Democratic CFO Candidate Allie Braswell dropped out of the statewide race today following  scrutiny related to his personal finances originally exposed in the Florida Times-Union. Matt Dixon’s article was accurate about Braswell’s personal bankruptcies and financial problems but what has not been discussed is the number of corporations that have used the Federal Bankruptcy laws to “reorganize” defrauding creditors and busting unions and other workers.  These laws have allowed corporation to reining on commitments to their employees and creditors and are frequently abused by companies not truly bankrupt. Dixon’s reporting on Braswell was accurate but his colleagues in the media have dropped the ball on educating the American public about the corporate abuse of bankruptcy laws.

The hypocrisy of the national media is on full display regularly as we never have a full airing of the scandalous ways corporations use Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection to stay in business and gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. I had sincerely hoped Braswell’s candidacy would give progressives in Florida the opportunity to talk about the conservative hypocrisy when comes to this issue- people down on their luck sometimes because they take risks in this economy are disqualified for running for public office while corporations that go in and out of bankruptcy protection sometimes on multiple occasions are viewed as pillars of American Industry.

The default Republican position has been to protect business at all costs to the point where the party can no longer be truly considered conservative. Our nation’s corporate bankruptcy laws exist to protect companies from creditors and allow these corporations to bust unions. Yet I have seen very little scrutiny in the media outside of the excellent reporting by Bloomberg Businessweek and Bloomberg Television on this.

Perhaps Allie Braswell was a flawed candidate and taking on an entrenched monied, pro-business incumbent in Jeff Atwater was always going to be an uphill fight. But the character assassination by media is very telling. In an environment when many media conglomerates have drifted in and out of bankruptcy, scrutiny of corporate bankruptcy laws has not taken place the way it needs to.  Let us hope with Brasswell’s departure from the race, somebody in Florida excellent press corp will take up this mantle even if their national colleagues seem eager to ignore it.

The competitive advantage gained by companies that abuse the bankruptcy laws in this country have created an environment in business of entitlement and mega consolidation that is bad for consumers and ultimately bad for the country. Yet the media is more concerned with personal bankruptcies of candidates for public office?