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.

Alt-A Loans Spiraling Downward

'So, millions of American families are going to be FORCED to accept a lower standard of living'

Maybe more precise to note they are going to GO BACK to their former standard of living, having enjoyed several years of living beyond their means. This doesn't really pose a social malcontent problem. I've been wondering lately if many of these people didn't know (perhaps subconsciously) from the start that their stay in the over sized mansion was a temporary condition.

Don’t Blame Wall Street - At Least Not Completely

"The people that are being foreclosed, primarily those who initially received subprime mortgages, should never have been given a loan to buy a house. These people were renters and will become renters again."

Not so easily. They may get an apartment in a complex. Owners of single-family for-rent homes don't want these people, as they have record of not paying and then walking away. The 'investor' with one or two rentals understands risk management up close and personal, and can't take them as tenants.

The Presidential Speech, in Context

There was not a single word about bankruptcy protections for the people. I've read that there's been a 'compromise'.....it's a scandal of its own there was ever an issue.

Imagine...panhandling from the homeless, and opposing any relief for their needs. What soulless people running PA Ave and Wall St.