http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/10/04/obama-wants-to-ease-way-for-debt-collectors-to-call-cellphones/
WASHINGTON -- To the dismay of consumer groups and the discomfort of Democrats,
President Obama wants Congress to make it easier for private
debt collectors to call the cellphones of consumers delinquent on student loans and other billions owed the federal government.
The change "is expected to provide substantial increases in collections, particularly as an increasing share of households no longer have landlines and rely instead on cellphones," the administration wrote recently. The little-noticed recommendation would apply only to cases in which money is owed the government, and is tucked into the mammoth $3 trillion deficit-reduction plan the president submitted to Congress. Despite the claim, the administration has not yet developed an estimate of how much the government would collect, and critics reject the logic behind the recommendation.
"Enabling robo-calls (to cellphones) is just going to lead to more harassment and abuse, and it's not going to help the government collect more money," said Lauren Saunders of the Boston-based National Consumer Law Center. "People aren't paying their student loans because they can't find a job."
Whatever the impact on the budget deficit, the proposal has aligned the
White House with the private
debt collection industry -- frequently the subject of consumer complaints -- at a time when the economy is weak, unemployment is high and Obama is embarking on his campaign for re-election.
Democrats in Congress who frequently support the president, including Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid of Nevada and House Democratic leader
Nancy Pelosi of California, declined through aides to say whether they favor or oppose the plan.
Nor was there any reaction from two other members of the party's leadership in the Senate, Sens.
Dick Durbin of Illinois and
Chuck Schumer of New York. Both men frequently take the side of consumers in legislative struggles.
Several aides, speaking on condition of anonymity so they could talk freely, said Democrats do not want to oppose the president but are unable to support the request.
Mark Schiffman, a spokesman for
ACA International, an industry trade association, said the administration "basically has come to the same solution
