Consumers, beware. The U.S. Senate will likely vote this week on legislation that will sell you out to the credit card industry and write special rules for the wealthy.

The legislation is being sold as a crackdown on spendthrifts who hide behind lenient bankruptcy laws after taking on mounds of debt. The image is pretty clear: New cars, plasma TVs and the coolest vacations, and no bills to worry about.

But the problems with bankruptcy are about overspending and poor debt management. As a recent study from Harvard University researchers makes clear, more than half of the people who file for bankruptcy protection are the victims of medical expenses they can’t afford to pay.

Bankruptcy follows as people are forced to spend more on housing, energy, transportation and health care. That leaves less disposable income for everything else, including the frills. Unexpected expenses send them into a financial tailspin, from which recovery can be impossible without the fresh start that bankruptcy laws allow.

Attempts last week to amend the legislation and add more protections for senior citizens and members of the military failed by large margins. The reach of the credit card industry runs deep through both political parties and transverses the political spectrum from the conservative to the moderate to the liberal.

This week, some Democrats will try to attach a poison pill to the bill. The gambit would make it illegal for abortion protesters to use bankruptcy to avoid paying judgments for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. Whether they have the votes is an open question.

About 1.5 million people file for bankruptcy every year. Some of them are cheats who abuse the system. Most are normal people who have run into extraordinary circumstances and need some help.

If the Senate passes this bankruptcy bill, it will show that its interest rests in protecting the enormous profits of the credit card industry and not in protecting consumers.