A Fighting Chance

In this book, I tell what happened, what I saw, and what I fought for, but I was never alone. Thanks should be widely shared. In the Bankruptcy Wars, no one deserves more credit than my longtime coauthors Professor Jay Lawrence Westbrook and Dr. Teresa Sullivan. We set out on our first empirical study together, venturing into uncharted territory; no one could ask for better partners in such an undertaking. Other co-researchers and coauthors joined us along the way in various groupings and regroupings in research projects that spanned more than twenty-five years—some of which are still ongoing. Professor Melissa Jacoby joined our efforts, and then Professor Katherine Porter, Dr. Deborah Thorne, and Professor John Pottow. Together they helped build some of our biggest, most comprehensive studies. Professor Bruce Markell worked on the design of a new study, until he left to become a judge. Professor Robert Lawless and Professor Angela Littwin added new depth and new directions to the studies. Dr. Steffie Woolhandler and Dr. David Himmelstein brought their health care experience to help us expand the reach of our work. Dean Michael Schill and Dr. Susan Wachter helped us explore housing issues. We went into the field multiple times through the years, with study after study, to provide hard facts about the economic realities facing America’s middle class.

The battle over changes in the bankruptcy laws spanned a decade, from the National Bankruptcy Review Commission’s earliest days to the final passage of the new laws. Commission members, including Representative Mike Synar, the Honorable Robert E. Ginsberg, and Brady Williamson, led the group through extraordinary challenges. Melissa Jacoby helped us through each policy twist and turn, along with Elizabeth Holland, Susan Jensen, and other staffers, as they worked to make the Commission’s process and recommendations rigorous. When the credit industry came to Congress with an agenda and lobbying dollars in hand, the speeding train looked unstoppable. As this book recounts, the leadership of Senator Edward Kennedy fundamentally changed the nature of the battle. Without his work and that of his then-counsel, Melody Barnes, the fight would have been over before it ever started. Maureen Thompson helped organize volunteers’ efforts, as she worked tirelessly to fight off the industry-backed bill. Other lawmakers whose leadership in this fight was essential included Senators Richard Durbin, Charles Schumer, Paul Wellstone, Russell Feingold, and Christopher Dodd, and Representatives John Conyers, Jerrold Nadler, William Delahunt, and Martin Meehan. Each of them was willing to stand up to powerful forces. And they did more than stand up; they worked hard and they committed their overworked staffs to the fight as well, expending time and effort on issues that would otherwise have been ignored.

As it has done since the bankruptcy laws were revised in the 1930s, the National Bankruptcy Conference offered in-depth analysis of each iteration of the proposed law. The leadership of J. Ronald Trost, Douglas Baird, Ken Klee, Rich Levin, Donald Bernstein, Melissa Jacoby, and many more made a big difference. Commercial law professors from around the country organized communications to Congress sharing their grave concerns about the proposed law’s impact. Against the odds, that legislation was delayed until 2005, which is a testament to the dedication of more people than can be named here.

As the economy crashed in 2008 and Congress passed a $700 billion bailout bill, our little oversight panel did its best to bring some accountability to the system. I’m grateful to Majority Leader Harry Reid for the confidence he showed in a professor from Massachusetts to be part of the oversight group. Someday I hope he’ll tell me how it was that he picked me. I am also grateful to my dear friend Damon Silvers, deputy chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel and longtime policy leader at the AFL-CIO, and all-around smart, strategic, and brave guy who was ready to march into battle to take on the big guys. Damon has been a lifelong defender of working people, and I embrace any chance to fight alongside him. I also appreciate the efforts of Richard Neiman, who worked in careful detail on every element of every COP report, and former Senator Ted Kaufman, who took over COP when I left and saw that it landed safely. I also offer a special thanks to Mark McWatters and Ken Troske, who often started from different places than Damon, Richard, and I did, but who were strong advocates for making the reports smart and insightful, and who were willing to go wherever the data took us. My respect runs deep.