Financial and housing industries paid lobbyists more than $42 million to defeat mortgage cram-down legislation.
OPS_admin | May 05, 2009 | Comments 0
Financial and housing industries paid lobbyists more than $42 million to defeat mortgage cram-down legislation.
Last week, the Senate voted 45-51 to defeat a proposal to change bankruptcy law and allow bankruptcy judges to cram-down mortgage payments. As Pat Garofalo has explained, cram-downs help homeowners by enabling these judges “to lower mortgage payments for those who owe more than their home is worth and have exhausted all other options.” Prior to the vote, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) — who sponsored the amendment — took the floor and decried the powerful banking industry that was working to defeat the provision. Indeed, as Jane Hamsher now reports, lobbyists received more than $42 million to defeat such legislation this year:
A review of lobbying reports filed indicates that finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE) interests paid over $42 million to lobbyists who worked to defeat mortgage write-down in bankruptcy (cramdown) in the first quarter of 2009, as well as other anti-consumer legislation such as capping credit card interest rates.
Filed Under: Corruption
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The oligarchs openly talking about a coup d'état in America?
Multi-millionaire lobbyist Grover Norquist is calling for the impeachment of President Obama. In an interview with the right-wing National Journal - Norquist warned that if President Obama wins re-election and decides to let the Bush tax cuts for the top 2% expire at the end of the year - then Republicans will "have enough votes in the Senate in 2014 to impeach [him]."What does that mean? It means that the super rich in America - and their political operatives like Norquist in Washington, DC - have now compared a tiny tax increase on the wealthy to high crimes and treason - the only Constitutional basis Congress can use to impeach a President. It sounds like the oligarchs are now openly talking about a coup d'état in America.-Thom(Do you think will try it? Tell us here.) -
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