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This is the "politics" forum.........yet I have not seen this, one of the most far reaching acts that the Bush led, Republican majority have pulled off in favor of business lobbyists, and to the expense and the detriment of the American people and to
the national economy, receive much attention. Democrats successfully prevented this from happening for the last eight years, and now....it will happen !
<b>
I watch this forum with amazement as "issues', like the "Smoking Ban" thread garner over 200 messages, and over 1600 views, and that "Wearing your Pants Low" thread (or whatever the "F" it was called),and the thread about the girl who wore the confederate flag dress, just kept on distracting posters and lurkers here, from more important issues. I realize that many members here are young, but c'mon, these are serious times, and this is an alarmingly serious issue:</b>

1.) Almost all Republicans and some Democrats bought off by the credit industry are about to sell out most middle class and poorer Americans, disproportionately located in red states where there are the highest chapter 7 bankruptcy filing rates per total households.

2.) After the bill passes and Bush signs it, there will be a six month window for those who want to take advantage of current chapter 7 filing rules, to declare bankruptcy and to then discharge most, or all of their debts. This will trigger filings that might not have taken place, otherwise.

3.) Once this bill takes effect, a whole new class of bankruptcy filers will be created who will be chronically burdened with debt that would have been discharged under the old rules. No one knows how many of these folks will be prevented from making a new start as consumers, and this will have the severest economic effects on the already poorest areas of the country, primarily in areas that voted for Bush!

4.) The wealthy (those who carry no credit card balances from month to month, because they pay the total bill off monthly),
were never affected by the higher interest rates and fees that credit card companies claim to have to levy because of losses cause by "excessive" chapter 7 filings. Attempts to prohibit interest rates above 30 percent were blocked from the new bill. There is no guarantee that the bill will influence credit card providers to lower the rates that they charge to borrowers.

5.) Although this is primarily a Republican move against the debtor class, prominent Democrats such as senators Biden (bought off by his state's banking giant MBNA), and John Kerry have also sold out to the corporate contributors. (Clinton refused to sign a similar version of this bill into law when the Republican congress passed a similar version during his second term.

I think that I've documented this "sell out" fairly thoroughly,
and I hope that if you come here to post a defense of the bill, you will provide evidence that it is fair, necessary, and is in the best interests of the majority of the constituents represented by those who sponsored, voted for, and signed it into law.

Does it really "protect the consumer" as it's title describes?
Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005.

What could legislators from "high chapter 7 filer" states be thinking when they vote for this? Is Hatch representing Utah better than Kennedy and Dodd represent their New England
states in this matter?
Orrin Hatch appears to be selling out his own constituents even as kennedy, who represents a state with constituents who have much less to lose if this bill passes, continues the eight year fight against it !
And....here's the quote that those who simply want to "shoot the messenger", <br>and then pass that off as a substantative response to the newest theft directed at "the least of us" by the government/corporate/high-net-worth establishment, can use......to avoid actually trying to defend this act on it's merits, because it in indefensible.