. Not even one Republican voted against party lines. Three Democrats consistently voted with the Republicans:

Sen. Nelson (D - Nebraska)
Sen. Johnson (D - South Dakota)
Sen. Carper (D - Delaware)

Also frequently voting with the Republicans:

Sen. Biden (D - Delaware)

Congress ::

The "Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection" in this bill occurs for Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies - individual avenues of bankruptcy. Conspicuous in absence, evidently not needing reform, are Chapter 11 bankruptcies.

Want to guess what Chapter 11 covers?

You guessed it. Chapter 11 is bankruptcy for businesses:

((( Don't forget to cancel your MBNA credit card and tell them why!)))