Spencer Uresk's Technology Blog

"More Trustworthy and Decent Americans"?

Orrin Hatch thinks Americans ought to be more "trustworthy and decent." Apparently, we should be following the example set by our leaders. Apparently, lying to start a war that kills thousands of people and costs billions of dollars is 'trustworthy and decent' behavior.

I digress. Orrin wants to make us better people by making it harder to declare Bankruptcy, which would somehow make us more fiscally responsible, or something. At this point, it is necessary to point out that our own government is perhaps not a shining example of fiscal responsibility, unless a half-trillion dollar deficit is considered a good thing.

Maybe making bankruptcy laws tougher is a good thing, but in absence of other changes, I think it is terribly unfair. Sure, we want to make it hard for individuals to delcare bankruptcy, but we don't want to do it to corporations. A company like K-Mart declares bankruptcy, and a few years later find themselves buying Sears. You declare bankruptcy, well, good luck getting a cell phone for the next decade or so.

When you consider the following issues, you'll realize how unfair it is to tighten bankruptcy laws in the absence of other changes:

- Very little regulation of credit card companies and other lenders. 30% interest rates? Ok with us! Utah (Orrin's home state) has even fewer usury laws than the rest of the nation. Utah's streets are full of various payday loan places, all offering a modest APR of roughly 500%.

- Expensive health care, expensive health insurance, no requirements for employers to offer insurance. When you consider the fact that over half of all bankruptcies are medical-related, you see why this is so important.

- America's relatively low minimum-wage requirements, relative lack of labor protection, and the tendancy for big companies to routinely layoff large amounts of employees. Many Americans are merely a paycheck or two away from serious financial problems, and with corporate America's drive to maximize profit at all costs, this happens quite a bit.

Perhaps Americans should demand that their leaders and business owners become more trustworthy and decent.

posted by Spencer @ 4:07 PM