What change? Exactly what has changed?
The Senate today voted down a proposal that would cap credit card interest at 15%. The Senators who voted against it (only 33 supported it) argued that it was such a "controversial" provision, they were afraid that they would lose support for their consumer rights credit card law that they have drafted, which President Obama has claimed will be some great victory for consumers.
Except the pending law is a bunch of meaningless crap. The real reason they won't cap interest rates is because the credit card companies pay so much money in bribes to the politicians. So they sell their votes. And Obama sells the presidency and the white house. And the public gets screwed once again.
This much ballyhooed consumer-rights law includes such ridiculous "protections" as requiring the credit card company to give debtors notice before they raise the interest rates (to however high they want). What good does that do? The debtor can't pay off the card -- they don't have the money. The debtor can't move to some other card -- they all do the same, they all have the low-interest come-on that is yanked away in 3 months and replaced with the usurious interest.
Loan sharks. Our entire federal government is on the payroll of loan sharks. Criminals. The people who put the Mafia out of business. And they own Congress, and they own the President.
This is what we should do. Stop paying our credit cards. Demand a cap of 10% interest, and don't pay one penny to the credit card companies until Congress gets up off their lazy corrupt asses and passes a law making it illegal for anyone, credit card companies included, to charge anyone more than 10% interest on any loan, charge, or other financial transaction bearing interest.
Want a big laugh? The Republicans keep saying the Democrats are "socialists." The Democrats are closer to being made-men in the mob than to being socialists. Socialists actually do something for the people once in awhile, instead of just shoveling all the money into the coffers of the corporations.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/13/senate-rejects-limit-on-credit-card-interest-rates/?partner=rss&emc=rss
"Our entire federal government is on the payroll of loan sharks."
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent summary! And 68% approve of Obama!
The disconnect between me and most of my fellow citizens is crazy-making! This is like some skit where a tiny cult of wild-eyed freakazoids with bad hair start raving about the corruption of EVERYTHING!
I really want to be a non-chalant passer-by who smiles indulgently at the crazies, and instead... I'm the craziest of all of them!
So, NAB, do you ever feel like Edna Millay...
A Visit To The Asylum
Once from a big, big building,
When I was small, small,
The queer folk in the windows
Would smile at me and call.
And in the hard wee gardens
Such pleasant men would hoe:
"Sir, may we touch the little girl's hair!"—
It was so red, you know.
They cut me coloured asters
With shears so sharp and neat,
They brought me grapes and plums and pears
And pretty cakes to eat.
And out of all the windows,
No matter where we went,
The merriest eyes would follow me
And make me compliment.
There were a thousand windows,
All latticed up and down.
And up to all the windows,
When we went back to town,
The queer folk put their faces,
As gentle as could be;
"Come again, little girl!" they called, and I
Called back, "You come see me!"
--Edna St. Vincent Millay
I think most people either blame themselves for any financial problems they have, or they still believe that the American dream will land on their doorstep any day now, or they're just in shock at how rapidly everything has fallen apart. If somebody planned it this way, they did a good job of ripping the rug out from under people with one swift yank, leaving people flat on their backs without really understanding what happened.
ReplyDeleteWhere did our jobs go? What happened to that whole idea of every American child going to college? Now we've got a 50% drop-out rate from high school in many districts. What about the promise that every generation would do better? What happened to our pensions? And why don't we get healthcare with our jobs anymore? What the heck happened.
And of course Fox tells people every day that they should blame their neighbor, or blame women, or blame minorities. Nobody in the media explains to people that it is the corruption in Congress and the greed and treason of U.S. corporations that has caused our current problems. An educated populice is a dangerous one.
So yes, it is kind of awful. I really hoped things would get radically better under Obama, but I'm not seeing what I had hoped for. Not seeing any change, actually. Just a nicer-looking guy. And I expected nothing from the Democrats in Congress, but have gotten even less.