That Disastrous Bankruptcy Bill

Well, it looks like this one will sail through a vote now and this is most unfortunate.

Bankruptcy is a tough subject because, like consumer lawsuits, this is an avenue that should be available in legitimate causes of catastrophe but has become an escape clause that some people abuse frequently. This means you've got lots of people who want to take the right away from everyone because a few people abuse.

But the bill the GOP wants here is a strange little critter coming at an odd time when a lot of financial turmoil has occurred because of the havoc Bush and the terror attacks and Iraq, et al, have wrought on the economy and job outlook. The time chosen to stop much of the bankruptcy protection is just the time when people who are not the usual types to get themselves into such shape may need it most.

The more you look at the bill the corporate whores wish to pass, the more you can detect the stink even over the Internet. The bill prohibits bankruptcy being used in the cases of extreme calamity (you get a catastrophic illness and $100,000 in non-covered med bills and you turn from a person with an A+ credit rating into one about to lose the house). The bill offers none of the protections one might expect during a time of war when so many Guardsmen and reservists are watching their jobs and businesses go belly up in their absence. No protection either for seniors or others who are particularly vulnerable.

YET the bankruptcy bill DOES offer protections for high income bankruptcy filers who will be allowed to hide cash away in special funds. So those who can afford to pay laywers and do their banking in the Caymann Islands to keep money away from their creditors to exempt their assets get an additional helping hand from the goverment that mere mortals won't.

Now, I've been in some nasty financial situations and since an illness in 2003, involved in another. But I've never considered bankruptcy simply because it's not the right thing to do. So I'm double appalled that the government would even consider a bill whose entire focus is on punishing the middle class and less while offering treats to the wealthy. It reminds me of Skilling who kept adding great stuff on to his new mansion because his state (Texas, I believe) protects your primary residence from anyone who may sue you (like the many people whose entire portfolios were filled with worthless Enron stick).