From the front page of The L.A. Times:

[W]eeks before Congress is likely to approve the long-sought overhaul [of bankruptcy laws], bankruptcy judges across the country warn that the measure would undermine the very section of the law under which debtors are now repaying more than $3 billion annually to their creditors.

...

The result, the judges said, would be the collapse of more repayment plans, forcing debtors out of bankruptcy court protection. Creditors then could try to force debtors to pay the full amount owed — not the reduced amount a judge had ordered — by moving to repossess their belongings or bringing legal actions. Many people would have to pay creditors far into the future, the critics said, and thus be unable to restart their economic lives, a long-held aim of bankruptcy.

Here's how bankruptcy judge Keith Lundin of Tennessee sums it up:

"The advocates [of the bankruptcy bill] aren't trying to fix the bankruptcy law; they're trying to mess it up so much that nobody can use it."

The credit card industry responded to the story with its usual tact and aplomb:

"[Bankruptcy judges] are part of the … problem," declared Jeff Tassey, a Washington lobbyist who heads the coalition of credit card companies, banks and others that has spearheaded the overhaul drive.

"They're not real judges, not Article 3 judges," Tassey said. He was referring to Article 3 of the U.S. Constitution, under which judges in the regular federal court system are appointed for life. Bankruptcy judges are appointed under Article 1 to 14-year renewable terms.