Reply #19: Yeah, and he was in bed with the credit cards companies too. [View All]

[suziedemocrat]

Since I'm from Indiana, I couldn't help rooting for him. Still, look at this...

http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=w061204&s=judis120606

What to think? One gauge of Bayh's conviction and character might be what he did on March 13, 2001. That day, the Senate was debating so-called "Bankruptcy Reform," a bill promoted by the credit card companies that made it much harder for consumers to escape debt by declaring bankruptcy. Congress had passed a version of the bill in 2000, but Bill Clinton had vetoed it. Now, with George W. Bush backing the bill and Republicans in control of both houses, it was heading toward a vote.

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Feinstein offered a very mild amendment to the bankruptcy bill. It capped the debt limit on credit cards for minors at $2,500 unless they could obtain parental consent or proof of financial independence. Dodd's amendment was somewhat tougher. Companies could only sign up minors if their parents co-signed the credit card agreement or if the minors could prove financial independence or agreed to take a financial management course. Both amendments lost--Feinstein's by 55 to 42 and Dodd's by 58 to 41. The great majority of Democrats voted for these amendments, but not Bayh. He joined the credit card companies and the Republicans in opposing both.

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Why did he do it? Bayh didn't say during the debate, and he didn't issue a statement afterwards. The fact is that they were minor votes and probably ones that Bayh expected the greater public (but not the credit companies) to ignore. And there is an obvious explanation for why Bayh would take the credit card companies' side. In states like Indiana, Georgia, Arkansas, Nebraska, Florida, and Montana, where there is not a powerful labor movement or a plethora of pro-Democratic organizations, and in Delaware, where many of the credit companies are based, Democrats often look to the credit card companies for campaign contributions. And the companies and their executives often oblige.

The bankruptcy bill was their payoff. It was not surprising, therefore, to see Delaware's Joe Biden and Thomas Carper, Nebraska's Ben Nelson, or Montana's Max Baucus voting "yea." And Bayh was also a recipient of credit card money. He was tenth among all Senators in 2001-2002 for the receipt of money from finance/credit companies, the year of the vote, and he was tenth in the 2005-2006 session, when the bill finally passed both houses and was signed. So he was paying the companies back for their support.

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