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March 2, 2005
Bankruptcy Debate Proceeds, So Far, without Filibuster Threat
Minority Leader Harry Reid (D–Nev.) said yesterday that
Democratic opponents of the bill have not decided whether they will try
to filibuster if their amendments fail, CongressDaily
reported. He noted that so far, Majority Leader Bill Frist
(R–Tenn.) has indicated a willingness to allow lengthy debate on
Democratic amendments.
The Senate adopted an amendment, 63–32, by Sen. Jeff Sessions
(R–Ala.) to allow for special accommodations for active-duty
military personnel, low-income veterans and those with serious medical
conditions in a new income test for bankruptcy applicants. Sessions
offered the amendment after the chamber rejected, 58–38, an
amendment by Minority Whip Richard Durbin (D–Ill.) to provide
exemptions for all members of the military, including reservists.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.), who plans to offer his amendment
again this year, said yesterday that the provision pertains to anyone
who “threatens or uses violence to get their way”—not
just abortion-rights opponents, the newswire reported. More votes on
amendments are expected today. One of those amendments, by Judiciary
ranking member Patrick Leahy (D–Vt.) and Sens. Olympia Snowe
(R–Maine) and Maria Cantwell (D–Wash.) would protect Social
Security numbers and other personal information submitted to courts by
debtors seeking bankruptcy protection.
A Washington Post editorial focuses on the bankruptcy
system. Read the article at
href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64440-2005Mar1.html'>www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64440-2005Mar1.html.
Finance Panel Holds Hearing on Administration’s Pension
Plans
In a debate over private pension plans, the Senate Finance Committee
yesterday heard from all stakeholders but found little agreement on how
to ensure the solvency of either the troubled plans or the
government’s Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC), which is
charged with underwriting pension plan defaults,
CongressDaily reported. The Bush administration, at the
committee’s strong urging last year, offered its own plan for
struggling defined-benefit plans, as well as the mounting liabilities of
PBGC as it struggles to cover their losses. But the president’s
approach was criticized by both business and labor spokesmen, who
separately asserted it could do more harm than good. View witness
statements at
href='http://finance.senate.gov/sitepages/hearing030105.htm'>finance.senate.gov/sitepages/hearing030105.htm.
Total Bankruptcy Filings Decline Slightly in 2004
The total number of bankruptcies filed in federal courts in calendar
year 2004 declined nearly 4 percent, according to data released
yesterday by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. The total
number of bankruptcy cases filed in this 12-month period ending Dec. 31,
2004, totaled 1,597,462, down 3.8 percent from the 1,660,245 bankruptcy
cases filed for the same period in 2003. Despite the decline,
bankruptcies remain at historic highs, well above the 1.5 million record
first set in 2002.
Business bankruptcies fell 2.1 percent to 34,317 in the 12-month
period ending Dec. 31, 2004, down from the 35,037 filings in the same
period in 2003. So far this year, only 15 new public companies have
filed for chapter 11, the lowest filing rate for new public company
cases since 1997. Non-business (personal bankruptcies) fell 3.8 percent
in the same 12-month period, totaling 1,563,145 in 2004, down from the
1,625,208 filings in the 12-month period ending Dec. 31, 2003. For more
information visit
href='/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home'>www.abiworld.org (see online
resources, bankruptcy statistics).
Veritec Files for Bankruptcy Protection
Veritec Inc., which is involved in bar-code technology, yesterday
said it had filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Reuters
reported. The filing followed a ruling on Feb. 16 by an arbitration
panel in Los Angeles, which awarded Mitsubishi Corp. ownership of a
portion of Veritec’s two-dimensional code software and damages of
over $8.1 million. Veritec said it disagreed with the arbitrator’s
ruling but that aggressive action by Mitsubishi forced it to file for
bankruptcy protection while it contested this ruling.
NextWave Says Bankruptcy Reorganization Plan Approved
NextWave Telecom Inc. said yesterday that a U.S. Bankruptcy Court had
approved its reorganization plan, paving the way for it to emerge from
chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Reuters reported. The company said it
still is awaiting Federal Communications Commission regulatory approval
for a deal in which Verizon Wireless will acquire NextWave’s
airwave licenses. That transaction has already been approved by the
bankruptcy court.
WorldCom’s Ebbers Seeks Distance from Sullivan
Bernard Ebbers, the former CEO of WorldCom Inc., yesterday sought to
distance himself from former CFO Scott Sullivan under questioning by a
U.S. prosecutor at his criminal trial, Reuters reported. Ebbers is
testifying in his own defense this week at a trial to determine whether
he orchestrated WorldCom’s $11 billion accounting fraud—and
has spent much of his time blaming Sullivan for the scandal. Ebbers
repeated that defense on Tuesday under questioning by Assistant U.S.
Attorney David Anders, playing down their working relationship and
denying that they frequently met to discuss company business, the
newswire reported.
CEO Economic Outlook Index Marks New High as Companies Predict
Continued Solid Growth
Business Roundtable’s March 2005 CEO Economic Outlook Survey
shows that America’s leading CEOs expect the U.S. economy to
continue on a solid growth path for the next six months, the group
announced yesterday in a press release. The strong projections for
capital spending, sales and employment resulted in a record high of
104.4 for the CEO Economic Outlook Index.
href='http://www.businessroundtable.org/newsroom/document.aspx?qs=58B6BF80782…'>Read
the full
article.