Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s new consumer bankruptcy plan aims squarely at unwinding one of former Vice President Joe Biden’s chief legislative accomplishments, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA), according to commentary from Georgetown Prof. Adam J. Levitin in The American Prospect. The bankruptcy bill was perhaps the most anti-middle class piece of legislation in the past century. It was also Warren’s introduction into the bare-knuckle world of legislative politics. She fought the bill tirelessly and succeeded in blocking it for nearly a decade. Her new plan makes clear that she hasn’t given up the fight. Biden’s support for BAPCPA is well known, but his numerous roll call votes on amendments to the bill have never been previously examined. Warren’s plan draws sharp attention to these votes by adopting many of the very positions Biden opposed. An examination of Biden’s roll call votes paints a very different picture of Biden’s involvement with the bill than the vice president likes to present. The record makes clear that as a senator, Biden used his clout to push for the law’s passage and to defeat amendments to shield servicemembers, women, and children from its harsh treatment. When votes were taken, “Middle-Class Joe” was no friend to the middle class. Not only did the law discourage bankruptcy filings, but it made it harder to wipe out credit card debt and student loans in bankruptcy. The result was greater profits for consumer lending businesses, many of which are based in Biden’s state of Delaware. Not surprisingly, then, by lowering the risk of bad lending decisions, the Biden bankruptcy bill unleashed a glut of aggressive private student lending, which has contributed to the massive rise in student loan debt.
