Bankruptcy

I guess it’s a good thing I filed Chapter 7 back in 1997, because it looks like Congress is finally tightening up the bankruptcy laws.

This sucks. This will hurt people who are already hurting. It only helps big money. When will the people rise up and demand justice?

I’m in favor of any reform that holds corporations accountable for their actions. If this legislation closes any such bankruptcy loopholes, so much the better. But Chapter 7 is for personal bankruptcy, not corporations. And most people end up filing for it because of serious illness or loss of employment. Putting the screws on those folks is what I object to.

For the record, I’d like to note that my bankruptcy ended up being a very good thing for me. J and I amassed roughly the same amount of credit card debt during the early production-intensive years of ROX. I should never have been extended that much credit in the first place. I was young and naive and made $100 a week or less. But I got all these credit cards because I’d gone to college. Before I knew it I had $20,000 racked up — mostly from living expenses. J ended up working his debt off, paying every last penny whereas I filed for bankruptcy. Now look at us. We’re both home owners, both productive members of society — but J is up to his eyeballs in credit card debt again, whilst I have sworn off credit cards entirely. (Well, we keep one for emergencies, but we never carry a balance.) OK, that doesn’t really have anything to do with anything. I just thought it was ironic. I’m hardly a poster boy for this issue.

The new law removes a safety net that was there for people who suffered some big setback. That’s bad news for most of us, and good news for big financial companies.