Bankruptcy filings on the rise in Missouri

[KansDem]

Since Missouri is a "battleground" state, I thought I'd post this article...

Bankruptcy filings on the rise in Missouri
By BEN MILLER

September 1, 2004

(excerpts)
Bankruptcy filing, especially Chapter 7 filing — the most common type for individuals — is on the rise in Missouri. In 2003, 37,380 cases were filed in the state, up 10 percent from 2002, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute. In the first half of 2004, 19,287 bankruptcies were filed, up slightly from 2003, when the number was 19,170. According to the Consumer Federation of America, 1.6 million cases were filed nationwide in 2003, over twice the number from 1993.

Bankruptcy filers from all income levels
Hoffman said it’s difficult to describe a typical bankruptcy filer, as they come from all income levels. But one common theme among them is that they’ve been dealing with debt for a long period of time when an unexpected expense pushes them to the breaking point.

Baehr cited three main reasons for filing bankruptcy: big medical bills, the loss of a job or wages, and divorce.

http://digmo.org/news/story.php?ID=9057

Let's see, where does the GOP stand on:
1. Health care--kill Clinton's health security proposal and craft "health care" legislation written for the for-profit health care industry and pharmaceutical companies...
2. Loss of jobs--Outsourcing is OK with GOP...
3. Divorce--well, we all know where the GOP stands on "marriage." Perhaps the GOP should look at policies that strengthen marriages, i.e., improve health care and employment opportunities that might lead to divorce. Especially jobs and improving the economy: I've often heard that financial concerns are the leading cause of divorce...

It seems that the increase of bankruptcies in Missouri as well as the nation could be reversed in the GOP would rethink its hard-line stances.

[kcwayne]

1. The GOP won't reverse course

I had a discussion with a banker who was complaining about Indiana having the largest per capita mortgage defaults in the country last year, and running in 7th worse this year. Indiana also had the largest per capita job loss in manufacturing. The state is being gutted by NAFTA and job outsourcing.

But the banker's perspective is that the problem lies in the banks sales organizations that have been too eager to marginalize the loan to value ratios, and are loaning to too many people "who want to live beyond their means". So the problem is not a large economic and policy issue, it is people with bad character. This is ALWAYS the GOP stand on issues that impact the non capital class.