Needless to say, any lawmaker who voted for that painfully ridiculous bankruptcy bill ought to be ashamed of themselves. But on top of the legislation’s absurd anti-consumer provisions, it’s also worth noting that Tom DeLay and other House Republicans limited debate to just two hours and didn’t even allow congressional Dems to offer an amendment to the legislation.
What kind of amendments are we talking about here? Pretty straightforward stuff: proposed provisions included expanded disclosure from credit card companies, limits on lender fees, identity-theft protections, and leniency for military personnel returning from fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s not just that Republicans were opposed to these consumer protections — though they were — it’s that the GOP wouldn’t even let Dems bring these amendments to the floor for consideration.
As the Washington Post editorial board noted today, “House Republicans are unabashedly improving upon the autocratic excesses they justifiably decried when Democrats were in power.”
The bankruptcy bill offers a useful gauge of this diminishing democracy…. [T]he notion of allowing amendments isn’t just to let the other side score political points — it’s to give lawmakers a chance to improve legislation that will be adopted.
You don’t have to be a master legislative technician to understand what’s going on here. The banks and credit card companies that have spent millions pressing for the measure see victory in sight after years of struggle. Any amendment that makes the House bill deviate from the Senate version could land the measure in conference and potentially gum up the works, particularly with a Senate slowdown looming over the question of filibustering judges. As for a choice between the values of deliberative democracy and the interests of the credit industry, we know where we come down. Yesterday’s sham debate makes clear where House Republicans come down too.
When bankruptcy legislation first came up in Congress in 1998, Republicans allowed Dems to offer 12 amendments. Yesterday, the number dwindled to zero.
GOP arrogance and abuse of power is not just bad; it’s getting worse.