I never liked Congressman Crawley, our congressman from Queens, so I wasn’t surprised to learn that he is one of the cosponsors of House bill H.R. 685 — the “Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005.”
Politology.us has posted a bipartisan letter to the house by a group of law professors who teach bankruptcy law [PDF]:
The bankruptcy filing rate is a symptom. It is not the disease. Some people do abuse the bankruptcy system, but the overwhelming majority of people in bankruptcy are in financial distress as a result of job loss, medical expense, divorce, or a combination of those causes. In our view, the fundamental change over the last ten years has been the way that credit is marketed to consumers. Credit card lenders have become more aggressive in marketing their products, and a large, very profitable, market has emerged in subprime lending. Increased risk is part of the business model. Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that as credit is extended to riskier and riskier borrowers, a greater number default when faced with a financial reversal. Nonetheless, consumer lending remains highly profitable, even under current law.
Politology also has a web form where you can write directly to your congressman and tell them what you think about HR 685. Is your congressman a cosponsor? Even if they aren’t, you should write to them and let them know you oppose this bill.
{bankruptcy, hr 685, congress }
