The new bankruptcy law has nothing whatever to do with a person buying on credit. If you are saying that it will stop those people who deliberately charge huge amounts on their credit cards knowing they won't be made to pay when the go into bankruptcy, you may be right but these people are a minuscule part of the population. As for the cost of gasoline and heating fuel. At least in September, the time of the highest gasoline prices, consumer spending did not even hiccup, much less slowdown. Gasoline prices are about 20% or better beneath their highs of that time and headed down further so they won't be a factor in spending. Heating oil may or may not, but my take is that Christmas is a once per year event and people will go ahead and bite the bullet and spend the money anyway. The average heating bill is projected to increase about $350.00 this year, not enough to kill Christmas spending.
The weather service last week is predicting a milder then average winter this year and if it happens look for Christmas to be a blockbuster, in line with the general trend of this expanding economy.
Here's hoping you're right.