[Col. Writ. 4/8/05] Copyright 2005 Mumia Abu-Jamal

With the 2004 elections in the can, and people
conditioned to accept the results as a kind of 'act
of heaven', the other shoe has fallen.

With amazing quickness, sound and fury, the
poor and working people of the country were rewarded
for their exercise of democracy by the promotion and
passing of the recent bankruptcy bill -- an Act of
Congress that makes it far more difficult for poor
folks to declare bankruptcy, and became but the
latest windfall for big business.

The Senate version of the bill, called the
Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer
Protection Act, proved, once again, that you
can't tell a bill by its name.

In the bill, banks and credit card companies
get all the 'protection'; for debtors and consumers,
they get more and more debts, that can no longer
be written off.

Before these amendments, Chapter 7 was used
by those who were least able to pay their creditors,
to wipe away excessive debts, and get a fresh
start. Chapter 13 was used to set up repayment
plans, but at a substantially reduced rate.

The new amendments have reset the bar for
Chapter 7, making it very difficult if not
virtually impossible for most folks to qualify
for debt relief. Those folks who were once
able to make Chapter 7 will now be relegated to
Chapter 13, a court-supervised repayment plan
that can last for years!

Under the new law, people would be forced
to attend credit counseling classes (that they
would have to pay for!), there will also be
higher bankruptcy fees because more court
time means more lawyers.

Nor should we labor under the illusion that
'liberals' in the Democratic Party stood on the
side of the working poor: 18 Senate Democrats
joined in a bipartisan boon to business by voting
for the bill.

In an age when manufacturing jobs are
disappearing by the millions, and the remaining
jobs are in the lower-paying service economy,
the burden for people to scrape by can only
increase.

Add to this the White House aim to 'reform'
Social Security, and the outlines begin to
become clear.

This is what 'bipartisanship' really looks like
-- a naked betrayal of the average, working
person, and service for those who can afford
them.

The bank and credit card companies (which
are often, one and the same) paid for their
corporate politicians back during the last
congressional elections.

This is their big payoff.

You get what you pay for.

While the media went bonkers on the tragic
Terri Shiavo case, the Senate made it harder
and harder for people to pay for and discharge
debts from extraordinary medical expenses,
if their family faced the same situation!

With rising costs rushing into the nation's
economy daily, and falling wages, the burdens
of millions of Americans to make their way
in life can only deepen and worsen.

How can Congress claim to care about one
woman, when they clearly don't give a damn
about millions?

As they voted to amend and tighten the
bankruptcy laws, they rejected a bill that would
have set a ceiling on credit card interest rates
of 30%!

Was that a 'consumer protection' measure?

When both major political parties are corporate
parties, it is the corporations that always wins,
and the average, working, or poor person that
always loses.

That is our grim reality. And it will not change,
until men and women, white, Black, Hispanic,
Indian, join together, and work together.

Copyright 2005 Mumia Abu-Jamal

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Posted by Violette to Mumia's Columns (Violette's Page) at 4/28/2005 08:10:00 PM