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Pastimes : Clown-Free Zone... sorry, no clowns allowed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lucretius who wrote (21786)	9/26/2000 1:05:28 PM
From: Nathan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

Thanks Luc..hard to be patient when you see everything else dropping...Does consumer finance have it's own index?

To: Lucretius who wrote (21786)	9/26/2000 1:06:15 PM
From: Ken98	Respond to of 436258

<<WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Clinton still isn't satisfied with legislation rewriting the bankruptcy laws, believing that recent revisions don't go far enough to make it fair to ordinary debtors, a Clinton adviser has told lawmakers. Proponents of the bipartisan measure, backed by millions in campaign donations from banks and credit card companies, have only a few weeks left to push the measure through Congress this year. The House and Senate months ago passed differing versions of the legislation, which would make it harder for people to sweep away their debts in bankruptcy proceedings. Clinton, who supports in principle overhauling the bankruptcy laws, threatened twice in June to veto the legislation as written. Changes made since then by lawmakers meeting behind closed doors, while constructive, aren't sufficient to overcome ``the president's continued concern with the imbalance ... between the interests of creditors and debtors,'' National Economic Adviser Gene Sperling said in a letter to congressional leaders late Friday. As a sweetener, Senate Republican leaders now are floating the idea of attaching to the bankruptcy measure a bill renewing funding for the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, which has channeled additional federal money to women's shelters and into other domestic violence programs. The two legislative proposals would themselves be appended to one of the 11 appropriations bills that Congress must enact to keep the government in operation, under a last-ditch GOP plan being circulated on Monday. ``It's not a sweetener, it's extortion,'' Joan Entmacher, vice president of the liberal National Women's Law Center, said in a telephone interview. Although women's groups support renewal of the domestic violence act, many of them have opposed the bankruptcy legislation, which they see as hurting women and children. They have maintained that the legislation as written, by barring certain credit card debts from being erased in bankruptcy, would force single mothers and children owed support by bankrupt fathers to compete with big banks in collecting debts. In his letter, Sperling said Clinton is ``deeply troubled'' that the latest bankruptcy proposal does not include a Senate-passed provision that would prohibit people found to have violated laws protecting abortion clinics from using bankruptcy proceedings to escape fines and civil judgments. ``The president will not sign any legislation that does not contain an effective measure to ensure accountability and responsibility of perpetrators of clinic violence,'' Sperling wrote. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, a major sponsor of the legislation, called Sperling's letter ``outdated,'' saying lawmakers had decided to drop two provisions opposed by the White House. When Clinton sees the proposal, ``with all the concessions we've made and the level of support we have'' among Democratic lawmakers, ``I think he'll see that it's fair and balanced,'' Grassley said in a statement. Sperling's letter said that in addition to specific provisions, Clinton also objected to the overall legislation as written. The legislation would apply new standards for determining whether people filing for bankruptcy should be forced to repay their debts under a court-approved reorganization plan instead of having them dissolved. Proponents, including banks, credit card companies and other consumer-credit businesses, maintain it is needed to stem a growing tide of personal bankruptcies and abuse of the bankruptcy court system. Banks, savings and loans, credit card companies and other consumer finance businesses spent some $6 million on donations to political candidates and party-building activities between Jan. 1 and June 30, according to the good-government group Common Cause. The total included $1.7 million from the five U.S. banks with the biggest credit-card businesses: Citigroup (NYSE:C - news), Bank One/First USA, MBNA (NYSE:KRB - news), Bank of America and Chase Manhattan. The legislation has raised protests from consumer advocates, unions, women's groups and religious leaders.>>