Dave,
Not sure how to fix all the bad loans and ones that are about to go bad. The worst is yet to come. So many americans are just now losing their jobs. They may have enough money or credit cards to get them by for a year or two. That is when I see the big problem.
What happens when half of the country is out of work and their cards are maxed. Do we just file chapter 13? No way can everyone just avoid bad dept. Somebody has to pay. People who are not working right now, need to get motivated to start working at something, even if it's volunteer or part time.

Work is not a bad 4 letter word, yet opportunity for everyone to advance in life. We don't start at the top, we earn it. when we all realize that, we get started working in the right direction.

The CEO scandals of Enron were the begining of this huge problem that is about to sink our country. It would appear that we have too many OVERPAID Ceo jobs and not enough people to do the work, or should I say not enough people willing to do the work.
I talked with a friend who is out of work and asked when she was going to go back to work. She stated that she didn't like the field of work that she was in and not happy with the 36K a year she was making. She was going to wait for something better to come along. meanwhile her husband is laid off and they scrape to make ends meet. not to mention the credit card debt they have.
I'm not understanding the whole thing with waiting for a better job. In this time of the world, you should take what you can get.
I guess americans shouldn't settle for less than their credit cards can buy!