Michael Burgess Paid By Debt Collectors
One might ask why, in the middle of a recession, U.S. Representatives Michael Burgess voted against H.R. 1106, the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act. H.R. 1106 would level the playing field between wealthy Americans and working Americans, creating the same rules for re-negotiating the terms of mortgages on Americans’ homes in bankruptcy court that currently apply to vacation homes and luxury yachts. Under current law, rich Americans get to make advantageous deals to protect their second homes and other expensive properties, but more typical Americans who have a mortgage on just one house aren’t allowed the same privilege.
Congressman Burgess voted against reforming this inequity. Why?
It’s impossible to look inside Burgess’s mind to gain a direct understanding of his motivations. We can, however, look at the records of contributions to his re-election campaign, nicely organized by the Center for Responsive Politics. Those records show that a group called ACA International is tied with a pharmaceuticals corporation and some medical groups as the second most generous donor to the 2010 Burgess campaign committee.
What is ACA International? It’s the professional organization, and political action committee, for debt collectors – the people who call you on the telephone to pressure Americans when they’re behind on their mortgage payments.
It’s interesting to me that Congressman Michael Burgess would take money from debt collectors after voting against legislation that would give Americans a better ability to negotiate advantageous terms with debt collection agencies.
