The Democratic Primaries A Debt Relief Perspective



With more Americans buried under a mountain of credit card debt (http://www.payingpaul.com/credit-card-debt.php), the two leading outlets that consumers have turned to historically - debt consolidation loans and Chapter 7 Bankruptcy (http://www.payingpaul.com/chapter-7-bankruptcy.php) - are both increasingly more difficult to qualify for. The credit crunch, as is well documented, is largely a private sector issue - banks sustaining heavy losses due to overly-aggressive sub-prime mortgage loans have tightened restrictions for lending. Stricter policies for filing bankruptcy, on the other hand, was the result of legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush in 2005 that made it more difficult for consumers to eliminate their debts through bankruptcy, and instead pushing more people into Chapter 13 "reorganization plans" where the debtor pays off some or all of their obligations over three to five years on a court-approved payment arrangement.

The legislation goes back as early as 1998, pushed forward of course by banking and credit card lobbyists, and rumor has it that it was near final approval before First Lady Hillary Clinton "sounded the alarm" to her husband, who subsequently warned Congress that he would veto the bill. Interestingly, just three years later Senator Clinton voted in favor of seemingly the same bill, despite grave concerns from consumer groups.

Why the change In the words of Deep Throat, "Follow the money." Between 1999 and 2000, while campaigning for Senate in New York, Clinton received $210,000 from banking and credit card companies. Although she missed the official vote that made the new bankruptcy reforms law in 2005 (after Bush signed it, of course), of the three remaining Democratic candidates for President only Barack Obama stood in opposition to the legislation. (John Edwards was not a Senator at the time, although he did vote in favor of virtually the same bill in 2001).

As Johanna Yerby of PayingPaul.Com (http://www.payingpaul.com), a leading website dedicated to helping consumers find solutions to debt problems, notes: "Barack Obama's track record shows that of the Democratic candidates he has proven to have the best understanding of the plights of debtors." Yerby adds, "Only Edwards and Obama have suggested real ways to curb predatory credit card lenders."

According to Yerby, Obama offers a unique plan focusing on full and clear disclosures on credit card applications, highlighted by an FTC rating system to help consumers "quickly understand all of the major provisions of a credit card without having to rely exclusively on fine print in lengthy documents."

Yerby concludes: "The real beauty of Obama's economic platform is he isn't just dealing with the subprime mortgage mess, but he's tackling credit card issues before they ever become a more serious problem for this country."





The Democratic Primaries A Debt Relief Perspective