Noam Scheiber at TNR reports, admirably, on
a sickening development. The House New Democrats Coalition sent out the following email.
Washington, D.C.--With consumer debt reaching record highs of more than $2 trillion, members of the New Democrat Coalition (NDC) sent a letter today to Speaker Dennis Hastert, urging him to schedule House action on the bankruptcy reform legislation as soon as the Senate completes its consideration of the bill. The letter, signed by twenty NDC members, including the four NDC leaders, reiterates New Democrats' long-standing support for common-sense bankruptcy legislation and states an intention to work across the aisle to pass bankruptcy reform into law
...
"I'm pleased to see so many New Democrats band together in calling for a mainstream solution to bankruptcy reform. I hope Speaker Hastert will heed our calls and move promptly to bring this legislation to the floor soon," said Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher.
"This bankruptcy bill strikes an equitable balance between essential protections and responsible reform necessary to curb abuses of the current code by people with the financial means to pay their debt," stated Rep. Kind. "As champions of both personal and fiscal responsibility, New Democrats supported bankruptcy reform in the past, and we stand ready to adopt this common-sense measure when it comes to the floor of the House."
"The bankruptcy legislation needs to be brought to the House floor," said U.S. Rep. Adam Smith. "Personal responsibility is an important value that must be part of our public policy. This legislation ensures that Americans must make good on their commitments while also protecting those who truly need help under Chapter 7 bankruptcy laws."
"Bankruptcy is an option that ruins credit and homeownership opportunities for too many Americans," said Rep. Artur Davis. "This legislation will deter bankruptcies that are unnecessary and ill considered, while still permitting a fair second chance for low-to-moderate income consumers who face financial hardship. Individual consumers and businesses will benefit from a more streamlined bankruptcy system."
Scheiber writes
This magazine and multiple other opinion outlets on the center-left have written at length about how the bill in question is a truly contemptible piece of legislation. Worse, there is no plausible political rationale for supporting it other than to appease credit card companies. As Paul Krugman pointed out today, the bill makes no exceptions for families wiped out by medical expenses (which make up more than half of all bankruptcies) or for bankruptcy cases involving active-duty soldiers, yet it leaves any number of loopholes in place for large corporations. The political imagery here so obviously benefits anyone who'd oppose the bill you're left to conclude that the only way a congressman could possibly support it is through a craven and reflexive willingness to do the bidding of big business.
But, even worse than that, support for the bill by Democratic moderates betrays a striking obliviousness to the most important debate underway within the Democratic Party. Moderate Democrats have been under assault from grassroots liberals lately for selling out Democratic values in their rush to appease conservative interests. I normally think this criticism is highly misplaced, and that moderates have exactly the right instincts when it comes to social issues and foreign policy, even most economic issues. But in this case the moderates proved the liberals' point for them, which could set back the cause of moderates within the party for months, if not years. It really is a colossal, inexcusable mistake.
Indeed it is a colossal mistake, and indeed the so-called moderates have proved our point. This is exactly, EXACTLY, the kind of BS that Howard Dean arrayed himself against in the primaries. Now Dean chairs the party and still they don't get it. I am so angry about this. Here's the list; I've linked to contact pages.
Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher
Rep. Adam Smith
Rep. Ron Kind
Rep. Artur Davis [contact info on the right]
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy [contact info at the bottom]
Rep. John Larson [contact info at the bottom]
Rep. Stephanie Herseth
Rep. Dennis Moore
Rep. Mike McIntyre [web site problems]
Rep. Joe Crowley
Rep. Jay Israel [is this the same as Steve Israel?]
Rep. David Wu
Rep. Diane Hooley
Rep. Melissa Bean
Rep. Jim Davis
Rep. Harold E. Ford, Jr. [contact info on the left]
Rep. Ed Case
Rep. Jay Inslee
Rep. Shelley Berkley
Rep. Gregory W. Meeks
I could rant and rant about this. These people make me sick. There is no other reason to do this than to give a large cash transfer to MBNA and the like. We've already decided Joe Biden's Presidential Campaign is over. I suppose the same is true for Harold Ford's Senate campaign?
[*UPDATE*]
Ugh, the "Blue Dog" Coalition supports it too. I'll be in a bad mood for the rest of the day. What are these people thinking?