Bob Filner: “rather than reining in their own policies of ``easy credit,'' big banks and credit card companies want to come down on…”

“rather than reining in their own policies of ``easy credit,'' big banks and credit card companies want to come down on families who took their bait, and in many instances, began to rely on credit cards to pay for basic living expenses. This legislation before us would even allow credit card companies to make tragic victims of those who did not even rack up credit card debt--women and children who depend on alimony and child support payments to live. There are many problems with this bill. The first is a rigid and arbitrary means test that would bounce many families into Chapter 13 without allowing judges to rule on the specifics of their cases, exposing their families to the potential of losing their family homes. Just as inhumane are the provisions that would make credit card debt non-dischargeable. This would place credit card debt on the same plane as child support and alimony payments and force women to fight credit card companies to maintain their right to receive payments for their families' sustenance. H.R. 3150 would absolve credit card companies of problems largely of their own making. It would turn the bankruptcy system into a debt collection agency for credit companies--with taxpayers footing the bill!”