[TurboZamboni]

That being said, which kind of debts should be allowed to be “charged off” in bankruptcy ? Any? All? Some? None?(”not paying your debt is wrong. Period”)

What’s the alternative? We don’t really want debtors prisons, do we?

I can sympathize with the argument on huge medical bills, but IIRC, those are a very small percentage of the actual reasons for personal bankruptcies.

[DallasDeb]

Look, anytime personal bankruptcy occurs, there are usually very bad decisions that have been made by the debtor. Bankruptcy, believe it or not, has its roots in Old Testament Jewish law. Every 7 years, all debts were forgiven. I think it has something to do with debts being a type of slavery--maybe some Jewish expert can expound on this. It's probably the same reason bad information can be kept on your credit report for only 7 years.

Whether you like it or not, bankruptcy is allowable in this country. But then the legislative bodies passed a law stating Federal student loans could not be discharged in bankruptcy and then later (october 2004) the law came into effect that NO guaranteed student loans, including those of private entities (chase, boa, wells-fargo, etc.) could be discharged.

What is the purpose of bankruptcy if the most disruptive loans in a person's life (student loans) cannot be discharged in bankruptcy?