Bankruptcy has become increasingly common in recent years, so common, in fact, that the Senate has passed a bill to make it more difficult to avoid paying your debts by filing bankruptcy.

Many people have come to see bankruptcy as a means to get out of debt and file for bankruptcy much too freely. This has become a serious problem for credit card issuers.

Some feel that this will create problems for people who are hit by serious financial problems they cannot get out of, such as large medical bills or other major events in their lives that cannot be avoided by good planning.

The bill requires more unsecured debt, such as credit cards, to be paid off in a bankruptcy. There is concern that this bill leaves it open for wealthy people to still keep their homes while middle class families have more to lose. Some say that this bill erodes the protection the government gives middle and lower income families in times of need.

It has been shown that most bankruptcies are due to major financial misfortune, so it is possible that this bill will cause more harm than good. However, amendments trying to protect those in such situations were voted down.

While there is no doubt that there are those who abuse bankruptcy and decline to pay what they could of their bills, this bill does not properly address such people. Instead, it fails to protect those who are truly having financial problems and would have the most trouble working with a payment plan.