|
"these votes demonstrate that top-down class warfare in America is
real, and that raises some questions. When are the rest of us going to start
fighting back?"
|
|
Lessons For Progressives From Passage Of The Debt-Slavery Bankruptcy Bill
Posted April 27, 2005 thepeoplesvoice.org
By: Evan Augustine Peterson lll, J.D.
Christmas came early this year for credit-card corporations, courtesy of
Capitol Hill. After an eight-year, multimillion dollar lobbying blitz by
financial-industry giants like MBNA and Citicorp, the House of Representatives
overwhelmingly passed their heinous "Debt Slavery" Bankruptcy Bill (S. 256/H.R. 685)
by a lopsided vote of 302-126.
Members of the House briefly debated this important matter before they voted.
However, the speeches on both sides tended to be surprisingly simplistic,
given the complexity of the bankruptcy bill. Why? Largely because the
Republicans' majority leaders chose to display their contempt for democratic processes by:
* disallowing votes on the 35 amendments the Democrats had proposed;
* ordering the House Rules Committee to allocate only one hour -- far too
little time -- for substantive debate on this complicated 500-page bill; and
* ordering the House moderator to rudely interrupt every Democratic speaker
when they lined up one-by-one to register their objections to the bill in brief
biting statements.
When the shallow-but-acrimonious debate ended, 229 Republicans (98.7%) and 73
Democrats (36.1%) supported the bill by voting "yes," whereas no Republicans
(0%) and 125 Democrats (62%) opposed the bill by voting "no." Additionally,
three Republicans (1.3%) and four Democrats (1.9%) abstained. [1]
The Senate passed the same bill in March by an equally lopsided vote of
74-25, during which 19 turncoat Democrats voted with the Republicans and Senator
Hillary Clinton abstained. Finally, a gloating Mr. Bush signed it on April 20th.
Hence, the most reactionary re-write of the federal bankruptcy code in 28
years will become this nation's law six months from enactment. Any
financially-desperate person who is seriously considering filing for bankruptcy would be
well advised to do so before then. [2]
What's It All About, Progressives?
Progressives are understandably discouraged because their nationwide
grassroots lobbying effort against this bill was ignored, for the most part, on
Capitol Hill. Moreover, this is the latest in a long series of legislative defeats
for the American progressive coalition. Progressives are asking themselves, "Why
are the Republicans so united, and the Democrats so disunited?"
The likeliest answer is that Congressional Republicans lack freedom of
conscience. They slavishly adhere to the instructions of their party's extremist
neocon leaders because they fear political retribution from both the White House
and their Religious-Right base if they vote their conscience. [3] Of course,
another distinct possibility is that we have a sociopathic Republican majority
which altogether lacks conscience, and simply does not care about the
interests of the beleaguered middle and the downtrodden lower classes.
Contrastingly, the Congressional Democrats lack accountability. At best, they
feel free to vote howsoever they please because they know they'll never be
held accountable by their party's rightward-drifting "Bush-Lite" leaders or
their Democratic base. At worst, they feel free to join their fellow silver-spoon
plutocrats in voting for the stranglehold of upper-class interests at everyone
else's expense. Hence, neither party promotes representative democracy.
Instead, they both promote a corrupt bribe-ocracy that's controlled by moneyed
special interests -- like, for instance, the financial industry.
After the House voted for this terrible bill, Democrats.com President Bob
Fertik said: "We must ask: Where was [House Minority Leader] Nancy Pelosi before
today? Why did [House] Minority Whip Steny Hoyer support this outrageous bill?
Why did Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid even try to take credit for this
Republican bill? And why did 'New Democrats' Ellen Tauscher, Ron Kind, Artur
Davis, and Joe Crowley push this bill on their colleagues? What party do they
imagine they belong to? Who do they think elected them to Congress?" [4]
These questions are worth considering! If the Congressional Minority Leaders
and the "New Democrats" are really bought-and-paid-for Democrats In Name Only
("DINOs"), why do their seemingly-clueless Democratic constituents continue to
re-elect them? [5]
Furthermore, consider these disturbing indicators of widespread defection on
the left. These groups within the House Democrats voted FOR the Republicans'
bankruptcy bill: 32 out of 35 "Blue Dog Democrats" (91%); 25 out of 37 "New
Democrats" (68%); 13 out of 22 members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus
(59%); 10 out of 40 members of the Congressional Black Caucus (25%); and even 2 out
of 51 members of the Progressive Caucus (4%)! (There is some overlap,
however, because several Democrats belong to more than one of these groups). [6]
Therefore, Progressive Democrats of America Executive Director Tim Carpenter
wants more political accountability: "We will remember who voted against the
Democratic base. Those 73 House Democrats and 18 Senate Democrats have a year
in which to try to make up for this. It's hard to see how they'll be able to do
it, but we'll be watching and remembering, and we'll be ready to promote
challengers in 2006."
And NOW President Kim Gandy said of the Republicans: "Once again George W.
Bush and his Congressional enablers have rewarded their corporate allies at the
expense of low- and middle-income working people, single mothers, minorities,
veterans and the elderly. This bill further shreds the safety net for even the
most financially troubled people. It is a reckless move for Congress to
squeeze families in economic and health crises while providing loopholes for
corporate executives to skirt their debts. These payouts to big business must stop
immediately." [7]
Overarching Conclusions: Morally Bankrupt And Deeply Divided.
First, the lopsided House and Senate votes favoring this bill -- 302-126 and
74-25, respectively -- were tantamount to a Congressional declaration of MORAL
BANKRUPTCY. Why? Sadly, "money talks and social justice walks" inside the
Capitol Hill bribe-ocracy.
Our Congresspersons knew full well that this unjust bill would allow the
financial industry's predatory credit and lending practices to continue unabated,
and yet would sharply limit individual access to debt-liquidating personal
bankruptcies. They knew this bill was calculated to push our most vulnerable
people into debt slavery. That might be the correct formula for winning political
support from the financial industry, but it's certainly NOT the politics of
social justice.
They knew that the foreseeable social consequences of this bankruptcy bill
over time will be that millions of financially-desperate Americans will either
commit suicide because they can't see any way out of debt slavery, or be forced
into the homeless underground, or be pressured into a life of crime. These
extremely-destructive social consequences are the REAL legacy of this so-called
"compassionate conservative" bankruptcy bill. [8]
Second, their votes on the bankruptcy bill provide a microcosmic view of what
Congress has become concerning domestic issues -- A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST
ITSELF:
* The 70% majority is a Corporatist Greed Uniparty, consisting of Slavish
Drone Republicans and Spineless Collaborator Democrats, who support Social
Darwinist Dubya's one-way class warfare on behalf of the few filthy-rich
"have-mores."
* The 30% minority is a Socioeconomic Solidarity Party, consisting of
Progressive Democrats and Independents, who defend the besieged interests of the many
just-barely-hanging-on "haves" and downtrodden "have-nots." [9]
Third, these votes demonstrate that top-down class warfare in America is
real, and that raises some questions. When are the rest of us going to start
fighting back? Do we really think "fresh start" relief from crippling indebtedness
is a PRIVILEGE that should be reserved for elite CEOs like Enron's Ken Lay
during their corporate meltdowns, or is it a universal human RIGHT that ought to
be made available to everyone during their financial meldowns? The
Biblical-era Hebrews clearly thought it was the latter -- see Deuteronomy 15:1-11 and
Leviticus 25: 8-34.
The Bottom Line: Political Accountability Is A Moral Value.
The philosopher Santayana correctly warned that "Those who cannot remember
the past are condemned to repeat it." If progressive Americans really want
Capitol Hill to advance the interests of the middle and lower classes rather than
the elite corporate bribe-ocrats, they must hold their Representatives and
Senators personally accountable for every vote they cast in favor of this terrible
bankruptcy bill. Folks, this is a very important form of nonviolent
noncooperation with evil! [10]
And that requires us to collectively remember the bitter taste of this
legislative defeat long enough to REMOVE those Spineless Collaborator Democrats and
Slavish Drone Republicans from office in 2006. We should REPLACE them with
principled progressives who will actually respond to our grassroots lobbying
efforts, NOT ever-rightward-drifting "centrist" plutocrats. In the final
analysis, it is the people who are sovereign, so we are the leaders we have been
waiting for. [11]
In short, remember the Debt-Slavery Bankruptcy Bill!
ENDNOTES
[1] A. Each U.S. Representative's 4-14-05 vote on the bankruptcy bill is
listed here, with the Democrats in italics:
http://clerk.house.gov/cgi-bin/vote.asp?year=2005&rollnumber=108
B. Each U.S. Senator's 3-10-05 vote on the bankruptcy bill is listed
here:
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00044
[2] Read these excellent articles and essays to learn more about the
regressive social consequences of the credit-card industry's unconscionably one-sided
bankruptcy bill:
A. Yoshie Furuhashi's must-read 4-17-05 CP essay, "How The Democrats Went
To Bat For The Credit Industry: Debtors Of The World Unite!":
http://www.counterpunch.org/furuhashi04162005.html
B. Rob Hotakainan's 4-15-05 CD/MST article, "Erasing Debts In Bankruptcy
To Get Harder" [Reports on debate in the House on the "Debt Slavery"
Bankruptcy Bill, and lists by name the 73 turncoat Democrats who joined the
greed-driven Republicans in voting for this bill.]:
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0415-09.htm
C. Marcy Gordon's 4-15-05 CHB article, "Congress Passes Stricter
Bankruptcy Law" [A crucial deadline looms a half-year away for thousands of anxious
Americans weighed down by credit card and other debt following Congressional
passage of a measure that makes it significantly tougher to erase indebtedness in
personal bankruptcy.]:
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_6587.shtml
D. Evan Augustine Peterson III's 4-12-05 TPV essay, "Last Chance To
Defeat Debt Slavery: House Will Vote On Unjust Bankruptcy Bill This Thursday" [U.S.
Representatives and Senators who voted for the Republicans' regressive
bankruptcy bill unwisely ignored the huge avalanche of opposing phone calls and
e-mails that were generated by our nationwide grassroots lobbying effort.]:
http://tinyurl.com/4a8av
E. Debra Saunders' 4-10-05 SFC essay, "Bankruptcy Bill Or Welfare For
Usurers?" [This Republican columnist was not fooled by her party's so-called
bankruptcy "reform" bill, and offered sound reasons for opposing it.]:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/04/10/EDGCSC4UP31.DTL
F. David Sirota's 4-5-05 TP article, "So You Support Usury, Senator?"
[The House is getting ready to debate the Republican's phony bankruptcy "reform"
bill, but Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has introduced another House bill,
entitled the "Loan Shark Prevention Act," which is designed to limit usurious
interest rates and prevent other unconscionable abuses by commercial banks and
credit-card companies.]:
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/so_you_support_usury_senator.php?dateid=20050406
G. Marilyn Gardner's 4-4-05 CSM article, "Bankruptcy Reform Hits Women
Hard" [Reports that the credit industry-authored bankruptcy bill will have a
disproportionately negative sexist impact on American women, which means it also
will harm children.]:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0404/p13s01-wmgn.html
H. Evan Augustine Peterson III's 4-1-05 OJ essay, "Defeat Bush's
Social-Darwinist Agenda Now: Regressive Bankruptcy Bill Will Hit Poorest Hardest"
[Social-Darwinist Dubya's "Debt-Slavery" Bankruptcy Bill is the poison-tipped
spear he'll use to finish off the financially-wounded during his top-down class
warfare against the middle and lower classes.]:
http://onlinejournal.com/Commentary/040105Peterson/040105peterson.html
I. Michael Negron's 3-31-05 TP exposé, "Talking Points Memo: The $2
Million Dollar Flip-Flop" [Shows us how the sleazy credit industry's "campaign
donations" bought off 18 US Senators so they would vote against an amendment to
the phony bankruptcy "reform" bill, which would have limited interest rates to
30 PERCENT.]:
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/the_2_million_dollar_flipflop.php?dateid=2005040
J. David Swanson's 3-31-05 CD/BC essay, "Debt Slavery: What The
Bankruptcy Bill Could Do To You" [A thorough explanation of the Republicans' terribly
unjust bankruptcy bill, its politics, and the reasons to vote AGAINST the "Debt
Slavery Act of 2005."]: http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0331-33.htm
K. Peter Gosselin's 3-29-05 CD/LAT article, "Judges Say Overhaul Would
Weaken Bankruptcy System" [Bankruptcy judges can best evaluate the social impact
of this bankruptcy bill, and they say its provisions will NOT reform, but
rather DESTROY, personal bankruptcy law.]:
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0329-02.htm
L. The Nation's 3-25-05 CD/TN editorial, "Democrats: MIA":
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0325-28.htm
M. Alan Maass' 3-19-05 CP essay, "Making Bankruptcy A Life Sentence:
Washington's Bipartisan Gift To The Bankers":
http://www.counterpunch.org/maass03192005.html
N. Robert Scheer's 3-15-05 CD/LAT essay, "The Bankruptcy Bill: A Tutorial
In Greed": http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0315-27.htm
O. Cynthia Tucker's 3-13-05 CD/AJC essay, "Bush Cheats Those He Owes":
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0313-25.htm
P. David Broder's 3-13-05 CD/ST essay, "A Bankrupt Senate Vote":
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0313-30.htm
Q. Matthew Rothschild's 3-13-05 CD/TP essay, "Democrats Cave On
Bankruptcy Bill": http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0313-31.htm
R. Steven Weiss' 3-14-05 CE article, "Money Talks" [Contributions from
credit and finance corporations correlate with Senators' votes on the bankruptcy
bill.]: http://www.capitaleye.org/inside.asp?ID=159
S. Abid Aslam's 3-12-05 CD/OW article, "Bankruptcy Bill Said To Hit
Poorest Americans Hardest": http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0312-03.htm
T. RedState's confessional 3-11-05 TP essay, "An Embarrassed Republican"
[A red-state Republican blogger laments his party's harsh bankruptcy bill by
stating, among other things, that "This is on us, folks, and it's going to hurt
a lot of people."]:
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/an_embarrassed_republican.php
U. Arianna Huffington's 3-10-05 CD/AO essay, "The Senate Opens Fire on
U.S.
Consumers": http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0310-22.htm
V. Paul Krugman's 3-9-05 TO essay "The Debt-Peonage Society":
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/030905G.shtml
W. Evan Augustine Peterson III's 3-9-05 TPV essay, "On Attempting To
Justify The Unjustifiable With Scripture: Debt Slavery" [The Republicans' harsh
bankruptcy "reform" bill is neither scripturally wise nor rationally defensible
as a matter of public policy, and yet Republicans claim that their draconian
revisions to the bankruptcy code somehow are morally "righteous." This claim
proves false when considered from either a scriptural or an ethical perspective.
Also see the related essay in endnote [3] below.]: http://tinyurl.com/4auhq
X. Kathleen Day and Caroline Mayer's 3-6-05 WP article, "Credit Card
Penalties, Fees Bury Debtors: Senate Nears Action On Bankruptcy Curbs" [Reports
that credit-card companies regularly engage in predatory credit and lending
practices, such as bait-and-switch tactics that result in usurious 30% to 40%
interest rates and astronomical $50.00 late fees. However, the phony bankruptcy
"reform" bill does absolutely NOTHING to stop these, or other, outrageous
predatory practices!]:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A10361-2005Mar5?language=printer
Y. Washington Monthly's 3-5-05 "Political Animal" column, "The Bankruptcy
Bill" [An informative briefing about the bill and its impact.]:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_03/005781.php
Z. Molly Ivins' 3-3-05 CD/WFC essay, "Bad To Worse: Republicans Vote Down
Military Exemption To Bankruptcy Bill, Add Loopholes For Rich":
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0303-29.htm
AA. Harvard Law School Professor Elizabeth Warren's 2-12-05 CD/MH essay,
"Sick And Broke" [Cites recent studies which prove that the personal
bankruptcy system is NOT being abused. The vast majority of bankruptcy filers have
suffered a job loss, an illness, or a costly divorce.]:
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0212-10.htm
[3] Sean Gonsalves' 4-19-05 CD/CCT essay, "The Moral Bankruptcy Of
Fundamentalism" [The hypocritical Religious Right ignores numerous biblical passages on
social justice because they violate its fundamentalist faith in unregulated
laissez-faire capitalism.]: http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0419-23.htm
[4] DebtSlavery.org and PDA's 4-14-05 joint press release "Progressive
Leaders Say Bankruptcy Bill Battle Is Just The Beginning" [It's the third click-on
link underneath the photo.]:
http://elandslide.org/elandslide/index.cfm?campaign=debt
[5] This question is specifically addressed regarding the Congressional Black
Caucus in Glen Ford and Peter Gamble's 4-22-05 CD/BC essay, "Black Caucus
Losing Cohesion: It's Time to Draw Some Bright Lines":
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0422-20.htm
[6] See Techpolitics' eye-opening 4-14-05 chart, "Bankruptcy Bill Vote: 109th
Congress, 1st Session": http://www.techpolitics.org/congress/1091vote108.php
[7] National Organization for Women's 4-14-05 DebtSlavery.org press release,
"Bankruptcy Bill Awards Huge Payoff To Credit Card Companies" [It's the sixth
click-on link underneath the photo.]:
http://elandslide.org/elandslide/index.cfm?campaign=debt
[8] Harvard Law School Professor Elizabeth Warren's outstanding academic
paper, "The Growing Threat to Middle Class Families" (download it at this URL):
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=690&id=5343-2553820-hfMpxYfUxKjJDNyLQkGdgQ
[9] Laura Donnelly's 4-21-05 TP article, "Stuck in The Middle" [Anyone who
thinks the Republican Party represents the socioeconomic interests of the middle
class should think again! Despite more lenient grading standards than in past
years, a Drum Major Institute Report found that more than 90 percent of the
Congressional Republicans consistently voted against the interests of
middle-class families in 2004.]:
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/stuck_in_the_middle.php?dateid=20050421
[10] See former U.S. Senator and Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards'
(D-NC) 4-14-05 TPM essay, "I Was Wrong" [Admits he was WRONG when he voted for
an earlier version of the bankruptcy bill. Acknowledges that the current bill
will have socially-destructive consequences. Scroll down to the title "Guest
Blogger: John Edwards"]:
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/bankruptcy/archives/2005/04/index.php#005440
[11] Thom Hartmann's 4-18-05 CD essay, "How Rich Is Too Rich For Democracy?"
[Insightfully answers this question: "At what point does great wealth in a few
hands actually harm democracy, threatening to turn a democratic republic into
an oligarchy?" He cites right-wing historian Forrest McDonald's arguments to
refute constitutional historian Charles Beard's thesis about the founders, but
recovers well thereafter.]: http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0418-21.htm
-###-
About The Author:
Evan Augustine Peterson III, J.D.,
is the Executive Director of the
American Center for International Law ("ACIL").
ACIL steadfastly opposed the "Debt Slavery" Bankruptcy Bill
because it would undermine Chapter 7 provisions that wisely allow
desperate individuals to receive a "fresh start" -- which concretizes one
important economic right within the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
© 2005 EAPIII EvPeters8@aol.com
|
