Fuck Heads of the First Order

IOU-niversity by Victor Juhasz

The Trillion-Dollar Lie by Matt Taibbi takes a look at the student loan business. Congress passed a law a few years ago that supposedly meant students could not declare bankruptcy. Turns out that might not be true. His story talks about some of the people fighting against this absurd financial juggernaut. I thought this bit about how the Federal government works was especially clear / repugnant.

The passage of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 was a classic demonstration of how America works, or doesn’t, depending on your point of view. While we focus on differences between Republicans and Democrats, it’s their uncanny habit of having just a sliver of enough agreement to pass crucial industry-friendly bills that really defines the parties.

Whether it’s NAFTA, the Iraq War authorization, or the Obama stimulus, there are always just enough aisle-crossers to get the job done, and the tally usually tracks with industry money with humorous accuracy. In this law signed by George Bush, sponsored by Republican Chuck Grassley, and greased by millions in donations from entities like Sallie Mae, the crucial votes were cast by a handful of aisle-crossing Democrats, including especially the Delawareans Joe Biden and Tom Carper.