Thompson: Bankruptcy legislation holds big lie (a must read!)

[leQ]

i hate to double post in here, but this was too good to pass up passing along to my democrat friends. from the des moines register:

The legislation's supporters, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley chief among them, claim the bill will stop the "abuse" committed by people seeking to eliminate debts. Sen. Grassley has said the legislation will keep "deadbeats" from getting off "scot-free."

But it turns out even the bill's supporters don't think abuse and fraud are too pervasive. The only number cited by supporters for their allegations is an estimate that 10 percent of bankruptcy filers could have repaid some of their debt. So, even the bill's supporters concede that 90 percent of filers neither commit abuse nor are able to repay their debts.
{snip}
In February, I and other Christian lawyers around the country who represent debtors wrote to religious leaders urging them to oppose the bankruptcy-reform bill on biblical and moral grounds. We said, "Helping people in dire situations is more important than preserving penalty fees, late charges and sky-high interest rates for the purveyors of the new plastic money."

Senator Grassley responded by saying, "I can't listen to Christian lawyers because I would be imposing the Bible on a diverse population." It was a curious statement from a leader of a political party that has claimed to have superior moral values. It also begged the question: Which religious tradition does Grassley think would not support fair treatment of poor people?

[Deja Q]

1. "democrat friends"?

Watch out. The last time I used the "d" word sans "ic" at the end had many people piling up on me, saying I was a freeper. And I'd ~19k posts at the time.

(I'm not accusing you of one, but don't be offended if some do. People can be very parochial. :-( )

[Jade Fox]

2. Excellent article...n/t

[grasswire]

3. she quotes Isaiah

I'm reminded of Isaiah's Old Testament prophecy: "Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless."

This raises a fascinating question. What are the rights of the poor, in biblical terms? I don't think I've ever seen ANYTHING written about the "rights of the poor."