What a joke. Kennedy wants you to think credit card companies are evil. Maybe they are if you are in debt; or if you are late on a payment. But that’s all spelled out in the agreement. You don’t have to use one. While Kennedy is claiming to look out for those filing bankruptcy, they are screwing honest Americans who carry a balance on credit card accounts and are not filing bankruptcy. The credit card companies are going to make their money either way. They will either will get more money from those filing bankruptcy or get it from the rest of their customers. The interest rates cover bankruptcy and fraud. And they get their percent from the merchants. If you have a good credit rating, you can shop and negotiate your interest rate, but only to a point. If it’s harder to file bankruptcy or write of credit card debt, you might be able to negotiate better rates.
Senator Kennedy, you are not debating how much credit card companies should make or how much they do make, you are debating how much citizens who don’t file bankruptcy should have to cover the losses to credit card companies of those who do file. Most of us look at the credit card companies as providing a service. I don’t have to carry cash. And even paying it off in full each month, they still make money from merchants based on what I buy [which is built into the price]. I’d still pay the same price if I paid cash or by check or by debit card.
I don’t know all the details of the bill, but if Kennedy is against it, I’m for it.
Sounds about right to me. I don't know what the bill's about either (well, maybe an inkling).
I recently finished The Sins of the Father, Joseph P. Kennedy and the Dynasty He Founded by Ronald Kessler
Oops hold on, Meg Ryan is boinking someone in that In The Cut movie on cable.
OK, she got hers (always fun to see a "Disney" actress get wild, LOL).
Anyway, the book describes what a scumbag Teddy's pop was, how bleeped up the entire family was and still is, and how pop's traits carried down through the genereation. Good read.
Wish I had read it before moving up here.
I wouldn't call credit card companies evil, but they do gouge people for every penny the law will allow.
I went on vacation in May last year, and carelessly spent far to much money, going over the limit on my credit cards. I didn't have the funds to immediately pay the over-the-limit amounts, the over-the-limit fees and the regular payments all at once. So, for the next three months I had a series of late payments as I juggled bills.
Now, I'm saddled with 28% interest rates and very high payments until my credit score comes down again, however long that will be. In the meantime, my credit balance goes down only about $20 per month.
Yes, it is legal, and yes, it is my own fault. Meantime, the credit companies are making huge profits off me, and will for many months to come. Bills are nearly impossible to pay off at 28% interest. That's what bills like this, and others that increase the interest rate ceiling, are really about, to keep people in debt forever.