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Credit Card Act of 2009: A Good Start
What do you call 17 credit card banks at the bottom of the ocean? Beyond the obvious title, I would hope it would be a partly cloudy day above their place in the sun and surf (shielding them from the harsh rays above).
They deserve a bit of sunscreen after being sheltered from ethical responsibility by toadies in Congress since the 1940s. The tricks and traps credit card companies use to unpatriotically fleece the American people have been well documented.
President Obama struck a blow for ethical business practices when he set an effective date that the Parasites in Pinstripes (TARP recipients) would have to stop sucking consumers' blood and bribing younger generations to follow suit. Of course, with its teeth stained and tongues clucking, the vampire industry has strenuously objected to the Credit Card Act of 2009 via its powerful lobby.
Despite that, the Obama Administration and Congress have reportedly allowed most of the key provisions to survive the bank lobby's onslaught.
Once upon a time, usury was evil. I'll go with the bestseller on that rule.
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I agree Mike. I have never been in debt, nor had to file bankruptcy. Never posessing a credit card, which was first waved in front of me once in high school, is something I'm proud of. If I have ever bought something, I had the cash for it. Never live beyond my means to pay.
I never barrow against the store.
May 23, 2009 2:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
Joe, thanks for dropping in. Good personal policy. Where corporations get tax breaks while designing propaganda that hooks people into immediate gratification brain patterns, the people struggling in the credit quicksand are given moral lectures without any stronger spiritual content than the admonition to live within their means. Meanwhile, on the political left, they are being told that they're fools for belonging to religious groups that encourage self-restraint, and hypocrites for wanting to indulge.
Compared to the emotion-laden rewards promised with repetitive bombardments from models, depictions of fatty foods, alcoholic reveries of friendship (never bar fights in parking lots) and other false promises, the admonition to live within one's means can create the sense of class humiliation and class envy. That's the intent on Madison Avenue, with an emphasis on mad.
May 23, 2009 2:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Mike - you're happy that many people who currently have credit cards will have them cancelled by the card companies? These changes are going to force the credit card companies to cut back credit, and that includes cancelling people's cards. They're going to cancel cards and cut back limits for both people that pay on time and people that carry balances. Is that what you want?
May 23, 2009 5:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bill, the urgency you express in your question is directly leveraged by these credit card banks and their lobby. Until you or I have equal access to a congressperson that the bank lobbyists have, we aren't talking about democracy anymore. We're talking about our representation eroding away because the banks and their lobbies have run a river of money through the congress. Think about that: by paying these exorbitant interest rates, Americans actually finance their own diluted political representation.
The best answer to your question is, NO, I don't want the banks to keep screwing us no matter what. I want them to stop screwing us once and for all. That means:
-legislate reasonable interest rate limits on consumer credit;
-end the tricks and traps;
-provide some service that increases the likelihood of borrower success with the funds and predictable repayment (a service that enhances payback ability, whether business consulting or personal finance management consulting ... not just a minimum payment scheme masquerading as affordability).
Think about why the banks would limit credit card limits. They do it because if one person defaults, everyone else who does not, pays for it. This isn't tied to the cardholder's ability to repay. It's tied to the CC bank's ability to charge usurious interest on everyone else.
May 23, 2009 7:37 PM | Reply | Permalink