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WHY, BAYH? Luckily for Evan Bayh, John Judis's savage recounting of his role in the 2001 Bankruptcy Reform bill has been obscured by the release of the ISG. But it really deserves a bit more publicity:
Feinstein offered a very mild amendment to the bankruptcy bill. It capped the debt limit on credit cards for minors at $2,500 unless they could obtain parental consent or proof of financial independence. Dodd's amendment was somewhat tougher. Companies could only sign up minors if their parents co-signed the credit card agreement or if the minors could prove financial independence or agreed to take a financial management course. Both amendments lost--Feinstein's by 55 to 42 and Dodd's by 58 to 41. The great majority of Democrats voted for these amendments, but not Bayh. He joined the credit card companies and the Republicans in opposing both.Bayh, during this period, was 10th in the Congress for credit company donations. But forget merely voting for their reprehensible bill, Bayh even voted against any amendments to soften its reach or mitigate its harm. Now, as he suits up for a presidential run, he's relearning the language of populism. But as Judis says:
Bayh talks repeatedly about helping families make "higher education more affordable." He and Lincoln recently formed a "Parents' Caucus" in the Senate, declaring that "parents deserve a government that is more supportive of parents' efforts to support their children." But, when he had a chance to protect parents and their children against the greed of the credit card companies--and to do so without paying a great political price--he took what seems like the easy and unprincipled way out. That's worth keeping in mind as Bayh begins his run for the presidency.Indeed it is. At the time, Bayh placed his votes without explanations or statements. But without some damn good explanations or statements, progressives will be placing their votes elsewhere.--Ezra Klein
