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By Mary Ann Pekara
In Tampa this afternoon arguments will be heard in the Casey Anthony bankruptcy case as to whether or not Casey Anthony's life story can be considered property or not.
Last month, Stephen Meininger, the bankruptcy trustee handling Anthony's case, filed a motion that essentially said her life story could be used to pay her off her debt.
In the motion, "the Property" included details of Anthony's childhood as well as the disappearance and death of her daughter, Caylee.
Anthony's attorneys disagree on the basis that such a thing would be invading her constitutional rights and "private thoughts." They say the motion "should be denied because the 'property' that the Trustee seeks to sell does not exist."
Meininger thinks auctioning off Anthony's story to the highest bidder would best maximize the value for those Anthony owes in her bankruptcy filing, listing over $792,000 in debt.
Anthony has been unemployed and living with friends since she was acquitted of her daughter's death in 2011. She has never shared her side of the story.

The top 1% of Americans earn an average of $16.4 million every year. How much of the average credit card debt or the national debt could this wealth eliminate?

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By Mary Ann Pekara
March Madness is in full swing now and gamblers' wallets across the country are a little lighter as they wait in anticipation to see how their brackets play out.
Whether you're a regular college hoops enthusiast or not, it has been projected that over 100 million people will take part in the "bracket" sensation that encompasses March Madness.
It has been estimated that those 100 million people will be collectively gambling approximately $12 billion on this NCAA tournament.
Based on the government's census calculations from 2012, the amount of money spent on gambling during this year's March Madness could have paid off over 2.6 million people's credit card debt at $4,554.97 each!
With approximately 191 million credit card holders in 2012, the credit card debt was projected at $870 billion.
Is it even worth asking ourselves why gamble when we could pay off some of our debt?
March Madness is its own world. It's a distraction from our lives. It brings us highs and lows. It brings people together. It pulls people apart. It pits people against each other. All in all, it is great fun.

By Mary Ann Pekara
In 2008, the American people were faced with an abrupt request on the part of then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to invest $700 billion toward bailing out some of the nation’s largest banks. Without this bailout, the American people were told, their entire economic system would soon be crippled or destroyed.
Naturally, the Bush Administration and legislative branch jumped on the threat and invested the requested funds. But could it happen again? Is anything keeping big banks from failing now?
Dodd-Frank
The “Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act” was enacted in 2010 and contains some sixteen major reforms to regulate banks deemed “Too Big to Fail.” One of the changes outlined in Dodd-Frank has to do with placing a big bank into a state of “receivership” following quantitative failure.
This provision of Dodd-Frank effectively grants the United States government full authority to take over a big bank should it teeter toward failure. This practice represents a massive increase in authority.
Prior to the recession of 2008, the United States government was only allowed to overtake certain subsidiaries within any given company. Now, the government can overtake and overhaul most of the holdings of a company should it fail.