Bankruptcy bill held up by protections for farmers, abortion protesters

[Judi Lynn]

Bankruptcy bill held up by protections for farmers, abortion protesters

JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer Wednesday, January 28, 2004


(01-28) 11:36 PST WASHINGTON (AP) --

House Republicans decided Wednesday to try to force Democrats to accept GOP bankruptcy legislation that keeps protections for abortion protesters in exchange for bankruptcy help for farmers.

The legislation would make it harder for Americans to erase their debts. The House bill failed previously because Senate Democrats would not consider the bill without a provision to ban abortion protesters from using bankruptcy to avoid paying court fines for blocking clinics if they knowingly violated the law.

A House-Senate committee previously agreed to include that proviso, but House members refused to accept it. Now, however, House Republicans are threatening the usually routine extension of bankruptcy help for farmers if Democrats don't accept the bankruptcy legislation without the abortion provision.

"Sometimes giving the other body a choice speeds things along, and that's what this bill purports to do," House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., said Tuesday.

House and Senate Democrats say combining the overall bankruptcy legislation with the help for farmers won't work. "This is an effort to find someone to blame for the failure to pass the bankruptcy legislation," said Rep. Melvin Watt, D-N.C.
(snip/...)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/01/28/national1436EST0661.DTL

[xchrom]

1. and that's why i think of them as

repiglicans.

[SpiralHawk]

2. Every Dem candidate for office

Should make this Stinker a major campaign issue. Nail the Republicans with this ugly stab at the middle class. Make them pay for their sins.

[denverbill]

3. Fine and dandy, if you ask me.

Vote down the bill. I don't think many people on this forum cared for the fucking bankruptcy 'reform' bill in the first place. I know I didn't. Fuck the credit card companies.

I don't really give a damn about the abortion protestors. Those assholes will keep being assholes whether they are bankrupt or not. If Repukies don't want to help American farmers, then so be it. We'll be sure to mention it in November.

[SoCalDem]

4. The Repubes better be careful here

The "shoppers" of america, (the ones who have kept all those plates on poles spinning for all these months while the economy is in the shitter)have been using their plastic..

If it looks like the BK bill will pass and chapter 7 will be impossible for "normal" people to use, that LOUD sucking sound will be what's left of the economy, as they RUN to the nearest BK lawyer to file..

Usually when a bill like this passes, there is a phase in period of a few months..so all those people who are "on the edge" will see it as their last chance to start over.....

So careful, little greedy pubbies.. "your people" have been running up some bills and they might just bail while the bailin's good :)

[Faygo Kid]

5. My God. They are rabid about this.

Talk about special interest legislation. The Repukes are determined to push this through for their credit card company handlers, and that's all there is to it. Any Dem that votes for this piece of crap ought to be drummed out of the party. This is an election year; the Repukes know they need to push this now or wait till after the election, because it is so appalling. I am trying to work my debts out. They pass this, and I will immediately go into bankruptcy before it takes effect. And that's that. A vastly underreported story. Once again, punish the poor and middle class. This would destroy people of good will who have gotten into trouble and want to do the right thing. ABB!

[Democat]

6. If Democrats give in on this, there is no forgiveness

There is no way that anti-abortion domestic terrorists should get a special bonus from taxpayers.

Stand up Democrats!

[dusty64]

12. Stand Up,

if only!

[bleedingheart]

7. I hope they don't pass it at all! I hope this bill dies and the credit

vampires have to cry in their milk...why make it harder for average americans to declare bankruptcy when American corporations do it consistently.

I say screw this bill...let it die...its nothing but special interest legislation anyways...

[FloridaPat]

8. Found out somthing disgusting about the banks and credit cards

Seems if you default or don't pay your bill, they have insurance that covers it.

[PaDUer]

9. That's true...

Someone told me that they have that insurance, the account is then SOLD to a collection agency, and then those collectors hound you to death by threatening you and trying to get you to pay them..It seems they get a percentage of the $ due...
Does anyone know anything about this?

[mikehiggins]

10. If you default you are buying yourself a lifetime of trouble

If you go bankrupt, all your debts go away. Poof!

Some caveats: if you run up lots of debt within a period of time and then file the referee may decline your filing. In other words, if you max out all your cards and take out bank loans and then take a hike, you may wind up still having to pay those debts PLUS the companies know you tried to screw 'em. Again, a lifetime of trouble.

On the other hand, if you play it square the whole hearing will take you about fifteen minutes in a sorta-court setting and then its over. So is your credit rating for some period of time. Usually, I'm told, its seven years but someplaces its less, other places it may be more. You'd have to talk to a lawyer.

AND you'd better have a lawyer do it. Some folks go it on their own and they wind up sitting in the back of the room until everyone with a lawyer gets taken care of. The lawyer wants his fee up front in cash usually (once you file he can't collect) and will put together your filing. All you have to do is make sure you list each and every debt: any you miss remain and you still have to pay them.

You probably don't want to read the filing. Just sign it and wait for your hearing. During that period you tell anyone who calls to dun you for a bill to call your lawyer. Period. They'll ask if you are filing bankruptcy and there's no law against telling them--there's nothing they can do anyway--but you don't have to so don't. Just refer them to your lawyer.

So, after you file you have no debts. You also have pretty much zero credit rating. This can be a problem but HEY! the credit cards will start sending you applications pretty quick. Its a good bet for them because, I believe, you can't file again for seven years (ask your lawyer about that).

So, should you do it? If having a credit card or getting a mortgage is important to you, no. If your life is turning into a glowing piece of hell because you just cannot get out from under your debts no matter how hard you try, the answer may well be yes. I'm not a lawyer or an expert but there is a reason this is protected in the Constitution and its because everyone deserves a second chance.

Trying to eliminate it is just typical bullshit from the professional politicians. The ONLY reason to "reform" bankruptcy is to keep the bucks flowing from the credit companies into the pockets of your representatives in Washington.

It is as simple as that.

[BehindTheCurtain]

11. You've no idea...

I work as a financial counselor doling out "hardship programs" to the worst off of the one of the major credit cards. These programs don't help people at all.

Helpful debt collection includes raising interest rates to 25% and up. Piling ever higher fees. A legal magic wand in the form of a cardmember agreement that basically gives them the right to screw you. And each year it gets progressively worse. You agree to new terms just by using the card. They send a notice, but are not responsible for your receiving it.

Should you charge off, as already indicated, your debt is sold. And these people more or less never attempt to give up. Granted, if most people truly knew their laws, they'd quickly realize how these 3rd party companies operate in complete violation of the collecting laws, dialing regulations and other applicant rules.

And please, don't start me on Consumer Credit groups. Fully half of them are scams, eating up money and doing no good. They don't help your credit. Most credit cards won't even let go long after the original debt has been repaid many times over. In fact the older the card, the harder the efforts to keep it going.

But I'm just ranting. Don't mind me.

:puke:

[mikehiggins]

14. Not ranting. You're telling it like it is

I have a relative who went the "counselling" route. She wound up much worse off, and filed for bankruptcy after about two years of it.

Her health problems cleared up, she was able to quit smoking and lost some weight, got promoted at work and smiles much more. The insidious emotional effects of getting trapped in these credit crunches is far from being discussed adequately.

I can only relate a story passed on to me. A person I am close to went to a bankruptcy attorney in NYC (one of the biggest; I think VISA would pay to have his airplane crash) and after a ten minute talk the lawyer told him "you should have been here two years ago."

Six months later my friend was debt free and doing great. Over the subsequent years, of course, he wound up in trouble again. Credit cards are as addictive as nicotine (and really taste bad if you try to smoke them).

[noonwitch]

13. Abortion protestors-another reason I loved Janet Reno

I loved it when she applied RICO laws to Operation Rescue. She pretty much bankrupted the organization-Randall Terry is out there begging for money because he has none of his own.

I don't have a problem with peaceful protests. I do have a problem with blocking access to the clinic and with protestors finding out the names of the women with appointments and making signs with their names on them.