Money in the account could be withdrawn tax-free to pay for education, a house down payment or to help start a business. Gore wants to encourage credit card companies to deny cards to parents who are far behind on child-support payments. Both candidates have been silent on bankruptcy reform. A bill to revise bankruptcy law has bogged down in Congress. The bill would require more bankrupt filers to pay at least some of their debts instead of walking away from them.
Experts debate the wisdom of tightening bankruptcy laws, and neither candidate has weighed in.
Banks and the credit card industry eagerly want bankruptcy reform. Many of those dollars went to the Bush and Gore campaigns. According to information compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics , as of Sept. 1 the top contributor to the Bush campaign is MBNA America Bank and its employees. Neither candidate has taken on the credit card industry the way Green Party candidate Ralph Nader has. Nader not only has called for a credit card bill of rights for consumers, but tangled with MasterCard over a priceless political advertisement.