Bankrupt debate
You gotta hand it to Republicans. While preznit takes Bamboozlepalooza on the road and keeps all eyes on the Social Security "debate," Senate Republicans have quietly pushed ahead on their euphemistically named "Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act" (as Michelle Singletary writes, there's little protection for consumers in this gift to the credit card industry).
Like the Holy Grail itself, Republicans have been pursuing this latest bit of punishment for the unfortunate with an almost religious intensity for over eight years, and it probably has its best chance of passage.
And because the media and the public are still trying to get past the "preznit's bold reform vs. 'the party of no'" debate swirling around privatization, very little attention is being paid to a bill that will likely resort in many Americans becoming homeless when they suffer a catastrophic illness. The bill is cruel, putting the elderly and those who care for them at risk. 50 percent of those 65 and older who file for bankruptcy do so because of medical costs they can no longer pay. And amendments offered up by Democrats to soften its effects on the old, as well as military personnel, have been unceremoniously killed by the hegemonistic majority.
The Dems need to move this closer to the center of attention. Nobody likes the credit card companies. Nobody, that is, except the politicians -- Republican and Democrat alike -- who profit greatly from the companies' largesse.
As E.J. Dionne wrote the other day,
With social security phase-out and this bill as their current domestic policy priorities, the Republicans' agenda is clear. The Democrats need to make sure this attack on American "values" and our 70 year history of actually giving a shit when people fall on hard times is as obvious to the voters as the Right's hysteria over gay marriage.
Like the Holy Grail itself, Republicans have been pursuing this latest bit of punishment for the unfortunate with an almost religious intensity for over eight years, and it probably has its best chance of passage.
And because the media and the public are still trying to get past the "preznit's bold reform vs. 'the party of no'" debate swirling around privatization, very little attention is being paid to a bill that will likely resort in many Americans becoming homeless when they suffer a catastrophic illness. The bill is cruel, putting the elderly and those who care for them at risk. 50 percent of those 65 and older who file for bankruptcy do so because of medical costs they can no longer pay. And amendments offered up by Democrats to soften its effects on the old, as well as military personnel, have been unceremoniously killed by the hegemonistic majority.
The Dems need to move this closer to the center of attention. Nobody likes the credit card companies. Nobody, that is, except the politicians -- Republican and Democrat alike -- who profit greatly from the companies' largesse.
As E.J. Dionne wrote the other day,
There is a great misunderstanding that the key fight in our politics is between friends and foes of capitalism. In fact, the battle is among supporters of capitalism who disagree over what rules should govern the market. Should the rules favor the wealthy and the connected, or should they give some protection to those who fall into distress and would like nothing more than a chance to rejoin the ownership society? If Democrats sell out on the bankruptcy bill, they will, alas, show which side they're on.
With social security phase-out and this bill as their current domestic policy priorities, the Republicans' agenda is clear. The Democrats need to make sure this attack on American "values" and our 70 year history of actually giving a shit when people fall on hard times is as obvious to the voters as the Right's hysteria over gay marriage.
posted by John at 11:06 AM
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