[North-NV-Greens] Fwd: [PDA Action] PDA Launches Campaign to Defeat "Debt Slavery"

[Paul Etxeberri]

>
>
>Dear PDA Activists,
>
>Any day now, your Representative in Congress 
>will vote on a very important "Debt Slavery" 
>Bankruptcy Bill (HR 685) that could literally 
>change your life.  The bill was written by 
>credit card companies, which made $30 billion in 
>profits in 2004, and are hungry for more.
>
>The bill will prevent many families from 
>declaring bankruptcy under Chapter 7.  Rather 
>than being able to cancel some debts and make a 
>difficult new start, families and individuals 
>will be placed on long-term payment plans to 
>credit card companies, companies that can take 
>their houses, their cars, their child-support 
>payments, and their paychecks.  If this bill 
>becomes law, an unexpected medical expense or 
>job loss could leave you a slave to debt.
>
>Tell your congress member to vote against the 
>"Debt Slavery" Bankruptcy Bill. You can take 
>action 
><http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=7319731&type=CO>here.
>
>Our current bankruptcy law gives families a 
>chance to get back on their feet, without losing 
>everything. Under the current system, a judge 
>looks at a family's actual income and expenses 
>and has the ability to distinguish between a 
>debtor whose child has diabetes and a debtor 
>who's gone on reckless shopping sprees.
>
>Under the bankruptcy "reform" bill before the 
>House, judges would no longer be able to make 
>these distinctions. Courts would have to apply 
>standard "means testing" formulas for expenses, 
>regardless of what a family's actual 
>circumstances might be. The new system would 
>also predict a family's future income based on 
>the previous six months of income, even if 
>someone in that family was just laid off. 
>Although families earning below the median 
>income would be spared the foolishness of this 
>"means testing," these same families, under the 
>new law, would be required to ante up for credit 
>counseling  and pay for significant new legal 
>procedures and paperwork.
>
>Our current bankruptcy system is working. Abuse 
>is minimal. At most, says the nonpartisan 
>American Bankruptcy Institute, only 3 percent of 
>the families who file for bankruptcy protection 
>discharge debts they could have paid.  Please, 
>take one minute to write to your congress member 
>now: 
><http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=7319731&type=CO>http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=7319731&type=CO 
>Tell them if it ain't broke don't fix it. 
>
>PDA has teamed up with Democrats.com and others 
>to launch 
><http://www.DebtSlavery.org>www.DebtSlavery.org. 
>DebtSlavery.org is a coalition of national and 
>local organizations working to block this bill. 
>For more information and more on what you can do 
>to help, see:
><http://www.debtslavery.org>http://www.debtslavery.org
>
>Thank you for taking action on this critical matter!
>
>In solidarity and peace,
>
>Kevin Spidel
>National Political Director
>Progressive Democrats of America
><http://www.pdamerica.org>http://www.pdamerica.org
>
>
>
>Action Alert Links:
><http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=7319731&type=CO>http://capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=7319731&type=CO
>
><http://www.DebtSlavery.org>http://www.DebtSlavery.org
>
>To unsubscribe, please email 
><mailto:unsubscribe at pdamerica.org>unsubscribe at pdamerica.org.


-- 
Paul Etxeberri

"Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow"   ---Chateaubriand
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