Gene Lyons idea for Dems who voted for the one-sided bankruptcy bill

http://moose-and-squirrel.com/gene/gene.html

Color Commentary

With many Americans entering NCAA college basketball betting pools this week, it occurred to me that C-SPAN might get a ratings boost if U.S. senators wore brightly colored uniforms with numbers on their backs. Think about it. Millions who can’t tell a match-up zone from a no-parking zone are wagering good money on the Opossum State Marsupials’ chances of upsetting the Fighting Toll Booth Collectors of UNJ. Yet only a tiny fraction can tell you how their senator voted on a bankruptcy "reform" law that among other outrages puts credit card companies ahead of child support payments in collecting from deadbeat dads. That’s right, sports fans. The corporate shills who peddle unsecured credit to teenagers and house pets via bulk mail and Internet pop-up ads, seduce them into debt, then pummel them with late fees, excess-spending penalties and 40 percent interest rates now want to prevent the poor saps from escaping through bankruptcy.

That’s where colored uniforms might come in handy: As one would expect, every last Republican in the U.S. Senate voted for the socalled Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. Favoring corporations over individuals is what Republicans do. But then, so did 17 Democrats, including Sens. Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas. Yet even some Republicans would have hesitated to vote for the fool thing had their constituents known what team they were playing for.

Republicans, as usual, stated their views in moralistic terms. "I think everybody knows when they take those credit cards and they accrue debt, they are supposed to repay that debt," said Orrin Hatch of Utah. "Frankly, we have far too many people taking advantage of credit cards and not paying their debt."

<>So what persuaded any Senate Democrats to vote for it? Well, that’s where the idea of red or blue uniforms gets complicated. Fortunately, NASCAR has the solution. Its drivers wear large, brightly colored decals advertising their corporate sponsors. If we outfitted U.S. senators the same way, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., would wear a big MBNA patch for the financial services corporation headquartered in his state. Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., who provided a key vote in favor of closing debate, then boasted about opposing the final bill after its passage was safely assured, might wear the insignia of Hartford Financial Services. Our own Blanche Lincoln might choose the logos of some of her largest campaign contributors: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and the American Bankers Association.

Great idea. I'm all for it.

(by the way - a very minor point - there's no UNJ - it's Rutgers U)

Gene Lyons never fails to deliver a knockout punch.

:thumbsup: