Finally, last night the Republican senator from Louisiana submitted his relief bill for the victims of Katrina — and his relief bill for the credit card companies. Yes, Senator Vitter says that there is a problem with applying the new bankruptcy law to the victims of a hurricane. (Loud cheering — he gets it!) But then he says that a teaspoon of help is enough to bail out these families. (Loud booing — he doesn’t get it after all!)
Poor Senator Vitter. He’s caught in the terrible dilemma of offering help either to the families washed out by Katrina and or to the credit card companies that want to wring every last dollar out of these people. Yesterday Senator Vitter threw his support to the credit card companies.
If there weren’t real people who would get help, the Vitter bill would be laughable. The amendments seem to say, “Yes, there is something wrong with the bankruptcy bill, but let’s do as little as possible to fix it.” Delay enactment of the bill? No way! Make it clear that hurricane victims are excused from procedures they cannot possibly meet? Nope. Senator Vitter ignores the letter from the Louisiana state bar that they aren’t prepared to begin taking fillings under the new law. He ignores the statement from the Mississippi judge who says the new law won’t give him the flexibility he needs to deal with people who have lost records and can’t show up for credit counseling. It seems that Senator Vitter’s main interest is doing what the credit industry wants done, not making changes to the bankruptcy laws that might make a difference.
I don’t have the words adequate to describe the suffering of the people of the Gulf Coast, but I know that if there is ever a time their elected representatives should be looking out for them, this is it. It seems that Senator Vitter thinks the credit card companies need him more.
