Maybe it is too little too late, but thinking about the bankruptcy bill last night, I realized I hadn't heard anyone make the argument yet that it will affect young people coming out of college saddled with debt. (Brought to them by the cards foisted on them at every turn on every campus in the country, of course.)
So, I wrote a letter to my Congressman last night. The text of the letter I sent to the not-so-good-and-by-that-I-mean-evil Zach Wamp is after the jump:
Dear Congressman Wamp,
I am writing today as one of your constituents urging you not to support the "Bankruptcy Reform and Protection Act of 2005" (S.256) up for a vote tomorrow morning in the House.
This bill will disproportionately affect young people, like myself. Many of my friends throughout college were bombarded every day with offers fro credit cards, usually with free shirts and other incentives attached. Many of then signed up for numerous cards, never giving consideration to the long-term consequences. Most of them had never learned about the importance of credit management, and the debt piled higher and higher until they found themselves in a hole they couldn't climb out of. Combine that with thousands of dollars in student loans and the burden became too much to bear.
Under the terms of this bill, students who didn't know better will be made to bear the burdens of their college credit mistakes longer. They will face the prospect of never owning a home, a new car or so many other parts of the American Dream. Instead, they will be saddled with debt that they cannot use the protections of bankruptcy to avoid.
Rep. Wamp, please oppose the "Bankruptcy Reform and Protection Act of 2005" (S.256) today. Don't take away young people's ability to enter the world with a clean slate.
Maybe it's good; I don't know. But anything can help in these final hours. Feel free to copy and paste and send it on to your Congressfolks.