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flpoljunkie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-04-05 08:38 AM
Original message
BANKRUPTCY BILL: LET THEM HEAR FROM YOU! EMAIL LINK TO YOUR SENATORS
http://capwiz.com/thenation/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=7085876

Bankrupt Reform

Urge your senators and representatives to oppose the Consumer Bankruptcy Reform Act

Your credit card issuers are hoping that the sixth time will be the charm for a bill they've been pushing since the Clinton years: "The Consumer Bankruptcy Reform Act" (now S.256 & H.R.685). This legislation would make it more difficult for people turning to bankruptcy as a last resort to actually discharge their credit card debts.

Considering that most people who file for bankruptcy are squeezed middle-class homeowners who experience a job loss, divorce, or medical emergency, you'd think that Congress might be timid about introducing such a draconian bill with 46 million uninsured and on the heels of record job losses. The reality is that many families are borrowing to make ends meet, and are just one missed paycheck away from financial collapse. And passage of this bill will make it still harder for many of them.

Somehow, though, that kitchen-table reality hasn't reached the Washington bubble. In DC, the banking lobby's line about frivolous debtors lacking personal responsibility plays well on both sides of the aisle. Perhaps that's because the industry was Washington's single largest contributor in 2000. Or perhaps it's because they haven't heard from you. Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) is the main sponsor of the bill in the Senate, and Democrats Kennedy (MA) and Durbin (IL) are leading the fight against it.

Contact your representatives now. If you've got a credit card, you've got a problem with this bill. With the threat of consumer bankruptcy defused, issuers will have no reason to refrain from escalating the fee and penalty rate waves they've been riding to record profits in recent years.

http://capwiz.com/thenation/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=7085876
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Skidmore Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-04-05 08:42 AM
Response to Original message
1. Got extra credit cards?
Cancel them and tell the associate they shunt you to so that the issueing company can try to convince you to keep your account that, in light of the pending bill in congress, you no longer find credit cards a viable financial tool. You will not participate in the perpetuation of a financial mechanism which these corporations see as a means to bilk the public. Tell them you will be encouraging all friends and family to do likewise.
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Paradise Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-04-05 08:45 AM
Response to Original message
2. done & kick! n/t
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moggie12 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-04-05 08:51 AM
Response to Original message
3. Done and kick -- ediited the letter a bit
Since I'm in NY and my 2 Senators are against it (Schumer, especially, is fighting hard against it), I sent:


"Please fight hard against the Consumer Bankruptcy Reform Act:

This bill will hurt those who are already hurting. People who file for bankruptcy are usually middle-class homeowners who experience a job loss, a divorce, or a medical emergency. The “Consumer Bankruptcy Reform Act” (S.256/H.R.685) is a travesty -- please do everything you can to fight it!!

Many thanks for considering this letter and for your continued service on behalf of the country."


Thanks for posting this -- everybody should send e-mails and call if they can.
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flpoljunkie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-04-05 03:35 PM
Response to Reply #3
6. Both your Senators voted FOR the 2001 bankruptcy bill. Link to vote below.
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moggie12 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-04-05 04:24 PM
Response to Reply #6
8. Okay, now I'm completely confused.......
Schumer was the one who killed it last time by offering the abortion-related amendment he's planning to offer this time.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/01/business/01bankrupt.html

But the above article said the previous bill had wide support and was killed by Clinton's pocket veto in the last days of his term.

I'm lost ... do you know the true story??
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flpoljunkie Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 09:59 AM
Response to Reply #8
9. No, but here is the list of Dems who voted against this egregious bill.
Edited on Sat Mar-05-05 09:59 AM by flpoljunkie
Corzine (D-NJ)
Dayton (D-MN)
Dodd (D-CT)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Harkin (D-IA)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Reed (D-RI)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Sarbanes (D-MD)
Wellstone (D-MN)

Perhaps they were trying to please both the banks and the credit card industry and their Democratic constituents--a politically expedient vote--knowing Schumer would block it with the abortion-related amendment which the Rethugs could not accept.

But right now, the 2002 election is far enough way for them not to have to worry about the base, especially with the media seemingly focused on Social Security--seemingly never able to cover more than one story at a time.

It is now time for the Democrats to stand up and vote against this current bill which reins in the credit card companies not a whit! Perhaps Harry Reid will be up to the task; he's been super on Social Security, so far. I certainly hope so, as we will be taking names of those who cave to the banks and credit card companies.
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mojavekid Donating Member (993 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-04-05 09:07 AM
Response to Original message
4. Done!
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demnan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-04-05 09:11 AM
Response to Original message
5. Done and a kick
nominated for front page as well. :kick:
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Jacobin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Mar-04-05 04:17 PM
Response to Original message
7. Done
This is important.
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DemoTex Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 10:14 AM
Response to Original message
10. Done
:kick:
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watercolors Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 12:01 PM
Response to Original message
11. Done and done
husband and I both sent one, he added another sentence ot two.
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sarahlee Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 01:16 PM
Response to Original message
12. Here is a good LTE I just read
Dear Editor:

The "compassionate conservative" Republicans in Congress unanimously rejected every single amendment that the Democrats proposed to their Draconian Bankruptcy Abuse Protection law, which protects the large businesses, which can still declare bankruptcy under the laws, from irresponsible consumers who have the audacity to get sick, or have crushing medical bills, or get called to serve in our armed forces and run into serious financial trouble. As an example, this one amendment, which would have protected employees and retirees' pensions in the event their company declares bankruptcy and takes their pension funds to pay off other debtors, was unanimously rejected by Republican senators in the US Senate:

03-Mar
On the Amendment S.Amdt. 49
Durbin Amdt. No. 49; To protect employees and retirees from corporate practices that deprive them of their earnings and retirement savings when a business files for bankruptcy.

REJECTED

The Republicans in the Senate also unanimously rejected the following: rejected the protection of the home as an asset for the elderly in the event of bankruptcy; rejected the protection of servicemen and veterans from means testing and the protection of their homes in bankruptcy; rejected the protection of those whose bankruptcy was caused by medical debt, or by caregiving to an ill or disabled family member; rejected protection of bankruptcy by those whose financial woes were caused by identity theft; rejected a 30% interest limit on an extension of credit extension by credit card companies; preserved bankruptcy protection for people who put their assets in a trust fund, which cannot be touched by the bankruptcy.

The Republicans in Washington DC, along with a handful of Democratic senators, with their tax cuts for the wealthiest among us, their attempted dismantling of Social Security and their undercutting of the last protection for the desperate among us, have shown their compassionate conservative side once again by trying to destroy the middle class. Is this what George Bush's mandate meant???

Regards,


And read about the amendments that failed this past week and how Dems voted here:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/3/4/9176/09929

Comment from the diary author later down the thread:

and just imagine...

What companies like ChoicePoint, who have been funnelling information to the GOP all along, can do in the service of their Party...

Doing okay in life, are you? Got a good job, a car, a home, pay your bills on time, do you?

Say -- you a registered Democrat who never fails to vote? You active in politics? How about, say, online? You a political donor?

WHOOPS. Seems we accidentally let an "identity thief" get hold of your information.

Congratulations! You just acquired a SHITLOAD of debt that isn't yours. Been struggling to get it off your record to no avail, have you? Feel like declaring bankruptcy to get the fucking nightmare to end?

WELCOME TO BANKRUPTCY CENTRAL. May I have your Identity Card, please?

You'll be working in the kitchens this year. You should have your bankruptcy obligations paid off in three.

Have a nice day!

Rage, rage, against the lying of the Right.
by Maryscott OConnor on Fri Mar 4th, 2005 at 13:01:11 CST


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moggie12 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 05:39 PM
Response to Reply #12
17. Thanks for posting that letter -- "compassinate conservatives" my ass!!
I will put that in the faxes I plan to send Frist and other Republicans Monday. Jeesh, the hypocrisy of these people...
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TayTay Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 03:03 PM
Response to Original message
13. I will e-mail both of my MA Sens
but I think they are both against it. (Teddy K is floor managing the fight against it, I think.) I think both of my Sens also voted against this bill in 2001.

I will send them some appreciation for their votes. That can't hurt.
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FreedomAngel82 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 03:09 PM
Response to Original message
14. Thank you for this
Even though my senator's are Frist and Alexander maybe they'll listen? :shrug: It's a long shot I know. *sigh*
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solinvictus Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 03:10 PM
Response to Original message
15. Done..
on several issues.
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thom1102 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Mar-05-05 03:29 PM
Response to Original message
16. done! nt
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DearAbby Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Mar-06-05 03:32 PM
Response to Reply #16
18. Done....KICK!
:kick: This important thread. Do this today!
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