|
Letter to
the Editor of the News Journal
Wilmington, Delaware
7/22/02
by Vivian A. Houghton
Dear Editor:
The Sunday News Journal published a lengthy
bankruptcy article that paid almost no attention to the
controversy surrounding the so-called reform bankruptcy bill being
considered by congress. This omission is unforgivable, given that
Sen. Joe Biden and MBNA stand at the center of this controversy.
Joe Biden has been one of the State’s
loudest supporters of bankruptcy law changes.
These changes would make it easier for banks and credit
card companies to extract monies, in the form of long-term debt
payments from families or individuals whose financial safety net
has broken as the result of major medical emergencies, job losses
through down sizing, divorce and so on.
Biden’s support of such legislation is no
surprise. Biden’s
biggest group of financial contributors in 2001 were MBNA
employees and MBNA political action funds.
For years, MBNA has pushed for bankruptcy law changes that
would help the powerful to drain the economically hard-hit of more
money. Meanwhile,
MBNA and Biden are not the least bit interested in preventing
manufacturing companies from using the bankruptcy laws to bail out
on their pension obligations to employees.
Just as MBNA’s contributions to Biden
have shaped Biden’s thinking on bankruptcy issues, MBNA’s
contributions also have purchased congressional allies from around
the nation. For
instance, in 2000 only 13 of the 147 incumbent congressmen who
received MBNA funds dared to vote against MBNA-supported
bankruptcy bills. More
recently, MBNA’s financial influence has insured that there is
not a peep of opposition from Congressman Castle or Senator Carper
as MBNA and Biden push for bankruptcy law changes that will help
the rich and hurt the poor.
Biden’s role in all this is well known
nationally. In May,
syndicated columnist David Broder wrote that it was
outrageous for Biden and other politicians to cave in to
pressure from big home state bank and credit card employers.
Vivian Houghton
800 West St.
Wilmington DE 19801
(302) 658-0518
FOR MORE INFORMATION
The Committee to Elect Vivian Houghton
Attorney General
The Green Party of Delaware
|
