One of the problems with the Federal Government is that Congress is not doing it's job, primarily because the legislators are more interested in re-election than in sound practices.  In an earlier posting I dealt briefly with the problems of congressmen spending so much time on raising campaign contributions.  I believe the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, which became law in 2005 is a perfect example of the shabby job the career politicians are doing.

Anyone who reads this Act will quickly see that it is poorly written and obviously passed without the study and debate necessary to make a good law.  Certainly the Consumer Protection portion of the law is a complete misnomer.  It doesn't take a genius to see the law was written by the credit industry to protect them rather than concerns about the consumer.  Perhaps the consumers vote for the lawmakers, but the lobbyists and the banking industry contributed millions to congressional campaigns.  Obviously the Senators and Congressmen were more interested in the money than in the interests of the people who elected them.

This legislation was passed just prior to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the aftermath of those two hurricanes quickly exposed the flaws in the law.  The Act requires a means test and individuals must produce documents, such as tax records to prove their economic status.  How does a means test apply fairly when a natural disaster destroyed your job and the individual has no idea when or if they will be emplyed again?  And how can a person produce records that have been destroyed in the disaster?

I'm not in favor of frivolous filings for bankruptcy, but certainly any legislation that had consulted bankruptcy experts and considered the ramifications for consumers would not have been so heavily weighted in favor of the credit industry.  And this is just one example of the shoddy job Congress is doing that has a direct impact on the lives of millions of Americans.

Don't you think it's time for some sort of reform to make Congress more accountable to the voters who elected them and not the lobbyists who are contributing millions to their campaigns?  Let me hear your opinions.