The bankruptcy bill is probably on the fast track for House passage and Bush's desk, but let's keep the House vote total down. Here's one big reason for a 'No' vote that I wish had come to light in time for the Senate vote. (Did Lincoln Chafee or his staff read his state's biggest paper Wednesday?)
From a Providence Journal editorial: "According to The Spamhaus Project, an organization that works against spam, Florida has 54 of the 180 biggest spamming operations. And for good reason: The state's favorable personal-bankruptcy laws let spammers who are sued hold on to most of their possessions." The federal bankruptcy bill largely leaves those "homestead" protections in place in Florida, Texas and three other states. (O.J. Simpson and at least one Enron executive benefited from the loophole.)
The full editorial also talks about the huge cost of spam to U.S. businesses, including an estimated $10 billion to $87 billion a year in lost productivity. So much for the GOP being pro-business.
http://www.projo.com/opinion/editorials/content/projo_20050309_09spam.1bf1609.html