We are all saved, the bankruptcy bill passed!

Oh my god, the day seems brighter already! The long sought bankruptcy reform bill has passed both the House and Senate and is ready for President Bush to sign. I agree some reform was probably due, although this was not so much a reform as it was the credit card and consumer finance companies calling the bill due for all of their contributions to Congressional campaigns over the years. Those companies have spent a staggering amount of money over the past decade or so trying to get those passed. I don't have a problem making it harder in some ways for people to just walk away from debt, especially non medical related, but from what I have read it goes much farther than that. When you have almost 100 bankruptcy law professors speak against it, that should tell you something. Those are the people that know the most about the law. Here is my biggest gripe: While they made it tougher on lower and middle income people, they did absolutely nothing to make it harder on the wealthy (no really, are you saying that they did nothing to penalize their biggest contributors, is that really possible???) So a milloinaire can keep his fourth house in Key West but a middle class person may not be able to afford an apartment if they are paying more than what is considered normal in that area. Yeah, doesn't make a lot of sense does it?

So here is my challenge to the financial industrly. You got your gift, you got what you paid for actually in the votes you bought. Now that this has passed, if what you have lobbied for is true, then credit card rates should drop probably 3 to 4% in the next year. Before you make excuses, remember that you already charge exhorbitant rates for not only those that are late to you, but in fact late to anyone at all even one time by even just one day late, so those people that may still file bankruptcy should be covered by that. So when will we see rates fall?

The answer?

You won't, this whole thing is a thinly disguised cash grab for the credit card and finance companies. Watch their numbers about a year or 18 months from now, they will probably have record profits. I also wouldn't be surprised if they become more strict with offering lower rates through credit counselors since it will be harder for those in trouble to threaten bankruptcy where the card issuer would have been faced with losing all of their money. Those people can't just walk away. What you will not see if more responsible lending by these companies. They can now afford more than ever to be aggessive, what do they have to lose? Need proof? An amendment requiring lenders to disclose how long it would take to pay off their balance with just minimum payments was defeated. Good thing I guess, I can see how that would be bad, people might be inclined to charge less or pay it off sooner. Yeah, I can see how such a thing would cripple the economy. What the hell?

Here is an article from the Washington Post via Yahoo about the bankruptcy bill:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1802&ncid=716&e=19&u=/washpost/20050415/ts_washpost/a53688_2005apr14