Collins Does It Yet Again!

Susan Collins, again, decided to follow the party line and vote against the bankruptcy bill that would have helped some Mainers. When asked how her vote would play at home she said "I think it'll play just fine, because I view it as increasing the costs for homeowners, so it just wasn't the right approach."
Now doesn't she realize that every time a home is foreclosed upon the value of the other homes in the neighborhood decreases? Doesn't she care about the folks who have to go to bankruptcy court that if this bill passes they might be able to keep their homes by having a lower payment? Doesn't she realize that some of those folks will be homeless and that will cost us a lot more in the cost of food stamps, medical care, etc.
As Senator Dick Durbin said, "The banks own the Senate." How true, how true. A list will be published listing the senators who opposed the bill and how much money they have received in political contributions from the banking and insurance companies. It will be interesting to see just how much money Collins has received.
I also find it strange that when her office was contacted to see what her position on the bill was they could not tell me. I am sure she knew all along how she was going to vote but did not want her constituents to know ahead of time. What shoddy politics!

In an article on Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/30/cramdown-vote-banks-bough_n_193674.html) Ryan Grim wrote
"The measure is widely expected to fail, as crucial Democratic senators, whose votes are needed to overcome a filibuster, have publicly declared their opposition.Democratic Sens. Ben Nelson (Neb.), Mary Landrieu (La.) and Jon Tester have indicated they plan to vote against the amendment. Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), who supported the bill last time around, expressed reluctance to back it this time. The banking industry has lobbied relentlessly against the reform.On Monday night, Durbin concluded that the banks "frankly own the place."The place came (relatively) cheap.The banking and real estate industry has funneled roughly $2,000,000 into Landrieu's campaign coffers over her 12-year career, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. Bayh has taken in about $3.5 million. The financial sector is Nelson's biggest backer; he's taken $1.4 million from banks and real estate interests and another $1.2 million from insurance firms. Tester has fielded roughly half a million in his two years in office.That's about nine million dollars -- far, far less than one percent of the amount taxpayers have spent to bail out the financial industry."
I will wait to see the posting that gives the figures for all the senators who voted this bill down.
Today on Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/01/in-their-own-words-why-de_n_194589.html) Grim titles his column In Their Own Words: Why Dem Senators Screwed Homeowners. He also has the quote from Susan Collins and the article is worth reading.