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April 13, 2005 at 08:00 PM
When Purists Prevail
It is so reassuring to know that Congress has its head screwed on straight and is taking care of the really pressing issues facing the country.
I must admit I was beginning to worry. After all, the new Congress had been in session at least a couple of months and the House of Representatives had not yet passed a bill permanently repealing the estate tax.
For sure, Congress had gotten its act together enough to pass legislation that would make it much harder for middle and lower income people to declare bankruptcy, while still leaving open a passageway (some say loophole, but why be unkind?) for the wealthy to be able to shelter their assets. In addition, the unwealthy deadbeats would have to repayno more getting off scot-free to start anew.
This bill also took care of the banks and credit card companies who had had to wait an unmercifully long time for this landmark legislation to pass both the House and the Senate. You dont need to be Mother Teresa to feel compassionate toward the credit card companies which, after all, have gone above and beyond in bestowing enormous amounts of credit upon millions and millions of citizens. And lets not forget that most of this credit was offered with little other requirement than being a resident of the good old U.S.A.
Its almost insulting to think that such munificence couldor shouldbe rewarded by banks and credit card firms only being able to collect fat fees and charge stratospheric interest rates.
There was always the danger for these banks and credit card companies, after all, that scads of minimum balance paying deadbeats would just bail out at some point if doctor bills or disability did them in. Fortunately, however, this Congress knows how to apply the squeeze where it will do the most good to stop the bleeding.
