Peterson Foundation's Walker: "We used to have debtors prisons, now bankruptcy's no taint"

If that's the case, I'm off to SPEND SPEND SPEND!!!!!!!!!

;)

So he's on the side of making the indigence of debtors permanent?

being impoverished isn't punishment enough... let's make it criminal to be poor

"Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?"

Is he advocating debtors prison?

Who would pay for these debtors prison? Wouldn't that mean an expansion of the Government?

Aside from his sick and obscene nostalgia for debtors' prisons, he's simply wrong about the result of bankruptcy. It is NOT without social stigma and it is NOT without penalty.

Why is there no taint for businesses and large corporations who go bankrupt? Maybe the highest officers of these companies get off with a tidy sum of money left and the workers are left jobless and usually broke. Now if these displaced workers declare bankruptcy, they should be tossed in jail? What about the the expert businessmen whose actions put them out of work?

Has this tool ever studied European history and it's influence on American law, government, and culture, and discovered why there are no "debtors prisons" in this country?

And I also specifically recall that it was under the administration of GWB that bankruptcy laws were changed to promote more "personal responsibility" for those who are struggling under major debt and seeking relief through bankruptcy. I also recall that the bill was pro-business, anti-citizen.

I suggest this tool call GWB, or any of the current "conservatives" in Congress who voted in favor of bankruptcy reform during the last administration. Surely with majorities in both houses of Congress in GWB's administration, they could have attempted to re-institute "debtors' prisons," and they would have been cheered along every step of the way.

WALKER: We need to be able to provide reasonable risk but we need to hold people accountable when they do imprudent things. It's pretty fundamental.

Fine. Eliminate "too big to fail" for good. If a group of executives run a company into the ground, send them to prison and throw away the key.

Oh, wait. This moron isn't talking about corporations, is he? He's talking about regular, run-of-the mill PEOPLE......

Too bad that America already has prison times for debt. They don't call it 'debtor's prison' any longer, but people go to jail just the same, all over failure to pay back debt.

See, the companies that buy up the unpaid debts take the people to court. The court issues a judicial order for the person to pay back the loan, or at least start with a minimum payment of 'x' dollars.

When the bankrupt and poor person fails to pay, they are charged with 'contempt of court' and a warrant is issued for their arrest. They are then held until they make a minimum payment to get out of jail (bail is usually set at the same price as the minimum payment they're supposed to be making).

See? Isn't that nice? America has prison time for debt, they simply don't call it 'debtor's prison' any longer. And if you can't pay the bail/minimum payment, they're entitled by the warrant to hold you as long as they want (though the standard practice is simply to take all your stuff and then let you out of jail with warnings that they'll be watching you and garnishing your wages, etc).

It's like getting Al Capone on a lesser charge instead of murder. Everybody knows what's happening, but the farce is played out to give the illusion of legitimacy to everybody dumb enough to believe that there is still justice for poor people.

Eff you, Walker. You talk about how consumers should have responsibilities toward debtors without addressing the fact that there is an entire infrastructure built on keeping people in permanent debt. I for one have a decent credit rating and have paid my debts in a timely fashion, but that didn't stop my credit card company from jacking my APR up to over 30% when they had the chance. If you want a return of indentured servitude or debtors prisons, man up and say so.

Oh goody!

That's where can put deadbeats such as AIG, Lehman Brothers, Countrywide, WaMu, GM, Chrysler, et al. Donald Trump also filed for bankruptcy protection a few years back? Imagine The Donald in debtor's prison.

My estimate is that by the time they fill the prisons with those folks there won't be any room for little guys.

Oh, wait. I forgot that AIG isn't a person! So debtors' prison only applies to individuals who don't hold their assets in a trust or limited liability structure.

. . . The American Siberia is all those jobs across the country that have low pay long hours, dangerous and have no hope. They range from cab driver to night porter.