Senate Passes Bankruptcy Reform Bill

A bankruptcy overhaul bill passed the Senate by a margin of 74-25. There is a large opposition to the plan on the blogoshpere, including Bizzyblog, Instapundit, Tacitus and others. While I haven't yet read the details of the bill (the transportation bill has taken most of my time), I can't imagine it being so detrimental to poor people when it passes by such a large margin.

It seems to me that Chapter 13 instead of Chapter 7 is not overly onerous to debtors. It essentially would force those with incomes above the state median who can pay above $6,000 over five years to establish a repayment plan. While helping financial institutions, the repayments should also help the credit scores of people who repay part of their bankruptcy bills, which will have a positive effect in the long run. I will have more thoughts later after I read through all the details of the bill.