Thanks be to the Republican Congress for having had the wit and wisdom to pass the Banker's Protection Act of 2005 (or however they camouflaged it), which with little notice doubled monthly payments for working people and also made it virtually impossible for those blessed to be in the upper 50% income (which largely includes their chief voting base) to file for any form of reasonable bankruptcy relief if they suffer misfortune.
Having returned us to indentured servitude to the fine folks owning DiscoverCard, Visa, etc., I expect future Republican Congresses to bring back debtors prisons to enforce their righteous judgments.
Nevertheless, it is somehow comforting to see that the Republican leadership bends over for special interests other than the RIAA and the needy oil oligopolies. In Denny Hastert's America, even small family operated firms like Chase Manhattan, Citi, MNBA, etc., are given a sympathetic hearing and their legal needs are met. If Orin Hatch and Jack Valente had the only hot relationship going, well, that would be troubling wouldn't it?
Oh come on. There is still Chapter 13, under which you make payments in proportion to your ability to pay. It just got rid of Chapter 7, which was becoming a refuge of scoundrels and deadbeats.
If you have a good income you ought to be able to make payments on money you owe. If you can afford to pay back your debts, but don't, you are a contemptible thief.
The only people who suffer under this law are thieves and lawyers, so who cares?
-ccm
The "doubling" of minimum payments is a GOOD thing because over the long term it will vastly lower the amount you pay in interest.
As far as making it harder to declare bankruptcy, that too is a good thing. Why should the lender (and all of it customers via higher rates) be left holding the bag on bad debt?