There are only three types of things in the world.  The things that you always need that you always have. Paper clips. Oxygen. Stevie Wonder. The things that you always need that you never have. Kleenex. The ability to stop time. A Mai-Tai on your desk.  And the things that you don't even want to think about until you really, really need them. Hurricane kits. Preparation H. Bankruptcy. And this last is why I write today. Last Friday the 13th, the House of Representatives passed the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2000. Written in response to an upward trend of bankruptcies during the 1990s, the bill would make it harder for consumers to declare bankruptcy.  I know that you think you're never ever going to have to declare bankruptcy, but remember that other thing. that which you don't need until it's lost forever.  Last year, a Time magazine study showed that 65 percent of Americans who declare bankruptcy do so primarily because of catastrophic health-care costs. Others are filed by owners of failed small businesses, who find themselves struggling with thousands in personal debt. Almost half of the women who file bankruptcy do so at least partially because they are owed child support or alimony.  In short, Americans aren't filing bankruptcy because they bought too many titanium food processors.  But the bill would take it out on their backs. It would start off by raising the cost of filing for bankruptcy by more than $1,000. Then, it would raise the bar so high that most middle-class families would be excluded. No family of four with an income greater than $51,000 would be able to file Chapter 7, which allows debtors to sign off their debts.  Instead, they would be required to file for Chapter 13 - subjecting them to a new, labyrinthine set of rules, and requiring them to pay every penny of their debt anyway.  "The only person this bill is going to help is the creditors," says Joan Redding, who runs the Credit Card Counseling Center in Richboro. "It's not there to help consumers. If you have absolutely no assets, you'll be hit the hardest."  As a credit counselor, Redding likes some of the provisions of the bill - like the provision that requires all debtors to see a credit counselor. She thinks bankruptcy should be a last resort. But Redding also says that if anybody is responsible for all these bankruptcies, it's the credit card companies themselves.  "Why aren't they asking the creditors to stop giving so much credit out?" Redding said. "To make it harder for people to go bankrupt, you need to be more discreet about who to give cards to."  The truth is, credit card offers have been increasing as fast as bankruptcy filings. Last year, credit card companies sent out 12 credit card offers for every man, woman, and child in America. This year, they sent $6 million in campaign donations to Congress.  So let me amend my list. There are also things that no one needs until the wrong company writes you a check.