The Battle Behind the Bankruptcy Bill

It seems like a no-brainer: requiring credit dodgers with considerable assets to pay off their debts. So it should come as no surprise that the Senate voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to clamp down on the growing number of people taking advantage of America's somewhat liberal bankruptcy laws. Under the bill, defaulters capable of paying off some, if not all, of their debts would be required to do so after all of their assets have been liquidated.

But this is Capitol Hill, and nothing is ever as simple as "too many people are using the present laws to stiff MasterCard — let's be fair and do something about it." Instead, the final bill was chock-full of politically charged amendments, the most notable of which were a Democrat-sponsored $1 minimum wage hike over three years and a provision to prevent abortion clinic protesters from hiding behind bankruptcy filings after losing civil suits. An attempt by the Democrats to strip gun manufacturers of bankruptcy protection failed.

The abortion-protesters amendment, introduced by New York senator Chuck Schumer, made for some fireworks when Al Gore, whose history of wavering on abortion is a vulnerable point in his quest for the Oval Office, decided to flee the campaign trail in hopes of casting the tiebreaking vote in favor of the measure. Determined not to allow Gore to grandstand on the issue, 35 Republicans joined all of the Senate Democrats in passing the amendment.

This moment of phony bipartisan will not last. Senate Republicans immediately said they would scotch the amendment when they confer with House leadership to iron out the differences between this bill and an earlier debtor-default bill passed by the junior chamber. Add to that the threat of a White House veto — over concern that the bankruptcy provisions are too harsh and that the minimum wage increase should be phased in more quickly — and you can bet this bill will be taking several more twists and turns.