Washington Doing the Squaliforme Shuffle

The war for consumer rights is going to boil down to a Senate committee and one of its sub-committees and their equivalents in the House.

Squaliformes are expecting Christmas presents for delivery next year, including bankruptcy "reform," suppression of State's consumer protection laws and making it harder for consumers to file class action lawsuits.

They've spent heavily during the campaign, and wisely. Not one of their goals will get an unfriendly reception at the White House, so the war, what little there will be, is going to be fought in the legislative branch. Don't count on committee chairs to be watching out for consumers; they're the agenda managers for the squaliformes and will be using leverage and deal-making to get the bills out for final approval by the full House or Senate.

The only hope for consumers lies in the time between sessions, when real live citizens can go one-on-one with their elected representatives who can go back to Washington next year with an education about creditoris squaliformes.

The Honorable Judge Roy Bean.

[(Note from the Clerk of the Court: His Honor has been diligently engaged in non-judiciary duties. Life must go on even for a self-appointed jurist. His profuse apologies to those who may have wondered what the hell was going on 'round here.)]