President Bush signed the much-discussed bankruptcy reform bill today. The law, which takes effect in six months, will make it tougher for individuals to file under Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy code. In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the courts liquidate the majority of a debtor's assets and the proceeds go to his creditors. The single largest proponent of the bankruptcy reform bill is the credit card industry, which stands to receive as much as one billion dollars from those stupid enough to take advantage of credit that shouldn't have been extended to them in the first place.

Suppose there's a pit full of, I don't know, vicious muskrats. And further suppose somewhere in that pit there's a five dollar bill. What do you do if your obnoxious, already sickeningly wealthy neighbor insists on going into the pit in search of the fiver, then complains to you that he's getting bit? Do you shoot the muskrats or do you, like, tell the neighbor to stop acting like a fucking idiot?

Meanwhile, the paler, better-bred Americans will continue to enjoy immunity from any of the negative consequences of dubious borrowing, as President Bush well knows.

Analogcabin @ 3:08 PM
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