I apologize, I was wrong about Obama's bankruptcy vote. He voted NO.

[Ninga]

I am sorry for the mistake.

He did vote yes on the bill immediately prior to the bankruptcy vote.

Please check out the link, and scroll to the very bottom and look at the last vote which took place on 2/10/05. Please check it out and read about that bill that was supported by the Republicans and Obama.



http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/109/senate/1/votes/9/

[Bicoastal]

1. Apology accepted, and thanks for being nice about it. nt

:hi:

[Ninga]

5. I am embarrassed. It is best to not drink so much coffee and hack away at this for an entire day.

I am so sorry. I hate making loud blustery mistakes. Thank you for being kind to me.....I don't deserve it.

[Adelante]

2. Thank you for the acknowledgment nt

:hi:

[sandnsea]

3. The class action bill

Which I don't think anybody is defending. It was a bad vote as far as I'm concerned.

Oh, and I'm sorry people called you a liar. I could tell you were genuinely confused, unlike some people who post the same lie day after day after day.

[cali]

4. thanks, appreciate it.

Obama has a very good voting record.

[DrFunkenstein]

6. I Appreciate People Who Admit They Make a Mistake

The difference between Edwards and Clinton.

[1corona4u]

7. Yeah, but let's not forget the rest of the story;

but he also voted NO on capping credit card interest rates at 30%. The article below is very interesting, and gives some insight as to why he probably voted that way;

* * *
It’s not always clear what Obama’s financial backers want, but it seems safe to conclude that his campaign contributors are not interested merely in clean government and political reform. And although Obama is by no means a mouthpiece for his funders, it appears that he’s not entirely indifferent to their desires either.

Consider the case of Illinois-based Exelon Corporation, the nation’s leading nuclear-power-plant operator. The firm is Obama’s fourth largest patron, having donated a total of $74,350 to his campaigns. During debate on the 2005 energy bill, Obama helped to vote down an amendment that would have killed vast loan guarantees for power-plant operators to develop new energy projects. The loan guarantees were called “one of the worst provisions in this massive piece of legislation” by Taxpayers for Common Sense and Citizens Against Government Waste; the public will not only pay millions of dollars in loan costs but will risk losing billions of dollars if the companies default.

In one of his earliest votes, Obama joined a bloc of mostly conservative and moderate Senate Democrats who helped pass a G.O.P.-driven class-action “reform” bill. The bill had been long sought by a coalition of business groups and was lobbied for aggressively by financial firms, which constitute Obama’s second biggest single bloc of donors.

Although The Bond Market Association didn’t lobby directly on the legislation, Williams took note of Obama’s vote. “He’s a Democrat, and some people thought he’d do whatever the trial lawyers wanted, but he didn’t do that,” he said. “That’s a testament to his character.” Obama has voted on one bill that was of keen interest to Williams’s members: last year’s hotly contested bankruptcy bill, which made filing for bankruptcy more difficult and gives creditors more recourse to recover debts. Obama voted against the bill, but Williams was pleased that he did side with The Bond Market Association position on a number of provisions. Most were minor technical matters, but he also opposed an important amendment, which was defeated, that would have capped credit-card interest rates at 30 percent. “He studied the issue,” Williams said. “Some assumed he would just go along with consumer advocates, but he voted with us on several points. He understood the issue. He wasn’t closed-minded. A lot of people found that very refreshing.”

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2006/11/0081275



So, he didn't go with the consumer advocates.....interesting. For a man who wants to help the poor and all....

[FrenchieCat]

9. He voted Nay on the bill.....

and he has proposed reforms in that particular area and others:

BETTENDORF, Iowa (AP) -- Democrat Barack Obama called Wednesday for an overhaul of the nation's bankruptcy laws and said he would offer tax breaks of up to $4,000 a year to make college more affordable for middle-class families.

The proposals are part of a package Obama said was designed to halt growing income inequity in the country.

Obama said he support a so-called "American Dream Agenda" in order "to put some wind at the backs of working people, to lower the cost of getting ahead and to protect and extend opportunity for the middle class."

Obama said his package would reverse a growing trend of government policies that favor the wealthy. His plan tied together some proposals he's already offered with a new focus on bankruptcy and college costs.

"We need to give working families a break," said Obama. "For 25 years we've seen gaps in wealth grow larger while our tax code favors wealth over work."

Obama said he would reverse recent changes in the nation's bankruptcy laws that he said favored credit card companies over consumers, giving new protections for those who go into debt for medical expenses.

Under Obama's plan, people who demonstrate they went bankrupt because of medical expenses could get back on their feet with help from the government.

"I don't accept an America where we let someone go over a cliff just because they get sick," he said.

Obama said his credit card bill of rights would ban unilateral changes to a credit card agreement, prohibit changes in interest rates in debt already incurred and ban interest on late fees
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/11/08/news/iowa/1d54e6ac96eb6c2a8625738d000ec3a5.txt

[1corona4u]

10. Are you seriously going to try and spin his

voting against the cap on interest rates as a positive?? He might have said that in IOWA, and they bought it, but it his vote speaks louder than his words do.

Unreal.:spray:

[FrenchieCat]

11. What did Joe Biden for?

Did Joe's vote match his words?



Just asking. :shrug:

[1corona4u]

12. Doesn't matter now.

But, yes, Joe Biden has never hidden anything. he has always stood up and owned up to his votes. This isn't about Biden. It's about Obama.

[Patiod]

13. Not to get off the subject, but 30% is usury

It should be capped WAY below that.

Predatory lending is my "single issue" because it's a very good way of assessing whether a candidate stands behind Huge Corporations or behind Us.

One more reason I prefer Edwards.

[stillcool]

8. here's one for you...

http://jre-whatsnottolike.com/category/senate-voting-record/
Edwards and 2001 Bankruptcy Bill
Filed under: 2008 Primary, Banking Committee, Bankruptcy, Bankruptcy Bill, Poverty, Senate Voting Record — is @ 5:39 pm

Dodd Campaign: John Edwards May Not Take Money From Washington Lobbyists, But He Sure Acted Like ItContact:
Hari Sevugan
Cell - [phone]
Office - (202) 737-DODD (3633)Colleen Flanagan
Cell - [phone]
Office - (202) 737-DODD (3633)

* Edwards supported a bankruptcy bill that was vetoed by President Clinton. In 2000 John Edwards voted for the Bankruptcy Overhaul bill. While this bill included a slight increase of the minimum wage, its major design was to revise bankruptcy laws to make it easier for courts to force debtors to repay their debts, while before the law had allowed debtors to discharge their debt. 12 Democrats and 2 Republicans rejected this bill, including Chris Dodd, Ted Kennedy, Paul Wellstone, and Tom Harkin. President Clinton eventually vetoed this bill because it was too hard on debtors.

---

* Edwards voted for the same bill in 2001, again choosing financial interests over working families. In 2001 Edwards voted for a similar Bankruptcy Overhaul bill that again required Americans facing bankruptcy to undergo debt repayments instead of debt relief. Specifically, the bill required debtors able to pay $10,000 or 25% of their debts over five years to file under Chapter 13, which requires a reorganization of debts under a repayment plan, instead of seeking to discharge their debts under Chapter 7. Edwards voted with nearly the entire Republican caucus in supporting this bill, as well as voting to end debate on the measure. Chris Dodd voted to reject this bill, joining Senators Durbin, Feingold, Harkin, Kennedy, Kerry, and Wellstone. In all, the bill was rejected by 13 Democrats and 2 Republicans.

* Edwards would not allow relief for people who were forced into bankruptcy from medical bills. Edwards also sided with the entire GOP caucus to vote against the Wellstone amendment to the 2001 bill. This amendment would have provided an exemption for debtors who were forced to file for bankruptcy due to medical expenses, under the rationale that health expenses are often unpreventable and can be an especially debilitating cost to low and middle income families. Chris Dodd was one of the 34 Democrats who voted for this amendment?a group that included Senators Clinton, Durbin, Feingold, Harkin, Kennedy, Kerry and Wellstone.

* Edwards rejected a means test amendment that would have protected debtors from sudden financial misfortune. On the same bill, Edwards again voted with the entire GOP caucus to reject an amendment that would have included a more consumer friendly means test than that included in the original bill. The amended means test would have used the average of a debtor’s last two months of income to determine their ability to pay a certain threshold amount of debt, instead of the last six months of income. The amended means test was designed to protect debtors who face financial difficulties from sudden job loss or disability. Paul Wellstone, who authored the amendment, said the original test “will make it impossible for families to rebuild their lives.” 22 Democrats supported this amendment, including Chris Dodd. Dodd was accompanied by Senators Clinton, Durbin, Feingold, and Kennedy.

* Edwards supported the final version of the Bankruptcy bill that “punishes the vulnerable.” Months later, Edwards again voted for the similar version of the Bankruptcy bill that emerged from negotiations with the House of Representatives. He also voted to limit debate twice on the bill, stifling further amendments or arguments. This version was not substantively different from the earlier versions, as it still made it significantly harder for working Americans to discharge their debts through the bankruptcy system. Chris Dodd rejected this bill, along with Senators Durbin, Feingold, Harkin, Kennedy, Kerry and Wellstone. 14 Democrats and 2 Republicans voted against the final measure.

---

The bill “punishes the vulnerable and it rewards the big banks and credit card companies for their poor practices,” said Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., a leading opponent of the legislation. “We are heading into hard economic times and we’re going to make it hard for people to rebuild their lives.”

[FormerDittoHead]

14. I agree those "approving the denial of the negative opposition" votes are very confusing.

Personally, I just don't have the time to get my head into the gear needed to understand those "motions" and such, so I completely empathize with you.