AUSTIN, Texas — Sometimes you have to connect the dots, and sometimes
the connections just hit you over the head.
Congress is on the verge of taking a final vote on the bankruptcy bill, the
product of a five-year effort by credit-card companies to stack the law in their
favor and against average citizens. But you will be relieved to learn that our
lawmakers have thoughtfully included a loophole that leaves six states, including
Florida and Texas, free to continue providing extraordinary advantages to rich
citizens from all over the country who need to shelter their gelt from bankruptcy
proceedings. The millionaire protection amendment.
And this is about to happen despite the fact that one of the bill's most important
sponsors, a congressman with financial problems, got a $447,500 loan — as
The New York Times genteelly put it, "on what appeared to be highly favorable
terms," from (guess who? Right again) — a major credit card company.
Rep. James P. Moran, Democrat of Virginia, got the loan from the MBNA Corp.
of Delaware in 1998, the world's largest independent credit card agency, just
one month before he signed on as the lead Democratic sponsor of the bill, giving
it the appearance of a bipartisan effort. Quite a coincidence, eh?
And that's just what Rep. Moran said. "The timing of my loan was wholly coincidental
with the co-sponsorship of bankruptcy reform."
I find that entirely believable, since I live in Texas where such coincidences
lie thick on the ground. Just last summer, our governor Rick Perry appointed a
former Enron executive to the state Public Utilities Commission, to better to
regulate our energy market. The very next day, Perry got a $25,000 check from
Kenny Boy Lay, but Perry explained, it was "totally coincidental."
You would think Moran would have a little more sympathy for Americans caught
in the toils of the bankruptcy laws — his own financial problems stem from
running up debts on his credit cards, stock market losses and paying for cancer
treatment for his daughter. Ninety-percent of all bankruptcies are caused by getting
sick, getting laid off or divorce. But then, most Americans don't get half-million-dollar
loans that qualify as the largest mortgage package given by MBNA to any single
debtor that year.
Naturally, most congresspeople get their money from credit card companies in
the form of campaign contributions, rather than loans. And that makes it so much
better, you see. MBNA was President Bush's largest corporate contributor in 2000
and, since 1990, banks alone have made contributions of over $106 million to Congress,
the parties and presidential candidates. The Center for Responsive Politics website
(opensecrets.org) has the gory details on who got how much with links to current
contributions.
Bankruptcies have been rising in recent years, but there is no evidence of
abuse of the system by average Americans or that it is hurting the card companies.
Credit-card debt and credit-card companies profits are rising, too.
This card-company bill institutes a harsh "means test" and makes it much harder
to get the "fresh start" status from bankruptcy. Average citizens will be pushed
into five-year repayment plans, leaving less for child support. The bill will
particularly affect women.
But whose fault is it that bankruptcies are rising? The Public Interest Research
Group points out that the four leading banking regulatory agencies — the
Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Office
of Thrift Supervision and the FDIC — just issued a report in June documenting
predatory lending practices. The credit card companies are making loans to consumers
already in debt trouble, not to mention offering cards to teenagers. Some credit-card
companies charge monthly minimum payments so low consumers wind up owing more
than they did before, instead of ever paying off their credit-card debts.
Citibank has just agreed to pay the Federal Trade Commission $200 million to
settle predatory lending charges. So why reward the very companies that are causing
the problem? Is this what Congress intended with its "Corporate Responsibility
Act"?
The bill does contain a provision to keep Kenny Boy and Company from taking
advantage of the millionaire's loophole: You can't use it if you've been convicted
of securities fraud. Great, but as you may have read, it is extremely difficult
to get convictions for securities fraud.
In Texas, at the end of the tech bubble, the S&L frauds and after the stock
market dive, people here are suddenly scrambling for high-end houses. They trade
up from the $1 million house to the $5 million or $10 million. The state's "homestead"
exemption protects the family home from the claims of debtors. It's a good thing
for most people, but has become another form of fraud by the big rich.
This bill stinks. Write, phone, fax or e-mail your representatives, and remind
them that they work for you, not the credit-card industry.
Copyright 2002, The Daily Camera
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