A recent survey revealed that more than half of Americans are worried about not having enough money to pay their mortgage or rent.
A third of respondents were “very concerned” about their ability to make housing payments, while a fifth were “somewhat concerned,” adding up to 53 percent of respondents. This contrasts to the results of similar surveys the newspaper conducted in February 2009 and December 2008.
In the 2008 survey, 37 percent of respondents said they were at least “somewhat concerned” about making their housing payments. By February 2009, that figure had risen to 46 percent.
Very real financial instability has contributed to the overall financial fear in America. While talking heads preach the “evils” of bankruptcy and the “virtue” of paying all of your debt, no matter how burdensome or unfair, real Americans are struggling to keep a roof over their head. It’s nothing short of criminal for people who know better, our politicians and intelligentsia, to claim that bankruptcy does not offer the benefits that they know it offers.
And during this mid-term election, it has already been revealed that both sides of the aisle are guilty of hypocrisy when it comes to bankruptcy. Both Republicans and Democrats have politicians who have needed and have used the protection of bankruptcy when their debts became unbearable. Is it so bad that ordinary citizens use the very same protections offered by bankruptcy? We think not. It is these bankruptcy protections that were put in place so that ordinary Americans did not have to choose between their rent and their credit card bills.