Simply Politics and News

[thepennyking]

Quick Credit Approval

On June 10, 1998, after only four days of hearings and under a rule that sharply limited floor debate, the House passed H.R. 3150, the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1998, introduced by Representative George Gekas (R-PA), by a vote of 306-to-118.

Passage of the bill in the House came despite a letter from 60 bankruptcy scholars to key Members that called the congressional debate on the bankruptcy legislation "ill-considered, rushed and unbalanced."

Bankruptcy judges also urged Congress to slow down. "We are alarmed by how little study appears to have been given to the pending bills," 110 bankruptcy judges wrote to Congress in April 1998.

By comparison, Congress' last significant change to the bankruptcy law, in 1978, followed five years of deliberation and more than 60 days of hearings


Lobbying Expenses & PAC & Soft Money Donations By Top 10 Credit Card Issuers
Credit Card Issuer PAC & Soft Money Contributions 1/1/87 - 3/31/98 1997 Lobbying Expenses
1. Citicorp $2,365,314 $9,040,000
2. MBNA Corp 1,222,036 1,140,000
3. Banc One Corp 1,498,991 680,000
4. Dean Witter Reynolds Inc 905,506 1,200,000
5. First Chicago NBD Corp 961,450 100,000
6. Chase Manhattan Corp 2,447,629 4,140,000
7. Amer Express Co 1,324,783 1,000,000
8. Household Intl Inc 1,139,661 1,300,000
9. Fleet Financial Group Inc 484,724 500,000
10. BankAmerica Corp 2,845,058 2,200,000
Total $15,195,152 $21,300,000
Top 10 Credit Card Issuers as of December 31, 1997, according to The New York Times.


http://www.commoncause.org/publications/goingforbroke2.htm