Identify any rhetorical devices you find in the following passage, and classify any that fit into the categories described in this chapter. It could be euphemisms, dysphemisms, weaseler, downplayer, proof surrogate, stereotype, innuendo, loaded question, hyperbole, rethorical comparison, rethorical definition, rethorical explanation, or ridicule/sarcasm:
On March 11, the U.S. Senate passed the bankruptcy bill that will fill the coffers of the credit card companies while bleeding consumers dry. The bill passed by a whopping 74 to 25 margin, with eighteen Democratic Senators going over to the dark side.
Here are the spineless 18: [There follows a list of senators.] "This is not where we as Democrats ought to be, for crying out loud," as Senator Tom Harkin noted. "We are making a terrible mistake by thinking that we can have it both ways. We have to remember where our base is."
This bill is a fantasy come true for credit card companies, which have been pushing it for years. But it's not as though they're suffering. The made $30 billion in profits last year.
The bill severely limits the ability of consumers to wipe away some of their debts and get a fresh start.
Half the people who file for bankruptcy do so because of sky-high medical bills, and another 40 percent do so because of disability, job loss, family death, or divorce, according to the National Consumer Law Center. If you make more than the median income in your state, no matter how high your bills are, you can't wipe the debts clean. As a result, debtors will be at much greater risk of losing their cars or their homes.
And even if your debts are the consequence of identity theft, of someone stealing your credit card and running up charges, you still are on the hook for them, as the Senate amazingly voted down an amendment to shelter victims of identity theft.