Politicians in Washington today are tripping over themselves to trumpet their outrage at the Veterans Administration's admission that the agency potentially lost the personal data of 26 million of our nation's veterans. It is true - the news is awful. But make no mistake about it - as I note in my new book Hostile Takeover, Congress long ago went on record as not caring about people who are the victims of identity theft. That's right, back in 2005, the Senate voted down courageous legislation by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) that would have preserved bankruptcy protections for those who are victims of identity theft.
So, for instance, Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) is all over the media today saying he's outraged about the loss of the records. But it was Craig who voted against Nelson's bill, effectively throwing vicitms of identity theft to the wolves. So while politicians may be running in front of cameras telling reporters that they are determined to protect us - don't be fooled. They've long ago let us know where they really stand.
David Sirota is a full-time political journalist, best-selling author and nationally syndicated newspaper columnist living in Denver, Colorado. He blogs for Working Assets and the Denver Post's PoliticsWest website. He is a Senior Editor at In These Times magazine, which in 2006 received the Utne Independent Press Award for political coverage. His 2006 book, Hostile Takeover, was a New York Times bestseller, and is now out in paperback. He has been a guest on, among others, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC and NPR. His writing, which draws on his (more...)