The nineteenth-century English poet William Wordsworth famously defined poetry as the "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings ... recollected in tranquility."1 By this definition, there is something a little poetic about the recent debate as to whether Congress should enact a bankruptcy law for states. In late 2010, as the extent of the fiscal crisis in many states became clear, a handful of commentators and politicians proposed that Congress enact a bankruptcy law for states.2 "If Congress does its part by enacting a new bankruptcy chapter for states," one advocate concluded with a somewaht hyperbolic flourish, California governor "Jerry Brown will be in a position to do his part by using it."3 These proposals met immediate, passionate resistance. One law professor denounced state bankruptcy as a "terrible idea."4 "[I]f we in fact create ... a state bankruptcy chapter," another critic testified to Congress, "I see all sorts of snakes coming out of that pit," as "[b]ankruptcy for states could — would cripple bond markets.'"5