Here's TNR on the [Warning: Orwellian Construction Ahead] Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, which is expected to pass the Senate in the next few weeks.

[T]he bankruptcy bill is a catastrophe. Under the current system, bankruptcy courts have broad discretion to decide who can file for Chapter 7, which allows debtors to erase their obligations after forfeiting a state-determined percentage of their remaining assets, and Chapter 13, which requires strict repayment according to court-ordered schedules. Judges base their decisions as much on why the debt was accrued as on income; this way people who come into debt through no fault of their own can get a fresh start, while a judge can decide that a careless gambler must pay what he owes. But the new bill would replace judicial discretion with a means test on household income--those above a certain level would be forced to file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy--dismantling the system's ability to discriminate among worthy and unworthy debtors. . . .

Meanwhile, the bill does nothing to limit the ability of wealthy debtors to take advantage of the system's numerous loopholes, such as shifting assets into property holdings or trusts. Nor does it deal with the ability of scandal-wracked firms to enter bankruptcy to protect themselves from legal claims, a tactic employed by Enron, WorldCom, and many other companies. This sets up a perverse situation: Not only is it already easy for companies in dire straits because of financial misdeeds to file for bankruptcy, thereby absolving them of requirements to pay their employees' wages and health insurance, but the bill also makes it harder for those employees, were they to be hit by high medical costs, to apply for the same relief.

I'm still a little weak from the bug I've been fighting off for the past few days, so insert your own outrage here. And read the rest there.