The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: The Debt-Peonage Society
A vast majority of personal bankruptcies in the United States are the result of severe misfortune. One recent study found that more than half of bankruptcies are the result of medical emergencies. The rest are overwhelmingly the result either of job loss or of divorce.
The Congress is apparently on the brink of making it much harder for middle class families that have suffered personal misfortune or tragedy to take refuge in bankruptcy. New York Times columnist Paul Krugman sees this as part of an ideologically driven shift in the law that will force middle class Americans into poverty. The only beneficiaries are the credit card companies, but for the Republican Congress, their vote is apparently the only vote that matters. Thanks to Workplace Fairness.
The Washington Post has an update.