> [I guess it could be worse - if the Reps controlled the Senate, they
> might have brought back debtors prison.]
Yeah. But, give the Dems time. Trent Lott was the Senate majority leader when the initial version of this bill narrowly missed passage in 11/00. At the time, he vowed to fight to pass it, nice of Daschle to help him out now. In the midst of all the morality soaked rhetoric about corporate responsibility accompanied by zero proposals to curtail skyrocketing corporate bankruptcy filings, this bill is beyond despicable.
The FIRE (financial, insurance, real estate) sector is already the highest political donor (almost a billion dollars in the past decade), but now they're upping their efforts to screw their retail customers in order to bail themselves out of mounting losses stemming from their collusions with flailing corporate criminals. The number of personal bankruptcies filed since last year has increased by 8.6% and is certainly at record highs, as the article states, but the volume represented by those filings has barely budged. Also, 9 out of 10 personal filings were due to job-loss, health care bills or divorce (disproportionately effecting women).
The volume represented by the top corporate bankruptcies filed over the same period, has increased by about 512%. 8 out of 10 of those companies filed because of misleading accounting practices which are under SEC or criminal fraud investigations.
MBNA may top the financial corporate donor list, but the top 5 credit card issuers have contributed $6mln so far in the current election period alone. (The top 5 issuers control 50% of the credit card market.) Citigroup was also a top 10 contributor for Bush's election. It faces a far greater loss on non-performing corporate loans and irrecoverable assets, than could ever be made up by gains in their credit card business.
Nomi
>
> Business Week - September 16, 2002
>
> Populism Takes a Bank Holiday
> Tough times and corporate crimes don't stop a bankruptcy bill
>
> In the wake of the corporate crime wave, when most pro-business bills
> are sinking like stones, one proposal seems headed for enactment.
> What's different about an overhaul of federal bankruptcy laws that is
> highly favorable to Big Business? Simple: A massive lobbying campaign
> by a wealthy coalition of companies with powerful friends on Capitol
> Hill is greasing the skids.
>
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