Americans are mired in credit card debt like never before. Credit card companies are offering credit to people who can’t afford it, Americans are eating it up, and the result is staggering. Americans who owe money on their credit card accounts have an average debt of $13,000, and the country’s credit card debt has skyrocketed to $610 billion, up from $51 billion in 1980.

Meanwhile, the Senate is currently debating legislation that would make it tougher to declare bankruptcy, squeezing debtors even more.

Guests:

Gail Chaddock, Congressional Correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor

Robert Manning, Author of “Credit Card Nation” and Professor of Humanities at the Rochester Institute of Technology

Bettye Banks, Senior Vice President for the Education Consumer Credit Counseling Service

Mark Bryan, co-author of “Money Drunk, Money Sober”