DECLARING BANKRUPTCY COULD GET HARDER

Moving through Congress is a bill that attempts reform of the difficult and complex matter of filing bankruptcy. And this occurs against the backdrop of a booming economy in its eighth year of expansion -- and record bankruptcy filings. Indeed, it is the dramatic increase in personal bankruptcies that is driving the first major reform effort in 20 years.

The proposed legislation would make it harder for Americans to avoid paying their bills. A tough House bill has already passed, and a vote on the Senate version is likely next month.

The big problem for most people who end up filing bankruptcy is easy credit in the form of the plastic cards that are today so abundant. It is easy to forget that this is a relatively recent phenomenon. Until barely 30 years ago, most Americans didn't constantly charge things on plastic cards. Cash was king. You didn't buy if you didn't have it. And bankruptcy -- walking away from debts you had willingly agreed to pay back -- was an occasion for at least a measure of shame. Moreover, layaway was among the most common of retail practices. While layaway isn't gone entirely, it has been replaced by vastly more frequent use of credit cards.

These cards involve unsecured credit, that is to say, the sort that isn't secured by collateral. Combine these with relaxed attitudes toward piling up debt and diminished public stigma, and you have the explosion in bankruptcies.

Creditors themselves come in for a measure of blame because of their own incredibly aggressive marketing of the countless credit card deals to consumers who many times are unsophisticated in handling credit.

No special expertise in the complex subject of bankruptcy law is claimed here. Still, it was probably inevitable that creditors would find receptive ears in their move to tighten existing law in an attempt to cut down on the losses for which we all end up paying.