To the Rescue – Credit Repair, Debtor Advocates and Bankruptcy
In 1946, American country singer Merle Travis recorded these lyrics:
“You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
Saint Peter, don’t you call me, ‘cause I can’t go;
I owe my soul to the Company Store.”
In my professional world, that of credit and collections, I have known many such “Merle’s.” But, never so many as today. Our nation is more than $12 trillion in debt. If every single citizen in the U.S. coughed up $40,000 today – we would still be in debt. That’s how bad it is. By the time you finish reading this sentence, another $2,000,000 has been added.
The purpose of this discussion will not be to lament or vent, but to contribute solutions – or, at minimum experiences from which the rest of us can learn. Don’t waste space with talking points as to who is right or wrong and how we need to “throw out the bums” – just tell us what can we do as individuals and professionals to work our way out of this mess.
“Written Off – America and Americans” is a book I am compiling of such contributions as a survival guide for The Great Recession. Being crowd-sourced (all of us are smarter than any of us), it will address the real-world issues we all face daily. I look forward to your contributions here, as well as on the website.