Senate drops bankruptcy aid from housing plan

[EV_Ares]

Judges could have altered mortgages of homeowners facing foreclosure

WASHINGTON - Republicans and business-friendly Democrats on Thursday scuttled a plan to give people threatened with losing their homes more leverage in winning favorable loan terms from their lenders in bankruptcy courts.

The Senate killed the bankruptcy plan by a 58-36 vote on the first full day of debate on a bill designed to boost the slumping housing market.

The Democratic-backed bankruptcy law changes, opposed by banks and their GOP allies and a handful of Democrats, would have given judges the power to cut interest rates and principal on troubled mortgages to help desperate borrowers trapped in subprime mortgages keep their homes.

The idea was to give borrowers duped into abusive mortgages leverage in getting their loan terms adjusted. Such power, said the plan's chief proponent, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., would have helped "more people than all of the provisions combined" in the rest the bill.

But Republicans and 10 Democrats, along with Connecticut independent Joe Lieberman, voted to scuttle the bankruptcy provision. Opponents argued that, despite modifications by Durbin, the proposal would hurt more than it would have helped by leading mortgage lenders to ratchet up interest rates and thereby put another drag on the soft housing market.

The defeat of the bankruptcy plan highlighted a weakness that many people find with the bill _ that it showers generous tax breaks on money-losing businesses like home builders but does little to help people facing foreclosure.

link to entire article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23944893/

[DJ13]

1. I hate articles that fail to disclose who the 10 traitorous Democrats were

[gristy]

2. This bill is intended to "boost the slumping housing market"?

Shit. Like housing isn't expensive enough?

[Purveyor]

3. The bastards voting 'YEA' thus killing the provision...

Grouped By Vote Position YEAs ---58

Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bennett (R-UT)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Byrd (D-WV)
Carper (D-DE)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagel (R-NE)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCaskill (D-MO)

NOT VOTING

Bond (R-MO)
Boxer (D-CA)
Clinton (D-NY)
Inouye (D-HI)
McCain (R-AZ)
Obama (D-IL)

[Horse with no Name]

4. usual suspects

and look...isn't it WONDERFUL that McCaskill has joined the legion of usual suspects?
Not surprising though...

On edit:
Why the fuck can't obama and Clinton get their asses back to Washington to do the people's business instead of their own?:mad:

[madrchsod]

6. durbin answered this question last week on the

air america station in chicago...he said that reid will call obama and clinton back to washington if their votes are needed. both durbin and reid knew that the bill would fail so there was`t any need to call them.

[madrchsod]

5. 10 fucking democratic cowards....

i am proud of my senator dick durbin for standing up for those who have no voice.

[TheWatcher]

7. When is everyone going to get it.

They don't give a shit about We the People.

They only care about enriching themselves, and providing shelter and assistance for themselves, and their friends who line their pockets, and vice versa.

We are only a means to their end.

We are cattle.

Why is the obvious so difficult for Americans to understand?

Do they honestly think wishing it isn't true will make it go away?

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

8. Landrieau and McCaskill have shown time and again that they are really Republicans that

ran as Democrats.