Could it really be true that initiatives to curb abusive and deceptive credit card practices are starting to bubble up from the bowels of the Bush administration regulatory apparatus? That doesn't sound like the kind of thing that would happen, but it seems to be happening. And if it does happen, I say not a moment too soon as an awful lot of this stuff is just awful.
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Credit Card Abuse
02 May 2008 09:56 am
Comments (9)
Oh please. Whatever is proposed will APPEAR to help the public. In actuality it will surely be a boon to credit card companies. "Deluded" is apt if describing those thinking Bush gives a damn about the little guy. Any benefit to cardholders will be an incidental side effect of the legislation or proposed rules.
It may be a sign of how lame and un-influential the president has become within his own administration. The bureaucrats with real institutional knowledge are finally getting this out from the shadows.
"abusive and deceptive credit card practices"?
The only real abuse I have seen is people putting tens of thousands of dollars on credit cards in an attempt to augment their BS lifestyles and then whine that the credit card companies are taking advantage of them. The largest balance I have ever had on a credit card is about $8K. Anything more than that and I would take a serious look at how I am spending money. Oh, those "deceptive" credit card applications I get in the mail - I just rip them up without opening them.
Credit cards are not designed to fund your big ticket item purchases over the long term. Want a $1,500 TV? Save the money, use your card to buy it at the store and then pay off the balance at the end of the month. Many people use credit cards to augment their lifestyle in the hope they will pay it off someday or use them in duress with the hope that the bill will just go away.
Wow, danceswithgoats, you're my hero. Your finacial awesomeness must mean that all those lies credit companies tell must really be the truth. Thanks for clearing that up.
The only real abuse I have seen is people putting tens of thousands of dollars on credit cards in an attempt to augment their BS lifestyles...
Thanks for the input, John Stossel. It has nothing at all to do with stagnant wages and the price inflation of basic products. People never have unexpected emergencies that need immediate attention and everyone has health and dental insurance.
In fact, credit card companies are simply trying to extend credit access to the deserving poor. 28% interest rates and $40 late fees are simply the cost of doing business and any attempt to cap those practices will simply hurt the people you're trying to help most, sill liberals.*
I swear to fucking god, these companies would have to send death squads to debtors houses before some people would say 'hmm, that's a bit excessive'.
*Wingnut Economic Talking Point #1- Any attempts at regulation will always harm those you want to help, even though it takes pretzel logic and lots of squinting to see exactly how. You wouldn't want that, would you?
The sorts of things they are talking about are credit card companies arbitrarily increasing interest rates on outstanding balances. I'm not sure what that has to do with how you spent that money. Indeed, even if you "only" had $8K on a credit card, and even if you could afford to pay a higher interest rate on that balance without a lot of personal financial distress, it seems to me you would still have cause to complain with this practice--it is only costing you money, but it is still costing you money!
Believe it, whatever new regulations emerge will be directed at the borrowers, who abuse the credit card companies by sometimes missing a due date, and abuse their credit privileges by buying stuff they don't really need.
As "danceswithgoats" has already pointed out.
"Clear Skies". "Healthy Forests". "Credit Abuse".
Comments closed May 16, 2008.
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Heads in the Sand
It's actually possible that it's dawned on the Bushies that pushing large numbers of people into experiencing the 'bankruptcy reform' that they passed a few years ago could have a politically negative effect. Just, y'know,... maybe.
Posted by MattF | May 2, 2008 10:07 AM