Category Archives: Main Page

FCC Proposes More Kids TV Fines – How Well is Your Station Doing?

Posted on February 27, 2006 by Trish Nelson

FCC Proposes More Kids TV Fines – How Well Is Your Station Doing? Broadcasting & Cable By John Eggerton The FCC has proposed fining two stations a total of $31,000 for “willfull and repeated” violations of the FCC's … Continue reading →

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Lies and the Lying Liars…W’s National Guard Time Memorialized

Posted on February 25, 2006 by Trish Nelson

Lies and the Lying Liars…W's National Guard Time Memorialized MinutemanMedia.Org – op-ed voices of reason by Donald Kaul Donald Kaul recently retired as Washington columnist for the Des Moines Register. Things have not been going well in … Continue reading →

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HIDDEN SACRIFICE: Analysis Discovers Big Cuts Ahead for Iowa in Bush Budget

Posted on February 24, 2006 by bfialindathieman

HIDDEN SACRIFICE: Analysis Discovers Big Cuts Ahead for Iowa in Bush Budget Iowa Fiscal Partnership Behind the curtains of George W. Bush’s five-year plans for domestic services are substantial cuts to Iowans. These were not evident from the widely circulated … Continue reading →

Posted in Bush Tax, Iowa in the News, Main Page | 1 Comment

Controversy, Cruelty and Cats: North Iowa Town in Uproar

Posted on February 23, 2006 by bfialindathieman

Controversy, Cruelty and Cats: North Iowa Town in Uproar by Linda Thieman On Monday morning, February 20, 2006, Joel Kolker, manager of Kiefer Built Trailers in Kanawha, Iowa (Hancock County) stood in front of a meeting of approximately 120 employees … Continue reading →

Posted in Calls to Action, How You Can Help, Iowa in the News, Main Page | 8 Comments

New Bankruptcy Law Fails; Vast Majority Can’t Repay Debts

Posted on February 23, 2006 by bfialindathieman

New Bankruptcy Law Fails; Vast Majority Can't Repay Debts

Hastings Group

At the time that Congress passed the infamous bankruptcy law, Chuck Grassley said the bankruptcy changes would clean up “a convenient financial planning tool where deadbeats can get out of paying their debt scott-free.”

NACBA Analysis of More than 60,000 Consumers Processed Under New Law Asks: “Where Are the Deadbeats” Congress Expected to Find and Stop With Onerous Rule Changes?

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The first analysis of tens of thousands of consumers seeking protection since a new federal bankruptcy law went into effect last October concludes that the changes put in place by Congress are not working as intended. The report by the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA) finds that of the 61,355 consumers seen so far by credit counseling firms – the required first stop under the new bankruptcy law – nearly all (97 percent) are unable to repay any debts and that four out of five would-be filers (79 percent) were forced into dire financial straits by circumstances beyond their control, such as the loss of a job, catastrophic medical expenses or the death of a spouse.

Entitled “Bankruptcy Reform's Impact: Where Are All the Deadbeats?,” the NACBA analysis is based on data provided by a cross-section of six large and small credit counseling firms that have been authorized by the U.S. Justice Department's Executive Office for U.S. Trustees to provide bankruptcy screening. The credit counseling firms responding to the NACBA survey were: Money Management International (Houston, TX), GreenPath Inc. (Farmington Hills, MI), Springboard Nonprofit Consumer Credit Management (Riverside, CA), Hummingbird (Raleigh, NC), Institute for Financial Literacy (Portland, ME) and ByDesign Financial Solutions (Los Angeles, CA).

Brad Botes, executive director, National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, said: “Contrary to the claims of proponents of bankruptcy law changes that they would zero in on the alleged legions of 'deadbeats' who supposedly were crippling the U.S. economy with 'billions of dollars in losses associated with profligate and abusive bankruptcy filings,' the federal bankruptcy law changes that went into effect on October 17, 2005 are doing no measurable good whatsoever. Instead, they have put new hurdles in the path of people who are already flat on their back due to financial crises over which they have no control, such as the loss of a job, catastrophic health care bills, and so on.”

Botes noted that bankruptcy filings are down because many Americans may mistakenly believe that the courthouse doors are barred to them. The NACBA executive director said, “Credit counseling organizations now know what bankruptcy lawyers and other experts said all along: Congress got it dead wrong when it passed the bankruptcy law. Even though the process is now more cumbersome, time consuming and expensive than before, consumers who need help should still seek out a bankruptcy attorney to explore their options and figure out how to navigate this trickier and more confusing process.”

John Rao, attorney, National Consumer Law Center, said: “Bankruptcy judges, attorneys, academic researchers and others warned Congress that the bankruptcy filing rate was a 'symptom' and not the 'disease' itself. So long as people lose their jobs, have uninsured medical problems, and face other catastrophic circumstances, they will need the protection of the bankruptcy system. This data is evidence of that. All Congress has succeeded in doing with the new law is to delay and drive up the cost of bankruptcy protection for those who desperately need it.”
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Posted in Big Government, Corporate Greed, Jobs, Main Page | Comments Off

Fallon Reschedules Health Care Tour for Thursday and Friday of This Week

Posted on February 22, 2006 by bfialindathieman

Fallon Reschedules Health Care Tour for Thursday and Friday of This Week State Representative and gubernatorial candidate Ed Fallon (D-Des Moines) will visit 8 cities in central and eastern Iowa on Thursday and Friday to introduce his plan for universal … Continue reading →

Posted in Candidates, Ed Fallon, Health Care & Medicare, Local Events, Main Page | Comments Off

LGBTA Student Day At Capitol March 1st in Des Moines

Posted on February 22, 2006 by bfialindathieman

LGBTA Student Day At Capitol March 1st in Des Moines The Iowa Pride Network's College Coalition has announced a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied (LGBTA) Student Day at the Capitol for March 1st at the Iowa State Capitol … Continue reading →

Posted in GLBT, Iowa in the News, Main Page | Comments Off

Iowa Democrats File Ethics Complaint Against Nussle

Posted on February 21, 2006 by bfialindathieman

Iowa Democrats File Ethics Complaint Against Nussle Iowa Democratic Party Today, the Iowa Democratic Party filed a complaint with the Iowa Ethics Board against Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Nussle. After careful review of both his January state and federal campaign … Continue reading →

Posted in Candidates, Guest Posts, Iowa in the News, Main Page | Comments Off

Hey! The Dems FINALLY Get Behind Withdrawing from Bush’s Unpopular War – Sort of

Posted on February 21, 2006 by bfialindathieman

Hey! The Dems FINALLY Get Behind Withdrawing from Bush's Unpopular War – Sort of by Rick Klein, Boston Globe [Blog for Iowa comments are between brackets.] WASHINGTON – After months [um, YEARS?] of trying unsuccessfully to develop a common message … Continue reading →

Posted in Dean News, Main Page | Comments Off

Voting Machines’ Big Week: Where Does Iowa Fit In?

Posted on February 20, 2006 by bfialindathieman

Voting Machines' Big Week: Where Does Iowa Fit In? by Jerry Depew, Laurens, Iowa Iowa Voters for Open and Transparent Elections While Americans everywhere wondered if Dick Cheney was drunk when he shot his hunting partner, the voting machine debate … Continue reading →

Posted in Iowa in the News, Main Page, Verified Voting | 1 Comment