Bankruptcy “Reform” Status–PRESIDENT SIGNS

FINAL UPDATE–April 20, 3PM ET: Caught the end of the President’s speech before he signed B-”R”. Harped on “serial filers” and “bankruptcy mills.” Don’t know whether he made better arguments earlier; those two were weak. Anyway, it’s law.
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If you are on the main page, click “more” to see what the detailed progress of the bill was.

- The bill was introduced and passed by the Senate as S256 and sent on to The House.
- An identical bill was referred to the House Judiciary and House Financial Services Committees on February 9.
- The Judiciary Committee voted the bill out of committee (i.e., they passed it) in late March on a nearly party-line vote. No amendments to the Senate bill were added.
- The Financial Services Committee has concluded that their jurisdiction over the bill is minor and will not hold hearings or meetings on the bill.
- The only remaining stop for the bill immediately before a general vote was the Rules Committee, which was supposed to have dealt with the bill on Tuesday afternoon (Apr. 5). Due to other business and Members leaving Washington to attend the Pope’s funeral, action in the Rules Committee was postponed for a week.
- As unfortunately expected, “The House voted Wednesday, April 13 to limit debate and prevent any discussion of amendments to the bill. This effectively killed all debates to the bill that could have limited its negative effects. It was a 7-4 vote, with seven of the nine Republicans voting for it, and all four Democrats opposed.” The bill then went to the House Floor.

APRIL 14–Bill Passes House 302-126; Awaits “Certain” Presidential Signature

Final two paragraphs from the WaPo write-up:

Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), the chief sponsor of the bill, acknowledged after the bill passed the House today that the fight had been long, but he said “it demonstrated that when you’re right, you’ll win out.”

He said the bill preserved two key principles: those who are able to pay their debts will pay, and those who need protection will get it.

Horse manure.

I need a drink.

CNN/Money reports that the President will sign “as early as next week.”

Memo to Karl Rove: Prepare for the elimination of “compassionate conservatism” from the political language of the right if that occurs.