The first quarter of 2010 was a record-breaker for personal bankruptcies. They increased by more than 10 percent in 12 states, according to an April 7 2010 Time Magazinearticle by Kevin O'Leary. "Adjusted for inflation, personal borrowing in the U.S. is 10 times greater than in 1960, according to the Federal Reserve. 'Now, consumer credit has dried up,' says law professor Robert Lawless, an expert on bankruptcy among sole proprietors and small entrepreneurs at the University of Illinois. 'That is why people are ending up in bankruptcy court,'" O'Leary writes. But what else is going on?

Pressure from investors, the federal government, consumer advocacy groups, and President Obama have been tightening the screws, reforming banking institutions. Predatory lenders are now cautionary lenders. Many predatory lenders who were part of the subprime crisis and the foreclosure pandemic are evolving into fairer and more prudent creditors. Bank of America started a debt relief and mortgage forgiveness program in late March, allowing delinquent homeowners to catch up and pay lower monthly mortgages, if their house has depreciated more than 20 and 30 percent or more.

So many people that would never have lived a "charge it and forget it lifestyle" are now caught in the sticky and scary financial web. But, they are fearful of bankruptcy - and they shouldn't be. Bankruptcy is a perfectly normal antidote for what ails society and the economy. People genuinely need debt relief, and they ought to see it as a right, not as a negative approach to solving a serious problem. Bankruptcy can be financial medicine; when administered properly and when the consumer is serious about repairing his or her credit and not just a quick fix, the end result can be a fresh start and returning to a sense of normalcy. Those who are concerned about their credit scores need to understand that, by staying in a sky-high mortgage, by modifying a loan, by being forced into wage garnishment, and by not paying delinquent bills, their credit score will assuredly plummet into the abyss. With bankruptcy, a consumer takes a hit, just as surgery to remove a tumor leaves stitches until the body heals. However, when folks allow themselves to be consumed by debt, that debt "tumor" grows, and financial havoc spreads to all parts of their lives, causing shame, grief, anxiety, and depression.

Bankruptcy has been stigmatized for decades. But Wall Street got its Bailout, even though it was the greed and selfishness of Wall Street bankers that created this mess. OK.  Too Big to Fail?  People on Main Street on Too Valuable to Fail. People on Main Street did not create this recession, but they are paying for it with the stimulus package and the loss of millions of jobs. People on Main Street are entitled to relief; relief that is a right guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America, and it's spelled: B-A-N-K-R-U-P-T-C-Y. A fresh start is owed to the American people, and those who need it should not be ashamed to line up for a cure.