Just a quickie on only one point that Ariana brings up on the bankruptcy that she says was part of a new negotiation, and that Obama disagrees with. (She thinks he’s wrong on NOT wanting to relax bankruptcy legislation).

I think I understand her point, but contrary to the average public perception, bankruptcy laws are NOT the same in every state, so such a thing may or may not be helpful to the average consumer.

In reality, the average citizen who is HURTING the MOST at this point, isn’t likely to be saved by bankruptcy. In other words, people who have always been part of the working class, have long ago lost any ‘credit’ they may have ever had, and they are long past losing any more.

Now there was a time when working class people, (or even the middle class when there was one) would file for bankruptcy when (and only when) they had ENORMOUS credit card debt, OR..to save their homes. The bankruptcy laws (at the time) allowed for an individual to keep a home, (that was a primary residence) and I believe one automobile, and maybe another thing or two.

BUT…how much of that sort of debt does the working class run up anyway? Credit for us peons has never been that available…at least not enough to run into the hundreds of thousands, or even the tens of thousands, because that much credit was never extended to the working class.

Consequently, those who ‘benefited’ MOST from the old bankruptcy laws were those who had been allowed to run up that kind of debt, and those are generally those who already enjoy high/executive incomes.

Example: for many years I utilized the Employees Credit Union with my former employer. Now for us rank and file middle income folks, it was generally like a torture session, (dependent on who you were) to manage a measly $200.00 loan out of these folks.

One day I was there (probably to beg for more money) and ran into a friend I hadn’t seen in a while, since he’d relocated to another base. I asked what he was doing there, (though it should have been obvious) and he told me with a perfectly straight face, that he was there to ‘visit’ HIS money, and to BORROW some of ‘theirs’ (meaning the Credit Unions, except of course since it was an Employee Credit Union, he really meant some of MINE). Now this guy was among the much higher paid rank and file, and sure enough, they cut him a check on the spot, for $10k. Same thing with any of the ‘management’.

Well, these are the VERY people who at some point in time, (sooner or later, after they’ve run up sufficient debt) file for bankruptcy. (After they’ve moved the boats and various other toys into different names, and sheltered their own supplies of cash the same way). And, they do it without blinking an eye. It wipes out all of their debt, and they rarely have to give up anything at all. Nobody comes to repo the funiture, or pull up the carpet, and there’s no way to repossess dental work or an open heart surgery already performed. (well, I suppose some dental stuff can be repossessed, but who wants used dentures or implants?)

So, I said all of that to say that relaxing the bankruptcy laws at this point, isn’t likely to help anyone other than the very bandits who’ve been stealing from us all along. It doesn’t do anything for the little guy/girl, who really doesn’t have any major unsecured debt, other than their homes. And, there’s a way to keep people in their homes, without messing with the bankruptcy stuff. The wealthy will only find ways to exploit it, and those who are really hurting have little to gain from it, as long as separate provisions can be made for them to stay in their homes.