Proposed bankruptcy bill is anti-family

As an attorney who for the past 31 years has represented families forced to file for bankruptcy, I can tell you that bankruptcy abuses are few and far between.

In the next few days, the U.S. Senate will debate S-256, a so-called bankruptcy “reform” bill drafted by the credit card industry that will make it almost impossible for many families in financial distress to file for bankruptcy in order to rebuild their lives. S-256 would destroy a traditional American safety net in order to line the pockets of corporations.

The alternative to debt forgiveness is debt slavery. Without bankruptcy, at current interest rates, many American families would be forced to continue paying their past credit card bills for the rest of their lives.

Overwhelmingly, American families file for bankruptcy because of medical or economic catastrophe not because they want to abuse the system.

New Jersey residents should not believe the lies that this bill will somehow lead to lower interest rates or that “irresponsible consumerism” justifies this harsh anti-family bill.

Faced with declining real wages, job insecurity, long-term unemployment and rising health care costs, American families have been preyed upon by so-called “easy” credit with many hidden costs.

This bill ignores the real reasons consumers get into financial trouble and instead takes food out of the mouths of needy families to feed the credit card industry, which last year raked in record profits of $30 billion, much of it from increasing penalty fees, late fees and sky-high interest charges. It is consumers, not credit card companies, that need the protection of Congress.

I strongly urge all my fellow New Jersey residents to contact our senators to make sure they vote to defeat this predatory legislation.

Mark Goldman

East Orange