Credit Cards, Bombs and Politics
The Center for American Progress put on a conference today on debt. Terrific people, terrific presentations. Over the next couple of days, I’ll write about a couple of them. But I want to start with the most amazing part: a new survey that should turn the head of every politician in America.
The survey has a lot of gold nuggets to talk about, but I'll cut to the chase: The data show that Americans see debt as a middle class problem—as their problem. By a wide margin, they are personally more worried about debt than they are about a terrorist attack. That's right: Debt, not terrorism, is keeping people awake at night.
First, the debt problem in this country is recognized across almost every boundary in American politics—Republican, Democrat, Independent, men, women, blacks, whites, low income, middle income, high income, low education, high education. There were small differences, but a staggering 82% of Americans say the debt problem is “somewhat serious” or “very serious” and 85% say it has gotten worse in the past five years.
People don’t want a free ride. They are quick to place blame on irresponsible spenders and to recognize the role of personal responsibility. But they also understand that even those who are doing their best are facing a game in which the rules are stacked against them.
Different debts worry different people. Older women and folks who didn’t go to college are most worried about medical debt, and younger people are deeply worried about student loans. Seniors are worrying most about credit cards. But the key is that nearly everyone is worried, and they think things are getting worse.
So there it is. If any politician in America thinks no one cares about these middle class economic issues, read the numbers. When the right leader steps up to talk about this problem in a way that shows some real understanding, people are ready to listen.
I blogged this just a minute ago but it is the perfect comment for your post:
Thought I'd share an excerpt from an e-mail of a friend of mine who lives in Zurich. He has his 16 year old son staying with him for the summer.
The city government issues holiday passes for kids up to 16. It gives them
unlimited rides on any public transport in the canton, free entrances to pools,
museums, zoos etc, and offers participation in courses and activities like
rafting, go cart driving, golfing etc. It's an amazing offer for just over 20
dollars, and allows me to focus on my work...
Any working parent can vouch for the beauty of this one. Your smaller children never pay when you (or the sitter) take them places, and if they're older they have healthy productive things to do (say, rather than drinking alcohol and doing drugs like many bored American teens). To me this shows a society that truly values their children (and its working parents), not just in words but in action.
And in the end it makes the whole society better.
The shame of it is that in the US we have enough money for our cities and states to do the same(God knows we pay enough in taxes, as in- kiss 1/3 of your check bye bye) but for the greed and waste of those in charge of them. Nipping off the old public coffers is just too damned tempting to many. May they rot.
But there's still hope. Perhaps they could borrow from our enormous military/defense budget.
The American Middle Class, the backbone of this country, is becoming extinct. And it's tough to survive without a backbone. Who can spend time with the kids? Most of us have to work 2 jobs just to pay the bills because the cost of living (rent! health care!!) goes up by 10-15% yearly yet salaries go up 2 or 3% if at all. It doesn't take a mathematician to realize that the budget gets tight after a few years. Working harder, getting less. The quality of our lives and most unfortunate of all, our family life is slipping because of an overabundance of greed and waste.
So I say borrow bigtime from our enormous military budget for some decent social programs and some lifelines to the middle class, like a college education that’s within the realm of affordability. Otherwise what is it we're defending by spending all this money on defense? Our superior quality of life?
If we like to call the United States the greatest country (and I hear it all the time), then we have to be the greatest, not just talk about it.
July 20, 2006 2:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Where can we get a copy of this study?
July 21, 2006 6:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Try, here.
July 21, 2006 8:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
this does not surprise me, nor should it anyone, because, after all, all politics is local, and you can't get more local than your own pocketbook.
the problem with the guys in charge is, of course, is that their pocketbooks are inexorably tied to the war machine/military industrial complex (if peace were profitable, we'd have peace).
so they are busy creating the "perpetual war" meme, without actually listening to the disconnect between their idea of utopia (scared populous keeping them in office so they can pass laws and enact policies to enrich their corporations) and the realities of the populous (man, we're f*cking broke!) and so, the machine breaks down.
skippy
July 23, 2006 10:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
The best/easiest way to prevent this from becoming the huge problem is for regulators to do thier work. Why can credit card companies charge 30% intrest even though the limit in the state in which I live is much lower than that? Because courts have said that they can charge based on the state in which the company is based, which is why so many of your credit card bills come from South Dakota. If Congress would pass a bill that limits credit card interest to the lower of the two numbers, then the public would benefit. I am sure there are other modest reforms that could be put in place that are good for the public at large, despite their modest effect on the financial industry.
August 2, 2006 10:54 AM | Reply | Permalink