I find it interesting, and a bit ironic, that the states that will feel the impact of the impending bankruptcy laws most severely are all Republican states, according to Knight Ridder: Utah, Tennessee, Georgia, Nevada, Indiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Ohio, Mississippi and Idaho, in that order. There's really no sense of satisfaction in being able to say to some poor sap in Alabama who can't pay his medical bills and will no longer be able to declare bankruptcy, "You brought this on yourself." Don't get me wrong: I'm not a fan of bankruptcy, and I have a difficult time witnessing folks who've wiped their slate clean and still manage to retain assets I could only dream of. Nonetheless, the bill clearly benefits credit card companies and banks, and--here comes my vulgar Marxism--the real problem is Capitalism isn't it? A culture that exists to create desire and inculcate in folks the notion that they need to supplement themselves in order to be whole. Shit, sometimes I just think I want to join some nineteenth-century utopic community and pull up the drawbridge.
If you're interested in finding out which politicos are most deeply in the back pocket of the industries that stand to benefit, the Center for Responsive Politics has just posted "career profiles" that show 16-year fundraising totals for everyone in Congress. The press release gives a summary of who's in bed with credit card companies and banks. And they say prostitution is illegal outside of Nevada.
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