Only one country in the world accepts the MC card as valid ID -- The USA.
And, it's accepted only because of the provision in the Patriot Act signed into law by George W. Bush.
Bush was alerted to the potential problems, but like his father and grandfather before him, Bush served only one group of constituents -- Wall Street Bankers.
Bush was instrumental in changing the banking laws to allow Mexican illegal aliens to participate in the US banking system and Wall Street responded with sub-prime lending and collateralized debt obligations. (CDOs)
It turned into a feeding frenzy and grew too fast. IMO, the sub-prime meltdown was supposed to happen on Obozo's watch, but the frenzied growth caused the bubble to burst before Bush had a chance to leave office.
Naturally, afterward, the Bushies tried to blame the meltdown on Clinton's CRA policies, but a serious look at what Bush did proves that argument doesn't hold water.
Pretty much agreed with all of your comments. It disgusts me how things work in our country these days.