Jane Hamsher: Ellen Tauscher (D-BofA) Helps Bank Lobbyists Write Our Laws

via CommonDreams:



Published on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 by Huffington Post
Ellen Tauscher (D-BofA) Helps Bank Lobbyists Write Our Laws

by Jane Hamsher


I've talked to probably a dozen people involved with the bill allowing bankruptcy judges to write-down mortgages, which would reduce foreclosures by 20% and wouldn't cost the taxpayers one dime. Every single person I spoke to said the same thing -- it's disgusting that banks are writing the legislation, watering it down so it is meaningless with the help of Ellen Tauscher and the New Democrat coalition.

On Saturday I wrote about the efforts of former Wall Street investment banker Tauscher to gut the legislation on behalf of banks, who are holding out hope that they can unload their bad loans on taxpayers and never have to take responsibility for their mistakes.

I promptly got a call from Jonathan Kaplan, Tauscher's press secretary, who said that the New Dem's Executive Director Adam Pase, a former lobbyist for predatory lenders who worked to undermine regulation of subprime loans, was not working on this issue. Nor, he claimed, was Tauscher taking the lead. He said Tauscher was only trying to help homeowners before they got to bankruptcy court, and wasn't trying to weaken anything.

Lo and behold, this morning we find not one but two articles where Tauscher brags about her leadership of an effort to "limit the scope of the bankruptcy bill as much as possible," saying that "it shows we have bench strength, and it shows we can flex." Adam Pace was circulating memos on the bill, and an article in Roll Call this morning (subscription) states that he is "widely credited with bringing a sharp organizational focus that has reinvigorated the group." .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/03/03-8

This article you linked to is just so frustrating. Tauscher does not care about the people and their problems at all.

http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=C475BDCA-18FE-70B2-A86ACBA38E23E8E0

"A handful of those moderate members did just that, taking to the microphone to gripe that the provision, which would allow bankruptcy judges to rework loans for homeowners, needed to be more restrictive.

Then a surprising thing happened. Pelosi, who disagreed with this critique, huddled at the side of the room with her top deputies — and then buckled. She suspended consideration of the housing bill so more thought could be put into the bankruptcy item.

This hardly amounts to a breakthrough win for party moderates — or a major concession by the speaker. But it was a consequential moment in the minds of moderate leaders who often find themselves marginalized in a caucus dominated by liberals.

“It shows we have bench strength, and it shows we can flex,” said California Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher, who chairs the New Democrat Coalition and played a central role in negotiations over the bankruptcy bill.
Flex? Sure. Win? That’s another matter."

Yes, Ellen, you do have the power and the money and the money. Maybe someday you won't have the votes.

and resulted in a bad law that...*GASP*...revealed most people who file for bankruptcy REALLY DON'T HAVE ANY MONEY?!?!?!? That law?

Just another example of the majority suffering for the few. All the widespread abuse of the bankruptcy laws just didn't really exist, and it took the banks millions to figure it out. Is it any wonder they're failing?

People are paying their credit cards instead of their mortgages because they can't use bankruptcy to wipe out that debt anymore.

who did it regularly (like one my husband worked for one..:grr:..).

Ordinary people did not abuse the system, and often put OFF filing until the very LAST option, even after paying years and years on debts they could NEVER have lived long enough to pay off..

The dirty secret of credit card issuance is this.. If someone only makes $20K a year, they probably should not even HAVE credit cards, or if they do, those cards should not have more than 1K limits, and there is no reason for visa & mastercard to "allow" people to have multiples of their cards..

Small businesses that run up debts, and then bail out probably cost MORE money than the individuals, and they cause joblessness too..

The company my husband worked for is a prime example.. they would declare bankruptcy, change their name, and stiff the suppliers they owed money to.. that is when they were not using OUR credit cards to survive on (the owner had shitty credit).. Suppliers who get stiffed on payment, often have to downsize , to make up for the losses they suffer..

My husband bailed on that place as soon as he could..