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aeroplane
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 Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 3:23 pm Post subject: An update on the war on the impoverished. |
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Bankruptcy Reform Close to OK in Congress
Apr 14, 08:00 AM EST
WASHINGTON - Bankruptcy legislation that could make it impossible for thousands of people to wipe away their debts is nearing passage by Congress.
After eight years of failed efforts by banks and credit card companies, the biggest overhaul of bankruptcy laws in a quarter-century has been catapulted toward enactment by a Republican majority buttressed by the fall elections. The legislation, which garnered some Democratic votes, cleared the Senate last month 74-25.
The House was voting Thursday on the bill, which would require people with incomes above a certain level to pay credit-card charges, medical bills and other obligations under a court-ordered bankruptcy plan.
President Bush has said he will sign the bill into law. It marks a second victory for Bush this year on pro-business legislation.
Opponents say the change would fall especially hard on low-income working people, single mothers, minorities and the elderly and would remove a safety net for those who have lost their jobs or face crushing medical bills.
Between 30,000 and 210,000 people - from 3.5 percent to 20 percent of those who dissolve their debts in bankruptcy each year in exchange for forfeiting some assets - would be disqualified from doing so under the legislation, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.
Going into effect six months from enactment, the measure sets up an income-based test for measuring a debtor's ability to repay debts. It also requires people in bankruptcy to pay for credit counseling.
Underscoring the political sensitivity of the issue, the liberal group MoveOn said it was beginning a campaign of radio ads this week against House lawmakers of both parties who support the bankruptcy legislation.
"With solid control of both houses of Congress and the White House, the Republican leadership thinks they're free to show their true colors - taking from the middle class and giving to the wealthy and corporations," said Tom Matzzie, the Washington director of MoveOn's political action committee.
"But we're going to call the Republican agenda what it truly is: a war on the middle class. ... The American people deserve to know who's on their side and who's trying to harm them for the sake of banks and ... credit card companies," Matzzie said.
In two weeks of debate and a series of votes on the Senate floor and later in the House Judiciary Committee, Republicans systematically rebuffed Democrats' efforts to soften the bill with amendments.
Backers in Congress and the financial services industry have been pushing the legislation for eight years, arguing that bankruptcy frequently is the last refuge of gamblers, impulsive shoppers, divorced or separated fathers avoiding child support, and multimillionaires - often celebrities - who buy mansions in states with liberal homestead exemptions to shelter assets from creditors.
New personal bankruptcy filings declined to 1,599,986 from 1,613,097 in the year ending last June 30, breaking an upward trend of recent years.
Banks, credit card issuers and retailers have lobbied vigorously for bankruptcy revisions that would force more people to repay at least part of their debt. Such a bill nearly passed in 2002. It failed when the Senate accepted, but House Republicans rejected, a Democratic amendment barring anti-abortion protesters from using bankruptcy to avoid paying court fines for blocking abortion clinics.
The bill creates a test for measuring a debtor's ability to pay.
Those with insufficient assets or income could still file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which if approved by a judge erases debts entirely after certain assets are forfeited. Those with income above the state's median income who can pay at least $6,000 over five years - $100 a month - would be forced into Chapter 13, where a judge would then order a repayment plan.
Critics say that's unfair because many people who file for bankruptcy have lost their jobs, or are going to lose them.
Under the current system, a federal bankruptcy judge determines under which chapter of the bankruptcy code a person falls - whether they have to repay some or all of their debt.
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On the Net:
Information on the bill, S. 256, can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov/
Copyright 2002 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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http://daily.webshots.com/content/ap/current/h69019603.html
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Fyrefly1
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| Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 6:57 pm Post subject: |
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Of course there is always more than one motive...
Don't you think there's a need to make it harder to declare bankruptcy, since so many people do it just to get out of having to pay their debts...?
I think there's a disturbing trend among the yuppies: that it's OK to declare bankruptcy when you overcharge 20 credit cards and still have a pretty good job.
It's all about lifestyle, isn't it? People think they can just carry huge quantities of debt and then when they run out of money, just declare the big B...
It's too easy...it needs to be controlled, somehow without hurting legitimate people.
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Stokes
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Joined: 28 Nov 2004
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| Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 9:55 pm Post subject: |
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3:40pm 04/14/05
Congress passes bankruptcy overhaul legislation By William L. Watts
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - In a major victory for the credit industry, the House of Representatives on Thursday voted 302-126 to pass legislation that will make it tougher for consumers to avoid repaying debt by filing for bankruptcy. The bill, which cleared the Senate last month, now goes to the White House, where President Bush has said he's eager to sign it. The bill institutes a means test for bankruptcy filers based largely on median state incomes. |
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Fyrefly1
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| Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 10:05 pm Post subject: |
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| stokes wrote: |
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3:40pm 04/14/05
Congress passes bankruptcy overhaul legislation By William L. Watts
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - In a major victory for the credit industry, the House of Representatives on Thursday voted 302-126 to pass legislation that will make it tougher for consumers to avoid repaying debt by filing for bankruptcy. The bill, which cleared the Senate last month, now goes to the White House, where President Bush has said he's eager to sign it. The bill institutes a means test for bankruptcy filers based largely on median state incomes. |
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Boy, the question and answer period sure passed quickly, didn't it?!
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Fyrefly1
"All truth passes through three stages: first it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third it is accepted as self-evident."
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Stokes
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| Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 10:32 pm Post subject: |
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aeroplane
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| Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 10:41 pm Post subject: |
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Just think about this for a moment. During the 90's the credit card companies grew tremendously by pushing their cards on everyone including children, the poor, and the elderly. People were told to use it for everything including buying food and paying for hospital expenses. People even paid off credit card debts with other cards hoping to stay just one step ahead of the interest rate game.
Right after September 11, 2001 they told us it was patriotic to spend to "help get America back on her feet." Then, whenever the economy went soft, they (the government) encouraged consumers to spend spend spend like there was no tomorrow.
But tomorrow came. Now they are telling us that they do not feel any responsibility for their actions to vigorously encourage people they knew might not fully understand the concept of instant credit. People they knew might have trouble repaying if the economy went bad. The credit card companies should shoulder some of the burden. It didn't take a genius to see this wasn't a good idea from the start... unless they were only interested in short term profits which were greater than at anytime in the credit card industry history.
Bush seems pretty confident that he will not need to call up a draft, doesn't he? He's eager to sign this bill into law, isn't he? Anyone here ever heard of a concept called Debtor's Prison?
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Torkel
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Joined: 23 Nov 2004
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Location: West Virginia, USA
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| Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2005 4:53 am Post subject: |
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Anyone here ever heard of a concept called Debtor's Prison?
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Yea, and I'm a thinking that's where Bush is gonna try kill two birds with one stone 
The Debtor's Prison could be just around the corner... 
Peace,
Torkel
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