MSM Story Advocates Stricter Bankruptcy Regulation. . . even as Government prepares to forgive corporate america it own insolvent sins.
Over at MSNB.COM we are told the pitiful story of a poor business owner shafted by a construction company who stole his deposit - who then had the owner convicted of larceny and forced to repay it - and was then sued himself by the owner of the construction company to have the money returned because as a declared bankrupt he was legally freed from said repayment, and so shouldn't have been charged with larceny in the first place:
Filing for bankruptcy
Poveromo filed a criminal complaint, and Koch was convicted in Connecticut of first-degree larceny in April 2007 and ordered to pay restitution. Koch paid $25,000 and began monthly payments to Poveromo on the balance, but that's when the law turned on Poveromo.
Two months before his conviction, Koch filed for bankruptcy protection in St. Louis, halting any monetary claims against him. Poveromo says notices of the bankruptcy filing was sent to Poveromo's old business address and he didn't see them.
Koch then filed a complaint to the bankruptcy court accusing Poveromo of intentionally violating the stay on claims by having him arrested to collect on his debt.
Judge Charles Rendlen III agreed with the builder. In a ruling filed in December, and without hearing from Poveromo, Rendlen noted "the highly suspect timing" of Koch's arrest and conviction after filing for bankruptcy.
Now stay with me here - because I am not going to suggest that Povermo's actions are somehow suspect (from what we see in the article, he seems to be a descent sort). Nor do I mean to defend Koch (who is likely a first class douche-bag). What bothers me about the article is this:
Some legal experts say the case, in which a criminal case in Connecticut intersects a bankruptcy judgment filed in St. Louis, shows a need for Congress to revise the nation's bankruptcy laws to better treat people who are awarded money as part of ruling in a criminal case.
So - a single example of a good businessman - being taken advantage of by a crook - because bankruptcy law isn't favorable enough to big business - is supposed to convince us that it should be made even more favorable to big business - and less favorable to the little guy?
This is, of course, how the MSM operates. Providing single examples of the system gone awry so as to stoke public opinion - so that before we know it we get draconian bankruptcy laws forcing good people into the poor house simply because they got in a tight spot - often through no fault of their own (even medical emergencies). And yet can't you feel the hysteria arrising off of the story?
Meanwhile - we have numerous examples of corporate america proving once and for all that these stricter bankruptcy laws are really only for the little people. The irony would be deafening, if I weren't deaf already from all the disembling going on by Repubs and corporate apologists in the media over the latest financial dissaster.