What's in your wallet?

Here's another story that's been kept pretty quiet, probably because it involves, once again, the successful efforts of a powerful corporate lobby to essentially write its own legislation in Washington, aided (of course) by the Borg Collective formerly known as the Republican Party.

Naturally, I'm talking about the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (S.256), which shifts into full gear in less than two weeks. In case you missed it, this new law will protect our poor, starving credit-card companies from... well, from us, by making it much harder for persons with legitimate financial troubles to meet the arbitrary standards now required for filing.

Can't have VISA and American Express going hungry now, can we?

In addition to providing one more example of just what money can buy in the hallowed halls of our government, this bill stands as a further assault on the already reeling middle class from what is the most transparently feudal Administration in recent memory. Early this year, 104 professors of bankruptcy and commercial law petitioned the Senate to examine the dangers inherent in this bill, stating,

This bill is deeply flawed, and will harm small businesses, the elderly, and families with children. (The) overwhelming majority of people in bankruptcy are in financial distress as a result of job loss, medical expense, divorce, or a combination of those causes...

Our concern is with the provisions (of the bill) addressing "bankruptcy abuse". These provisions are so wrongheaded and flawed that they make the bill as a whole unsupportable.

Guess the Senate didn't care all that much about "small businesses, the elderly, and families with children," with all those abused credit-card lobbyists to fend for.

The most interesting aspect of the timing of this legislation is how it will potentially affect a significant number of Katrina victims, something foreseen by an observant few in the days immediately following the storm. The Washington Post report says,

A coalition of bankruptcy lawyers and consumer advocates has pressed Congress to delay the law's implementation date for Hurricane Katrina victims, especially since many had no plans to file until the storm damaged their homes and cut into their pocketbooks.

The U.S. Trustee Program, which oversees the nation's bankruptcy courts, yesterday announced it would temporarily waive the credit-counseling requirement for Katrina victims.

Whew! Good to know that those without homes, cars, roads, or telephone service won't have to find and join credit-abuse support groups before rushing to file! And I thought the government didn't have a heart.

So keep your fingers crossed, kids. Pray that your jobs and health stay rosy. October 17th is just around the corner, and we know where we rank on the Administration's priority list. And as for all that money that our credit-card lenders will be able to hoard and pump back into the pockets of a cooperative Congress, only one thought comes to mind...

Priceless!