Permanent Minority. Just weeks after passage of the credit card industry-written bankruptcy bill, Democratic Representative Paul Kanjorski is writing legislation with Republicans to allow predatory lenders to raise fees and avoid state usury laws.

Toward the Majority. Democratic Representatives Brad Miller, Barney Frank and Mel Watt have written an alternative to Kanjorski’s bill that would crack down on predatory lenders, helping Democrats make banks’ abuse of the middle class a major issue.