From his published overall plan for jump starting our economy, here's a look at Obama and Biden's plan to Reform Bankruptcy Laws

Not a bad idea. I like the part about encouraging small loans to keep people from falling prey to payday loan sharks!

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Salty's Blog

I understand that credit card debt is a huge reason for many bankrupties - with people owing far more than they make.

Since the GOP helped out their fat cat buddies, a family who declares bankruptcy now does not lose their credit card debt.

I hope Obama straightens out that mess, too.

If you are bankrupt - and lose everything - you shouldn't lose everything and KEEP all your debt as well! What's the point?

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"No man is happy without a delusion of some kind. Delusions are as necessary to our happiness as realities."
...Christian Nestell Bovee

The point is that people were intentionally taking advantage of the old bankruptcy laws and using them to essentially finance thier lifestyle. I've got a neighbor who did exactly that. They ran a huge amount of debt, knowing in advance that they were going to file for bankruptcy when they could no longer afford to support their debt. When they filed, they were able to keep their house and cars (which they had been paying down using their credit cards which had their debt wiped out, so basically they got thier house for about 25% less than they actually paid for it). This scam was happening all over the place, in fact they learned how to do it from a $400/couple seminar they went to that was SRO in a hall that held over 400 people. There were people going around teaching other people how to take advantage of the bankruptcy laws. While the Rep. changes in the bankruptcy laws were not perfect ("too many chefs...), they did help to address this.

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Our nation has not always lived up to its ideals, yet those ideals have never ceased to guide us. They expose our flaws, and lead us to mend them. We are the beneficiaries of the work of the generations before us and it is each generation's responsibility to continue that work. - Laura Bush

God is a conservative -

Ecclesiastes 10:2--"A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left."

I"m not advocating sham legal loopholes.

Merely, families who have legitimately gotten themselves over their heads (and/or have lost their jobs - or had illness with no insurance, etc.), should not be forced into bankruptcy, yet retaining most of their debt.

I'm not a fan of fraud.

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"No man is happy without a delusion of some kind. Delusions are as necessary to our happiness as realities."
...Christian Nestell Bovee