Nathan Newman wrote:
>Well-- the bankruptcy bill has been used by folks on this list for
>two years as the example of Democratic subservience to corporate
>interests. Yet the darn thing never seems to quite become law due
>to various Democratic maneuvers. -- Nathan Newman
-So what did Daschle mean when he said, upon taking over as majority -leader, that he wanted to move the bill through? And who were all -those Dems that voted for the thing in the first place?
When Dems say they want a pro-worker measure and even vote for it, folks on this list often note that this may be just cynical windowdressing used to haul in votes without delivering the goods. Sometimes that may be true and sometimes it may be not (although just the need to make the gesture shows some need to appear to serve that constituency), but it is equally true that Dems may support pro-corporate measures and even vote for them to keep the corporate campaign contributions coming, while using parliamentary maneuvers to delay and kill the bill over the time.
The latter seems the only reasonable explanation of the fate of the bankruptcy bill, since Daschle could have "moved the bill" along at any time over the last year by appointing representatives to a conference committee, something he has refused to do.
I agree that the best measure is "look at what they do, not what they say." And what Dems have done on the bankruptcy bill is say and vote pretty words about support, while using continuing parliamentary maneuvers to prevent it becoming law.
Also, some changes proposed in the bankruptcy law are useful and worthwhile, such as the Dem Senate proposal to eliminate the homestead provision used by rich people to hide their assets from creditors in multi-million dollar ranches in Texas. If they strip out some of the anti-consumer provisions in the bill, it may even evolve into worthwhile legislation. As the Enron affair shows, easy bankruptcy is not always the friend of working families, so the devil is in the details, not in passage or non-passage of the bill.
-- Nathan Newman