Bankruptcy - They're Not Deadbeats... They're Downtrodden

In their latest attempt to spin good economic news to bad, the Des Moines Register Editorial Board brings us (cue menacing music, set reverb to kill): Living on the edge (of bankruptcy).

Precis - Increasing bankruptcy rates in Iowa mean that the economy is in the toilet and are conclusive proof of the need for universal health care. It's the evil credit card companies extending credit at rates approaching usury. It has to do with EVERYTHING except the PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY of the people that sign a credit agreement.

It's easier for society to believe those who file bankruptcy were just irresponsible spenders, even though that's not necessarily the case. The reality is people lose their jobs, they get sick, they accumulate debt paying for the necessities of life, and they fall deeper and deeper into the debt hole.

Whew... there's an overwhelming argument... it's good to know that irresponsible use of credit is "not necessarily" the reason why folks declare personal bankruptcy.

Oddly enough, as I was reading the editorial, a commercial for a personal bankruptcy lawyer came on the TV. "You can declare bankruptcy without losing your home, your car or your personal possessions..." Whoo-hoo! Sounds good to me!!!

It's funny that the editorial mentions nothing about how liberal "no pain" personal bankruptcy laws just might have something to do with increasing bankruptcy rates.

And then another chorus in the Register's incessant squeal for universal health care:

One of the leading causes of bankruptcy is health-care expenses. "More than 20 percent of the people who file for bankruptcy complain that medical debt is a problem," according to the president of a research consulting firm. An increasing number of uninsured Americans are only one heart attack or broken bone away from the poorhouse.

Zowie... them's some convincin' statistics: "More than 20 percent... COMPLAIN..." about medical debt. Where does this powerful statistic come from...? The "president of a research consulting firm".

Well, I guess that settles that.

I love the last sentence. Junior gets a broken bone and the family is going to the poorhouse. Yep... he's taken to Broadlawns (or any emergency room for that matter - they cannot refuse emergency care regardless of insurance coverage). His fracture is set and the limb casted. Then, the hospital immediately begins garnishing the head of household's wages. Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Dr. Simon Legree at your service.

By the way... where is the Polk County Poorhouse? Is that down on Fleur?

Are we really surprised that the rate of bankruptcies is rising? If you can have all or a large part of your debt "forgiven", keep all of the things that you bought on credit, avoid the social stigma that used to accompany bankruptcy, it's only your sense of responsibility and (forgive the use of a dated word and concept) HONOR that keeps you from sneaking out the back door.

Yes, "the economy" plays a role is this. However, as independent, rational adults, we have the responsibility to manage our own financial affairs - in good times and bad. As usual, The Register Editorial Board ignores personal responsibility to make political hay.

It will be interesting to see how desperate the Register will get as the economy improves in the current election year. Stay tuned.

It's Intervention Time for Rob

Rob is feeling a little year end melancholy and hopes that 2004 will be better.

Tonight we close out another year and, from a global perspective, there hasn't been a lot to feel good about.

I'm truly worried about him. He appears haggard and depressed in the best of times... Hey!!! Wait a minute!!! What the hell is he talking about??? It's been a great year!!!

He needs help alright. Not for being a depressive... for being delusional.

Don't count on 2004 to make you feel better Rob. Another couple of falling dominoes in the War on Terror and a landslide victory for Bush43 is gonna make you downright looney!

Rekha Feels Their Pain

...it's the city's women I worry about, particularly poor and young ones with limited access to factual information and services, functioning in a stifling climate of enforced orthodoxy and taboos.

Jeddah...? Tehran...? Kabul...?

Wrong.

Dubuque.

You! No Dlive Col! Lide Bicycker


Jeff at Tusk and Talon pokes fun at the Register for standing athwart Chinese progress and yelling "stop".

Victor Davis Hanson - Sanity in an Academia

He writes about The Western Disease today at NRO. It's a wonderful essay on the elite's culture of western self-hatred.

Our Western intellectuals are sheltered orchids who are naïve about the world beyond their upscale hothouses. The Western disease of deductive fury at everything the West does provides a sort of psychological relief (without costs) for apparent guilt over privileged circumstances. It is such a strange mixture of faux-populism and aristocratic snobbery. They believe only a blessed few such as themselves have the requisite education or breeding to understand the “real” world of Western pathologies and its victims.

Hey, it's a great, noble pose... and it don't cost nuthin' neither!

British Pilot's Union - Guns Scare Us

Seems that skymarshals scare the Limey Flyboys more than terrorists.

"We cannot agree with the government's decision to put armed guards on aircraft, as we believe this will do more harm than good," the pilots' union's general secretary, Jim McAuslan, said. "We do not want guns on planes."

Yep... it's those evil, corrupting guns that are the danger. The deterrent of trained, armed agents on their aircraft frighten these guys more than suicidal fanatics.

Tom Ridge -- This is an easy one. Follow through on your plan and deny our airspace to any carrier that does not follow our safet mandates. It's as simple as that.