The Case for Walking Away

This article is a harsh reality of what is going on in this country as I write. Though it is not fair to those paying their bills, bankruptcies & foreclosures are used by many who are drowning in debt including some all the way up in the food chain & for whatever reason it happened. If i remember correctly our current good ole government is still sending to IRAQ $10 Billion dollars of taxpayer money every month & NO ONE DOES A DARN thing about it. Our good ole government also allows bailout of Banks that rape the taxpayer thru this so called TARP program yet if you do not pay your mortgage to these same banks then they foreclose on you how can this be? & our treasury secretary H Paulson should be fired immediately no questions asked NOW that is JUSTICE. In spanish HP (the initials of henry paulson) & as he is so often called by latins, means he is an "SOB"

(BK is immoral and dishonest?). Ha.
Tell that to the US Congress that bailed out Citi Bank part of Citi group on a Sunday night while we all were sleeping so that no one could call and stop it.-17 billion for car employees that make 30 dollars an hour with great health ins.
Michigan might be in bad shape but we in NC went under 15 years ago when Sick Willey Bill Clinton signed NAFTA and the World Trade Agreement and put our country into a hand basket to hell.
Now that all these companies are failing because the world economy has hit a brick wall, Bush Bambi and others start bailing to the tune of 3 trillion dollars. The world economy sucks- people making 50 cents an hour taking American jobs and selling us the depression goods. Time to change our funny money into Monopoly money so everyone can play. Get out of jail free cards and 2000 dollars every time you pass GO. Bill Clinton sold us down the World Trade river and now the Democrats want to buy it back. If we survive until 2010 we need to fire all the Congressional crooks.

It is too easy to spend money they don't have, go on vacation, go out whenever they like,enjoy a prohibitive standard of life, and thinking that with bankruptcy you solve your problems.OUR LORD SAVE US from these ignorants who think like that.
Pietro Pala

This article is a disgrace and an insult to anybody that has been responsible enough to buy what they can afford, pay their bills and live within their means. Stop making payments?, Use your credit cards because the issuers know some fail? That is stealing, plain and simple, and shame on you for condoning it.

Ok so try this one, you have lost every thing and there is no way to catch up with the bills that you have, and I mean everything. Now recovering what you have lost you have to figure out what is most important, repaying your bills or feeding and clothing your children, making sure that you can have food for your kids, able to pay child support and live your life .... OR struggle so hard that everyone suffers and kids hate you because they have missed out of meals, clothes, the basic necesseties. Nervous breakdowns hurt... I have had three in six years, and I am now on the road to recovery.. but that is neither her nor there. Trying to recover what I have lost there are sacrifices to be made. Maybe everyone should stop and think about the ones who have suffered because of things beyond their control and then realize that yes bankruptcy hurts all and yes it has been abused by others, but as in my situation, there are times where there are no other choices

Ok so try this one, you have lost every thing and there is no way to catch up with the bills that you have, and I mean everything. Now recovering what you have lost you have to figure out what is most important, repaying your bills or feeding and clothing your children, making sure that you can have food for your kids, able to pay child support and live your life .... OR struggle so hard that everyone suffers and kids hate you because they have missed out of meals, clothes, the basic necesseties. Nervous breakdowns hurt... I have had three in six years, and I am now on the road to recovery.. but that is neither her nor there. Trying to recover what I have lost there are sacrifices to be made. Maybe everyone should stop and think about the ones who have suffered because of things beyond their control and then realize that yes bankruptcy hurts all and yes it has been abused by others, but as in my situation, there are times where there are no other choices

nice... let someone else foot your bills and pay for your stupidity in signing a loan that you couldnt pay back... and now newsweek says its ok... sickining

nice... don't take responsibility for what you have done.. don't work harder to pay back what you borrowed... just declare bankruptcy.. let someone else foot your bills... i cannot believe newsweek would support dribble like this article... when did newsweek become part of the "actively seeking to destroy america" group?

America loves to be in debt. All I hear about from DC is we need to get the credit flowing. What we really need to do is change back to a saving country. Credit is what got us into this mess. Most people who don't have cc debt have money saved for rainy days. Be responsible for your actions. What we need are jobs. If you look at other countries many of them have multiple families living under the same roof (the kids never leave). It's where we're headed if we don't change our happy spending ways.

miracles42 and everyone else out there, I know that I've been considering it as well. Why should I feel guilty or ashamed to do it. I pay all my bills on time, but was out of work and had to rely on my credit to pay for food, and everyday living expenses. I tried to negotiate payments and whatnot, and hear sorry about your luck, kick rocks, or simply f-you pay me. Everyone else is asking for handouts, and walk away from their debt. We've all seen it, so anyone out there judging take a look at yourself first. I'm sure if it isn't debt, there's something that people could pass judgment about you too.

Nice way to tackle a difficult subject. We stopped jailing debtors in the country centuries ago. Sometimes things don't go our way, but we are always responsible (or at fault if you will). Having no debt allows for significant savings and provides a fallback for the inevitable bumps and blind curves we find ourselves on. America is a nation of optimists so we overborrow and overspend on the assumption that tomorrow will always be brighter than today. Risky behavior sure, but more often than not it all works out. That is until it doesn't. The point of this article is to recognize the road signs and take the bankruptcy offramp before crashing into the wall at full speed instead of after. After, you are most likely judgement proof and a bankruptcy filing is just a way to get the phones to stop ringing and get on with your life.

This opinion seems half right and half silly. You CAN file chapter 7 and keep your house! Why should you pay to live in an apartment where the rent is surely to increase yearly? You shouldn't. File bankruptcy, and reaffirm your house and car as long as they are not ridiculous. You will need somewhere to live and a way to get to work! This way you KNOW what your housing bill will be like and you will truely be able to have a "fresh start" to rebuild your life.

i have been making payments on all of my credit card bills, until i decided that i needed to try to negotiate my billls. So i tried on my own and they say nothing was behind than i got laid off from work and went with credit solutions to help me. they told me to put money into an account so that they would have access to help me out with me making payments to them they never took care of nothing and now i'm still laid off with all of the creditors calling me. Credit solutions said i can't help you i'm not an attorney, but how much money do you have save so we could get some more of your money to do nothing. watch out for creditors that claim they could help you when they do nothing but take your money and keep it.

I keep reading post to the affectof "Iquite using my credit cards and have been paying on them for 2 yrs and was doing fine until I lost my job/became disabled...dont charge anything that you cant pay for within 30 days!!! Credit cards are for MONTHLY consolidation of expenses not financing purchases....only finance your house and only that after you put at LEAST 20% down!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then when you have hardship you will only have a house payment

What a sad commentary for our culture when publications such as Newsweek support bankruptcy. To so easily describe how to assign ones debts to other taxpayers is the basis of our existing problems, no personal responsibility.