RatWatcher

Government's New Credit Approach: Does the End Justify the Means?

It has been awhile since I found an article to disagree with 100%. The banking / credit card practices of stealth fees and rate hikes are banks' means of collecting the money they are owed, without crediting the borrower with the payment. Rather like the mob: all your payments are just 'juice', you've paid everything borrowed but you still owe it all anyway.

Universal default is particularly odious: the only ways to get this info are collusion or surveillance, both un-American; there is no investigation for cause (e.g., 'my gas bill was late because I was away on vacation' doesn't stop the doubled interest rate on my credit card); it is just an excuse.

The great flock of American middle class golden-egg laying geese has been slaughtered. We will be very lucky indeed if it can be reconstituted by the few survivors.

Credit Card Crunch: Creating a New Generation of Subprime

'My wife has been sick for over five years and our insurance doesn't cover everything. As one small example, her medication costs me over one thousand dollars a month. I'm retired and my retirement fund has been cut in half. Now tell me, where am I to get the money every month?'

Are you planning to pay this back? Respectfully of your situation, this sounds like you are planning to default. That is not borrowing. It's stealing.