Cartoonist Luckovich gets it right on the "bankruptcy reform" bill

[flpoljunkie]

Democrats are trying, vainly I suspect, to get amendments passed today to blunt the effects of this egregious bill. The only chance to stop this vote was the cloture vote yesterday, and it did not happen. Only 30 Democrats, plus Independent Jeffords, stood up against the special interests and voted against cloture.

Link to cloture vote: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00029

[Robin Hood]

1. Hit it right on the head.

access to the US Government? priceless.

[EVDebs]

2. Why are these credit card companies exempt from usury laws ?

Is usury a figment of our imaginations ? Islam has laws against usury and St Thomas Aquinas wrote about it...to no effect ?

[Jacobin]

3. Exempted under a very convenient federal law long ago

[Dr.Phool]

4. Back around 1976 most states had usury laws

Around that time, we went through a period of hyper-inflation, and about all the states removed the cap "temporarilly". When it came time for the bills to expire, right around the time that repubs were taking over a lot of statehouses, it was allowed to remain permanent.

[FloridaPat]

5. Prime was around 21%. Poor little credit card companies were

capped at 10-12% depending on the state. Last year I think it was, the federalization of the cap came up for renewal. No problem renewing it. Otherwise, the interest caps would have gone back to the states.

[EVDebs]

7. This federal rate capping sounds like state's rights have been usurped !

States need to re-assert their right to cap interest rates in self-defense against USURY ! I read somewhere that it was possible for 800% interest rates to be charged in some cases.

State's rights. Any enterprising State Attny General willing to fight for US consumers ? Hint...is Elliott Spitzer handy ?

[cestpaspossible]

6. The sixteen who voted for cloture

Biden (D-DE), Yea
Byrd (D-WV), Yea
Carper (D-DE), Yea
Conrad (D-ND), Yea
Johnson (D-SD), Yea
Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Landrieu (D-LA), Yea
Lieberman (D-CT), Yea
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea
Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Pryor (D-AR), Yea
Salazar (D-CO), Yea
Stabenow (D-MI), Yea