So Why Just Active-Duty Military?

Puzzling that Republicans want the exemption so narrowly drawn.

The Senate voted Tuesday to exempt active-duty military and some veterans from key provisions of pending legislation that would make it harder for millions of Americans to erase their debts by filing for bankruptcy protection.

...Democrats pressed Tuesday to protect members of the military from the bill's new provisions, saying that some service members called to duty in Iraq and Afghanistan had lost small businesses or been forced into bankruptcy by other financial hardship.

"Many men and women in the military are making extraordinary sacrifices," Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) said. "It's unfair that they should come home to face this new harsh bankruptcy law."

But Republicans defeated on a straight party-line vote, 58 to 38, an amendment sponsored by Durbin that would have created a broad exemption from the means test for members of the armed forces. Instead, the Senate approved a more narrow provision, sponsored by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), to exempt active-duty military, low-income veterans and those with serious medical problems.

Eight Democrats, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), crossed party lines to vote for the amendment, which passed 63 to 32. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) opposed it.

...Durbin and other Democrats who oppose the bill said it unfairly benefits credit card companies, which make billions in profits by enticing consumers into accepting credit they cannot afford.

"This bill is all about creditors winding up with more money at the end of bankruptcy," Durbin said.