ConsumerMan: Credit card law coming soon

Willis - Who is ignorant? The banks were given taxpayer money to keep them afloat and then they turn around and raise rates and fees to those same taxpayers. That's not capitalism that's 'taking advantage of a lousy situation'. Banks who have credit cards can do anything they want because the Republicans are in their pockets.

This has nothing to do with the democrats or President Obama. The funding that was proposed by Bush and voted into effect by the last congress, is effectively raping the wage-earner and those who have trusted the banking system. Haven't we learned anything from the Great Depression? Greed is alive and well in the United States.

First off, this isn't an Obama exclusive. True. This legislation has been in the works for a couple years.

Secondly, Not all banks took the bail outs. You can't lump them all into the same category. That's just as ignorant if not arrogant.

Third, Fisherman, you have something that is correct in your post "Haven't WE learned anything..." We being the customer. We've signed up to be taken on this ride. No one forced a card into our hands. We took on the responsibility and we're the ones who cried when it bit us on the rear. I just think it's a shame that people who took advantage of the system by declaring bankruptcy after buying luxury after luxury got away with rooking both the institutes that trusted them and the people on the street.

Call it what you will but it was legal albeit unethical. We have to learn how to avoid these kinds of traps as consumers and stop leaning on the government to help us when we didn't plan ahead. I'm sick of taking up the slack for people who won't take charge of their own lives.

How many more times do I have to pay the price for people who took longer to pick a large screen TV than to read their credit card agreement before charging themselves into bankruptcy? Where is their comeuppance for bring just as greedy as the banks? Oh, that's right! I'm paying for their folly.

This administration does not have a clue. Obama's plan to help has only made the situation worse because he put it off a year. That has given them time to stick it to the people. AND, the next guy in line if Geitner goes is Jeffery Dimon the head of CHASE! More crooks in the White House- it just never ends! It is predatory lending at it's finest, and as long as there is democratic control, it will only get worse. It is the democrats that endorse "something for nothing" and "entitlement". They won't stop until the money runs out. Check out this video, it may open some eyes....

http://www.resistnet.com/video/hyperinflation-1

east coast regarding comment 1.3

Bravo. Your excellent comment is spot on.

Way to paint everyone with a super broad brush, East Coast, because we all know that everyone who ever fell into financial distress because they were all careless spenders tossing around credit willy nilly. No one ever has a catastrophic illness or catastrophe like a flood or something hit their lives. No, never. And here you were just chastising folks for lumping all the banks together. Pot, meet kettle.

And secondly, you mean to tell me you're cool with companies setting, in your words, "traps" for consumers? I'm not! Say that out loud: They set traps for consumers. You don't hear anything wrong when those words leave your mouth? I'm amazed that so many folks are willing to step up and fight for multi-billion dollar global entities rather than their next door neighbor. You'll defend the guys with all the money to buy all the power they need to acquire even more money but not the guy who lost his job and after months upon months still can't find work and is using his credit to put food on the table for his family and a roof over their heads. Fascinating...

No East Coast, We did not sign up to be taken on this ride. We signed up for cards with low rates and no annual fees and then paid the bills. When the banks hike their rates or add fees, they give us 14 days to decide whether to keep the card and accept the changes or cancel the card and keep the current terms on our existing balances. Meanwhile, the banks get an astonishing nine months to implement new rules and devise new schemes to get around them. See http://www.responsiblelending.org/credit-cards/research-analysis/Dodging-Reform-As-Some-Credit-Card-Abuses-Are-Outlawed-New-Ones-Proliferate.html

If the banks were really going to fail, we should have just let them fail and treat them like crap the way they do us. Personally, I find it hard to believe the situation was really that dire based on the speed with which they have paid the bailout money back once they realized being on welfare wasn't the free ride they thought it would be.

willy you must be a banker in disguise as you are parroting the same line as the super rich bankers that think high interest rates are a God given right

Many of the banks are no better than title loan companies, the excessive interest rates they charge are loan sharking many of these banks took taxpayer money and turned around and stuck it to the average citizen.

Join the " Move Your Money " Campaign and tell these banks where to stick their cards and thier fees. Me personally I stopped using credit cards altogether. I have one Discover card for emergency use only. They can raise the fees all they want, they aint getting another dime out of me.

That is a great idea, I am going to check into a local credit union today, but you watch, government will still find a way to spread the wealth, and we taxpayers will still be paying for the deadbeats! Just like the morons that went out and bought houses they couldn't afford and now want bailed out. It's the democratic way. Be benevolent with other people's money!

I get really tired of people blaming others for their own mistakes. Yes, their was very shady loans to get people into homes, but not one single person made you sign on that dotted line, yes, credit cards as a whole are a scam, again, no one made you get one. And now, because of your mistakes, we all pay. PEOPLE - quit living beyond your means, that is the malfunction of this entire country, the attitude that you are OWED a lifestyle. Work for it, earn it, for god's sake, quit being a bunch of lazy, "I want everything for nothing" blood suckers! Everyone needs help every once in a while, it can't be helped, but when you drain everyone around you, pretty soon there will no one left to drain!

Crystal - Well said!

Back in December 2008, right after Citibank and BofA got their bailout money, they repaid us by jacking up our interest rates (mine went to 20% never late with citibank, and 0 balance on BofA). At that time, I decided to stop using ANY credit card and work on paying the balance down. When congress passed credit card reform, I thought it was about time they did something right until I saw that it wouldn't go into effect for another year. (So much for them doing something right) Since then, American express jacked up my rate to 20% (once again, never late on payments) and almost all of the other ones have imposed additional interest and fees on us. I still have these cards active and paying my balance down on citibank (the only one I have left with a balance), but if they impose fees for keeping their card, I'm going to dump them regardless of the impact to my credit report.

Fact is, congress screwed up by giving them all money with no strings attached in the fall of 2008 and then they screwed up again by giving the companies time to screw us before the reform act goes into effect. This is history and no amount of complaining is going to change it.

The credit card companies and banks will do what they always do: try to make money however they can. It's in their nature and it can't be helped. Bitching at them WON'T change them. (you'd have better luck trying to get your dog to stop licking it's crotch). All we can do is tell them we will not deal with them on their terms any more by not doing business with them. And that's exactly what I plan to do.

Crystal, your absolutely right we should make the "deadbeats" who cause this situation pay. I say we through all the BANKERS in jail! They are nothing more than CORPORATE loan sharks. They intice you to take their card and then hike your interest rates when ever they feel like it, and if you don't agree and tell them to close the account, they report it negatively to the credit report agencies.

A couple of years ago I was leaving for an extend trip, I knew my Citibank bill would be due while I was away so I paid the bill before I left. A month after I got back I received my bill was shocked that I had incurred a late fee and the jacked my interest. I called them thinking it was a mistake. They so no mistake I paid before the next billing cycle so they applied that payment to my principle and then when I didn't make the payment I "broke" my contract so they increased my interest rate nearly 10%!!

Crystal, did you read where if you pay off your balance every month they have the right to charge you $30. If you have a large balance but little activity you get an additional fee. What about the moving payment dates, if you have your acount set up to pay on the 15th they bill you on the 14th. THIS predatory lending, and we should go even farther to stop them!! I think the local loan sharks have more ethics than Big Banks.

What ever happened to make a honest buck?? I remember when you got a credit card and you paid an agreed fixed interest rate. You had the advantage of extra purchasing power and they made a little money off their loaning you money. Nowdays, they seem uninterested in making alittle money, they want to take every possible penny you have. Their greed is completely out of control!!! And it is people who defend these monsters who allow them to become even more outrageous! I miss the days of honest "christian" business, where you were dealt with with honesty and fairness, no one was taking advantage of you the consumer!

By the Crystal, many, many banks did comit unethical business practices when dealing with home buyers. The industry has come out and admitted it!!! Stop BLAMING hardworking honest people for the huge corporations trying to STEAL ever penny of our hard earnings.

East Coast and Willis Jefferson have to be bankers- the general public knows that the banks are running scams.

The question is : why Congress is allowing this to happen? Everybody from the banks on down said that things were going to change for the publics detriment because the banks were going to change the way they did things so they cound keep screwing the public..

Why does Congress allow this- If they knew it was going to happen why not pass a firm set of rules for the banks to follow- chapter and verse.

Maybe because there isn't much payoff money in telling the banks what to do. Dodd is resigning this year. He got $7,000,000 from the banking lobby last year. Got enough to retire in good shape, I guess....that in addition to whatever he is making for a lifetime pension.

Congress may be representing somebody, but it sure is not me.

No one wants to reduce how much $ they make. The credit card companies just have to be up front about it now.

As for the charges of socialist, you might want to talk to some businesses, especially small businesses, about the fascist ways they are being force to hand over increasing amounts of $$ in transaction fees.

I am not talking about the honest hardworking ones, I am talking about the lady in California who chained herself to her house because when she signed up for $5000 per month payments, they told her they would help her. I am going to help someone living in a $5000 a month house when I live in a trailer! Or the guy that has only worked 1 out of the last 5 years, and when his daughter was in an accident with no insurance, held a benefit to help pay bills, and that money never paid anything except for expensive toys. When asked about the bill, he said, "oh, I haven't heard from them so it must be taken care of." That's the deadbeats I mean, and they are everywhere! That's why our insurance is so high.

If left unchecked we will all be paying 30%, and then the knockout punch when they decide to raise min. payments to 10% forcing many users to default thus letting the banks raise the rates to 40-50% because of default. And now bankrupcy is out of the reach of many so the banks still get their money.

Look at Chase raising min. payments from 3% to 5%.

Crystal, when my husband and I first bought our home at the beginning of this mess went went to sign final papers on our new home. While my husband was reading the loan documents he notice we had a "variable" interest rate. He brought it up to the loan agent since he had been adament that we have a fixed loan. She tried her best to convince us that this was a better rate for us and that it with our incomes we could afford to pay even the increased rate. I was convinced!! This lower interest rate she was offering would save us a couple of hundred dollars and I knew our incomes would increase in 5 years. My, uber-intelligent, husband said no flat out and threatened to walk out unless she adjusted the paperwork to show a fixed rate. Then she advised us to go ahead and SIGN the paperwork and she would adjust it when she was back in her office. I would have signed because I trusted her. My husband didn't sign until it was fixed. We were lucky, my husband had some previous real estate experience so we didn't get suckered. I have wondered how many others people she convinced? Now we find out lending agents got bonuses for get people to sign up for those variable loans so how many of those "deadbeats"would be in their position if the lenders had "convinced"them to sign on the bottom line. If these banks are hurting then it is their own faults and you should defend them for being unethical!

They NEED to pass a law that would revese any changes to the CC exchange that were placed on customers after anouncement of this bill. I am about to file bank ruptsy on my credit I can't afford the monthly payment anymore and am skipping grocerys and such to make the min payments. And I'm sure Im not alone.

DO SOMETHING WASHINTON! This law passed but didn't protect us soon enough from the leaches that live off our grief.

I thought the comment "Significant negative consequences". Sounds like a threat to me. I'm glad I don't have any credit cards.

DaveG

You will be paying 30% interest, I will not. As things stand now all my credit cards have 0 balance and I always keep them that way. Perfect credit and enough credit to buy a 40K dollar car on a card yet two months ago my cards spiked to 27.9% in lieu of the impending reform. The issue is punitive like a child throwing a temper tantrum. "You want to take away our candy, well I'll show you!" Since congress is trying to enact usury laws like in the days of old were it was illegal to have astronomical interest rates as it was considered to be loan sharking, we now today allow this behavior and like we have seen we cannot trust institutions to do the right thing, they will always look for a way around the system and to make a buck. This is why we need regulations! I for one have my eye on the mail waiting for updates on my accounts to see if they will start charging me fees just for paying my balance on time, or "inactive" if I don't charge enough on the card. If so I will cancel them and go back to cash only. Not a problem here, credit cards are nice to have but I refuse to allow them to profit just by having a contract open with them to allow me to "borrow" money if need be...When you look at it that's exactly what it is.

I started paying off my credit cards and closing accounts during the Bush years when rates started rising. I havent used credit at Christmas for the last 3 years. Only have a minimal balance and use the cards for things like airline tickets and motel rooms. Unfortunately I know people that have hit hard times and have come to depend on credit cards just to get by. A family member is in this boat because of high medical bills and had to file bankruptcy, and they had health insurance. And no they did not spend on news cars and toys. I think alot of people are in this situation, whether it is a job loss or skyrocketing medical bills or balloon payments that were more than they could handle. As soon as credit card company jacks my rate to 29.9% that is when I say adios to that company.

Wonderful. Now our wise lawmakers assure us that we "need" a Consumer Finance Protection Agency. And so taxpayers get to finance yet another federal bureaucracy.

MBC - There ARE a few credit card companies who are being honest and customer friendly. 'Discover' has frozen interest rates and held back on fees. 'American Express' has done the same.

Avoid the banks that are taking advantage of the consumer; Chase, Bank of America, and many other Visa and MasterCard issuers.

Get rid of bank issued credit cards - swith to credit unions.

The lawmakers should have made the law take effect months ago if they wanted it to actually be effective before the banks had time to do anything about it.

However, the credit card issuers are only hurting themselves and slowly putting themselves out of business with all of this non-sense. I know I dropped all my cards except one that actually still had fare and balanced pratices. All the others no longer get my business.

We should have let them fail!

We are right there with you! We have the right to make and play by OUR own rules just as much as these credit issuers. To Hell with them. And this whole "live by the credit score, die by the credit score" mentality is for the birds. If I can't get something or somewhere all because of what some number is or is not, then I'll just do without.

Fisherman, My Amex card went up from 9% to 20% last August (never late, never over the limit). No reason was given on the letter. When I talked with the customer service rep, he stated that it was due to congress passing the credit card reform act. When I told him that was a BS reason and that business practices like this were the reason for the credit card reform act, he had nothing to say.

When Sears doubled my interest rate a couple of months ago I called and raised hell. I've been a customer for decades and told them not only would I pay off the balance, I would not buy my major appliances at Sears (or anything). After talking to a couple of people they kept my terms and rate the same. I told them I would not cancel in anger until I knew it would not affect my credit rating, but they would longer have me as a customer and get no interest from me because I would pay it down immediately. It is time for consumers to start paying attention and telling some of these banks and other companies to stick it where the sun don't shine when they try to fleece us.

Tried to screw me too, it took three months to get them to back down.

I had to go in debt to get started in business 10 years ago,at one point leveraged to the point of owing 30K+, but I drilled down on paying off the debt first and now EVERYTHING is paid off,I don't even owe for my car or house. The banks and credit card companies that think they can get away with paying 1% interest while charging an arm and a leg for every fee they can dream up can all kiss my @$$! I have a zero balance on all 4 of my cards and if they try putting an annual fee on them I'll close every one of them

You shouldn't view the minimum payment as what should be paid. If you spend it, you should pay it off that month. Only dip into credit with a credit card for special circumstances (and that shouldn't include Christmas).

Yeah, if you don't spend money that you don't have then you won't be in debt.

Complaining about credit card company practices is like playing with rattlesnakes and then complaining that they have a venomous bite.

If you don't play with snakes, you won't get bitten.

If you don't use credit cards, and you live within your means, you won't have ridiculous high-interest debt.

Really, why bother to pay when they already lowered my credit rating by lowering the balance. I know I borrowed, and I will pay, but it sucks. I have never been late and always paid more, and they have raised my interest up to 19.99% on my Chase account. I opted out and will pay it off and never use them again, but it is not right. Capital One has been the most fair I believe, though they have added a yearly fee.

They're gonna take your house. The bankruptcy laws were changed in credit card lender's favor by President Bush and the last majority-Republican Congress.

Take action now to save your home. Seek immediate legal assistance! These multi-national corporate banks and credit card lenders could care less, and do, about Americans like me and you, and they will not bat an eye in throwing you into homelessness and financial ruin.

Not in Florida.

Get rid of all banking services - shift to credit unions. Their fees are lower, their interest rates are better on both sides, and you can do everything with a C.U. that you can do with a bank. Take control of your own finances by dropping banks.

I recently tried to get a Visa card from my credit union to replace a Chase card that I hate. I carry no balances on over $60k worth of credit on 3 cards. I am a technology worker who does contract work after a layoff 6 months ago. My credit union told me that because of the new rules, they could not issue me card until I had 2 years of tax returns showing my contractor status before they could issue me a card. Even though my credit score was in the mid 700's, I have no debt but a mortgage (less than $200k) and was going to surrender my Chase $30k limit card for a $10k limit at the credit union. Point of all this, while it sounds great to switch to a credit union, the reaility is that it is not so easy. Plan accordingly.

ArtistJohn - Well said!!

Credit Unions are better than banks but I cancelled my CU card when they played the raise rates and switch to variable before the new laws hit game.

The problem is people got their cards with a bait and switch provision buried way down where the issuer can change terms which just make it harder to get out of the hole.

Shocked? No.

Dissapointed? Yes, but not schocked.

Yer not alone. I'm sure a lot of us has wished we had been doing it cash only a lot longer than we have.

After filing I will be. Well if I can find a job since credit score is a/the determining factor. For the just pay it and shut up crowd I did. Discover for (one above though is a good company comment) I paid about 28-30K on about 12 borrowed, balance today not sure my lawyer is figuring that out after months of nonstop and I mean hourly calling. I agreed to 200 or so a month payments in 99 at 12% approx apr. When I stopped paying it over a year ago due to loss of work volume it was 29.99% plus who even knows fees per month. I was up to date on payments til then. I felt it was better to feed my family first. Oh well 3-7 years I'll be on track. Even a grain of sand in a giants eye still will sting. These any of these companies are no one's friend when in need. Guess it's back to cash n carry but, man it will be nice to not give thousands monthly to someone else to repay them many times over. Damage is what it will be but, the lower pay availability will seem like a raise no matter what I find. Learned my lesson on credit the hard way. I mostly used credit to back up my small business during slow seasons or when a truck would break down not on fancy junk. Interest rate hikes just raise payments, reduce cashflows, and create the defaults & foreclosures. Like Barney Fife, right in their own foot. My house is/was very reasonable 55K in city limits. In the end I'll find my Freedom! A lot easier without a 29-32% interest tag attached to it.

nick the geek..Some of us with low incomes never had to rely on credit cards. We didn't have the kinds of incomes the credit card companies would accept as collateral. So, we bought everything with cold, hard cash. Our parents taught us never to trust banks. Today's US banks are so deeply embedded in foreign financial institutions that are praying they will get control of this country by controlling the money. Isn't that what Dickens wrote in "A Christmas Carol"? "Control the cash box and you control the world."

It seems we can't just blame the CC companies anymore since the government has its hands down everyone's pants these days. but with all politics and finger pointing aside, I can just laugh at this and say that is the TRUTH! I just closed an old Wamu checking account I no longer use, recently changed to Chase of course. That is very correct, they will charge you 6 times just for one late payment or one bounced check that they have so thoughtfully bounced for you. 2 years ago I caught them shifting money around in my checking account, cash deposits were always made by me, but what they were doing online was holding out on the cash deposit for 2-3 days and bouncing all the debits, which then made it look like I had no money in my account. I don't know how many threats I had to make to them before they started to realize they were not going to mess with me and my money. I swear I think they do it just to see who will notice. I have another bank I've used for almost 19 years. It was a small town bank, which was bought out by another greedy bastard bank, and they started to do the same exact thing just within the past 4 months or so. I wrote their corporate office 2 weeks ago after I noticed a few "eye opening" things going on in my account. I told them in no uncertain terms, if they would love to keep me as a customer and not have me show up and make a scene in their corporate office, they need to stop messing around with my money. They have NEVER used this practice until the past 4 months. I've already told them I will close the account and keep my money in a jar the old fashioned way. At least I only have to worry about my kids stealing my money then.

As for credit cards, I really do not use CC's. I do have one small balance card that has recently made dramatic changes in that now they charge you a $96 a year fee to even use the card, they have raised the interest rate from 24% to 35% in just a matter of months and there are other stipends to the stupid agreement changes they sent their customers. Along with a list of changes came a letter, that if you did not like the changes, you had to pay off your card in full and close the account within a matter of days. Too bad I was out of work, or I would have taken advantage of that. I can't wait to just pay it off and tell them to shove that piece of plastic where the sun don't shine.

I soon think most of us will just be saving our pennies in glass jars, since what is going to happen will be that all of these banks will fail. Just give it time.

The sad thing is if they discounted rates a little for on time payments earning just a decent profit or even stuck to the original terms they would grow and prosper in the long run. Customer Service 101 treat every customer like your going to lose them and you wont. Guess they forgot to watch "it's a wonderful life" and learn a simple lesson. Current order of business is to damage as many as possible before they find their customer base vanishes and they become obsolete. One bankruptcy and one foreclosure at a time. The recession/depression has to impair usage greatly as people stop buying more, and do with less. 1 in every 10 are out of work and accounted for, double more likely are. There's 20% loss to start with. The unaccounted for like me rely on their family to survive the compounded effect is closer to 40-60% of society. Initially those relied on will go deeper in debt and as a balance is found will payoff the vultures as we pull together.

The scenario above if it weren't true would be hilarious.

Michael Buie...Are you forgetting that Obama never owned a bank but Bush's uncle does? His brother's bank bail out was initiated by their father and taxpayers are still paying off that debt? Nice that you can play the "Blame Everything on Obama" game so expertly. Too bad the rest of us aren't buying it. Who did you think paid for the ooops oooops Bush bust at Arbusto Oil? Your convenient blame game is just one more example of anti-Obamists trying to avoid their responsibility for this mess we are in. You can't erase the last 8 years. Stop trying.

mmcabe..And there's the rub. Americans expecting American businesses to be ethical and honest. American businesses are owned by foreign interests who have millenniums of culture that has no idea what honor in business means. Read your history books. For every money changer ever passing out the bucks, there was dishonest, unethical payback.

It takes the government to lay down the laws since no average American can reason with the big fat cats who make all the decisions. That's what government's duty is ...to protect its citizens from the denizens of the financial world and I do mean "world". We've all got to stop thinking nationally and start remembering national finance is over. Not when our debts are held by foreign banks.

We just need to remind our government that if you make bills, you have to pay them. Just like the IRS expects us to pay our taxes.

That's the part I'm peeved about. They need to make that law retroactive back to when it got passed. Make the cc companies roll back those interest rates, fees and terms.

Not as stupid as the people who keep voting them back into office. We need to vote out every incumbent in every office from the city level to the national level, and keep doing so until they start representing the people again instead of the lobbyists who are buying their votes. I have made an informed decision to vote against incumbents. I am so tired of career politicians. We need to start holding our elected officials accountable. I was infuriated to see that congressmen who have been sentenced to prison (for basically ripping of the people) still get their pensions. If the average citizen is convicted of a crime and sentenced to prison we lose everything from our right to vote and bear arms (for felonies) to being able to find work after being released from prison (for even misdemeanors). The arrogance of these politicians is reprehensible. Why do we The People keep putting up with it. We need a revolution (at the voting booths) to stop these shameful acts being perpetrated on us by our representaives both Rebublican and Democrats. One example of their arrogance is that they have stated that they would not agree to having to have the same healthcare program for themselves that they are shoving down our throats. Another example is their retirement (they refuse to being required to have the same Social Security benefits as us regular people). This has been stated by the majority in both parties. We need to let them know in no uncertain terms that we are not going to take it anymore, period.

Yup. Common sense would dictate not letting people have access to $70k in credit cards when they work a $25k job. But that's what the credit card companies have done for decades.

There already is. Your local credit union. By far better than a bank and can offer you most of the same services.

Dr. Frederick...There's a reason for the patronization of those who have no credit ratings. They are called "Credit and Collections Lawyers". A credit card debt is sold for pennies on the dollar to these legal extortionists. Then, the C&C lawyers added a few thousand to the original debt and hound the living hell out of the debtors. They show up at peoples jobs pretending to be court officers, call neighbors hounding them to pay off the debt and very often these skanks of society go as far as deliberately lobbing debt on innocent people who never had a credit card but happen to have a similar name as the original debtor.

Anyone out there think they can stop this? It takes government and laws to remove these skanks from society. They hound people unmercilessly at all hours of the day and night irregardless of the laws to the contrary. I know of two incidences where the debt was well under $3,000. By the time these skanko-Americans got hold of it from the CC companies, it was $10,000 owing to the skanks adding in their "fees". That's extortion by any other name. You pay what you owe. Not what a skanko credit and collection lawyers decides you owe 10 or more years after the debt has been paid.

You have just cited the way of the world when it comes to Credit Card Companies.

The amazing thing is that the financial institutions do this after getting their $1 trillion going-away gift from George W. Bush.

Blame Bush- you really need to pull your head out. Bush did the 780 billion bailout and half of that has been paid back and spent by St. Obama! Chase is back into the billion dollar a month profits!

Crystal: You learn from history. You do NOT learn by PREDICTING or MISSTATING current events.

The Bush years have been exposed as making MANY mistakes and by your ignoring this history you may be doomed to repeat it, or at least trying to repeat it but the rest of us are watching.

I don't blame Bush for everything, but I can certainly blame him for the things for which he is directly responsible. The Bankruptcy Reform Act was his baby and should have just been called the "Usury Legalization Act".

Crystal..Nice try erasing 8 years of an MBA president who should have known better. Bush pandered left, front and center to his Big Business cronies at every chance he got. He's a member of the rich boy club that sees wealth as an entitlement even though Bush managed to get every single failure of his paid off by taxpayers. Little wonder he pushed for TARP in Nov. 08 or do you want to deny that too?

Then those same people go to Washington DC and rob us with a briefcase (bailout ca$h anyone?)

Then don't vote for Republicans EVER again. They are singing a tune now to save their collective hides, but they are the one's who back business over ethical practice in the long run.

I haven't voted Republican since 1992. I used to be a Republican back when they were the party of small government, personal freedom, the Constitution, and thrift. The GOP then got taken over by the religious right lunatics when Bush got elected. The GOP sure isn't the party of Lincoln anymore!

We all know (at least those of us facing reality), whether it was Bush or Obama, if we had allowed the banking system to collapse we'd be in WORSE shape than we are now (as much as it chafed to help them). Be grateful most of it got paid back.

You and I were on the same boat. I was a lifelong Republican, being an accountant, how else could I be but fiscally sound and responsible.

When the lunatic fringe showed their dominance, I bailed. President Clinton showed me that Democrats were fiscally responsible. Most of us boomers were socially liberal, until recently. Old age has addled some of our minds and these boomers have slipped into our parents narrow mind as far as social issues go.

Big business over ethical treatment of people seems to be acceptable in some circles. I hope to keep this simple truth known by being annoying as much as possible on these boards by reminding everyone of our history.

The GOP sure isn't the party of Lincoln anymore!

The republican party hasn't been the party of Lincoln since reconstruction. Learn history.

Lee..I used to be a Republican. Conscience doesn't allow it anymore. There are too few honorable Republicans left who put America and not their sense of wealth entitlement first. Most Republican conservatives exhibit typical anti-American behavior demonizing those who are middle class and work, criminalizing the sick, aged and children of single parents, all the while patting themselves on the back for the ill-gotten gains they managed to manipulate for the rest of us. I left the Republican party in 1998 and never looked back. I saw then what was coming was a vigilante group out to control the country. I don't need any Republican deciding what's best for me or my family. Nor do I need any Republican ramming their family values down my throat. The joke is that for every single negative factor in society from drugs and gun running, you'll find a closet Republican with his pocket loaded with money.

That dollar left behind will lead to a "minimum finance" charge rule of $1.00 plus a fee for carrying a balance and eventually affect your credit score as you will show as carrying a balance from one pay period to the next.

Pay the whole balance in full is the best way and (very important) keep new purchases on your statements balances above the annual minimum of what is currently being suggested by Citi - as an example - of $2,400 a year. If your annual "new Purchase" activity is more than $2,400 dollars a year you won't incur the annual fee for inactivity.

I was just told this by Citi customer service, so pay the complete amount due every month and keep the activity on your cards above $2,400 a year, that way you can keep using a credit card with paying no fees or finance charges and still keep your credit score in good shape.

One thing I don't understand is that so many people complain about the CC system. I buy a product just after my new statement is issued and don't have to pay for it in full, or I can pay a little at a time until the next statement comes out.

That's a great deal, i don't get charged anything to do this as long as i pay it off in full before the next statement date. That's free credit for a month basically. The banks should make money from the merchant fees from the seller.

So what's the big deal ? Everyone is complaining because they get credit above there monthly ability to pay and now that the banks want to charge more they cry wolf... geez, i thought banks were out to make money, why all the complaining...stop buying what you can't pay for and all will be fine ...

unforeseen expenses ? borrow the money from a relative, give them a contract (you can get one online) or a simple IOU with terms ...give them the pink slip to your car or something as a guarantee, something they can at least get a loan on as a guarantee if you default. I am sure a relative would like to make 10-15 percent on a loan from someone they knew.

For all it's worth, pinch yourself every time you have an impulsive urge to charge an item on your credit card you DO NOT NEED

"Unforseen expenses? borrow the money from a relative"

This is NOT relevant to the discussion of this insane credit card targeted to those with poor credit or fresh out of bankruptcy. Of course it would be better to borrow from anyone else besides these banks. I would assume most people would borrow from a relative if that were possible.

These credit cards are targeted to people who have no other choice but risk these ridiculous charges. It is a money making opportunity for the banks. Banks will find someone desperate enough, and then these folks are trapped.

If you are suddenly laid off you're previous debt obligations do not go away. Money will become tight. I don't know how many times I've seen people say "The unemployed should accept what they can get!" Fine, but if what you can get is MUCH less than what you were making before, your monthly expenses remain the same. And more often than not these folks will end up living paycheck to paycheck.

Bad things happen. Transmission goes out in your car and what then? The banks KNOW this. They dangle these cards in front of people with NO other alternative. It's obscene banks will prey on those desperate enough to fall into this financial slavery.

It's wrong. These banks have enough already. The rich need to stop feeding off the poor. We are watching the destruction of this nation in the name of a "Free Market" and "Buyer Beware".

Simple fact: Using cash and paying as you go eliminates all of the above problems, and is the only REAL way to have actual complete control over your own finances.

If every American cut up their credit card, the industry would be falling all over itself to internally regulate itself. Because the only reason credit cards even exist is that issuers get some of your money for doing with plastic what cash can do so much better.

And government would still find a way for us to pick up the bill for the deadbeats and system suckers.

Simple fact: We USED to have usary laws outlawing excessive interest rates.

Simple fact: We USED to be able to pay for our medical care even without insurance.

Simple fact: We USED to NOT be able to get credit if we did not have any income or a poor history of credit.

Simple fact: Banks got greedy and WE let them.

Crystal

As well as the truly deserving and needy. Yes, taxes are independent of credit cards. Thanks for pointing it out.

NiteOwlet wrote "Simple fact: We USED to have usary laws outlawing excessive interest rates."

Back then, how easy was it to get credit? Do you want to go back to the old way?

"Simple fact: We USED to be able to pay for our medical care even without insurance."

We used to not be able to buy this quality of care and lived shorter lives. Do you want 1940's health care?

Agree with you on other points.

To answer your question, I think limited credit is a good thing. Decent medical care is a great thing.

Keen Observer. ..There's a huge difference between extorting money from people and earning a profit. Or, are you saying that the only way these skanks can earn their profit is from extortion? The days of "no holds barred" in business is over. The gloves are on and a lot of people recognize the extortion that made billionaires of men who hadn't the brains of a sand flea. The proof is their stupid financial decisions. The proof is their expectation of no accountability for their decisions or their actions. The proof is the state of this country which is the result of their stupid decisions.

Clarke- the deserving and needy are not having any problem at all getting credit, that seems to be the only criteria now is to be broke and jobless, they are the ones with the credit limits going up! And don't give me that deserving and needy crap, all most would have to do is give up the Iphones and Xboxes! Get benevolent with your own money- but oh, that's not the hypocritical liberal way. I donate to March of Dimes, not the octomoms or alcoholics.

It's kinda fun too huh? But it's really true, cash is so much more convenient in the long run.

Paying cash sure saves money later on!

You get a 20-30% discount as well !

You really don't need a card to have good established credit. You are right that we need credit, we just don't really need credit cards.

Outside of houses and possibly cars, imagine the personal debt that simply would not exist if it were not for credit cards.

People also need to learn better spending habits and the art of saving. It is commonly said that people use credit cards for emergency purposes. Perhaps they should create an emergency fund by saving a little from each paycheck; even if it $5.00-$10.00 for every $100.00 that they earn. It is sad that a person can spend $50.00 a month on cable subscription, yet find it hard to save even $20.00 a month for rainy days.

Zach...Would you mind explaining how in God's name anyone is supposed to save when employers have driven paychecks back to 1971 levels for the middle class? If your salary is more than 5 years old (no bonuses and no raises), every year the price of food, clothing and shelter have risen. Your 5 year old salary leaves little left for savings after the utilities, Big Insurance and Big Pharma get their syrupy mitts on your paycheck. And, let's not forget that while your salary is 5 years old, your paycheck has already been lightened to pay for government workers health care and pensions. So, please spare us the "Save your money" routine. You can only save your money when you pay all of your bills and there is actually anything left to save. Or, does that not register with the overeducated geniuses with MBAs these days?

Better paying Jobs ? hmmm.....tell that to Jodi in New Delhi, the customer service rep at Macy's billing when I call after hours from the US, or Jeet in Mumbai when i call Continental Airlines elite desk after hours, they seem more than happy to take charge of my problems at a few hundred rupees a day (about $10.00 USD) and mind you with a much better command of the English language than some of my countrymen here in the USA

Bottom line is, it's not the better paying jobs my friend it's the countries that have a work force that are willing to work much harder for a lot less and suffer for much longer to get ahead, than we are accustomed to in the USA. Illegals in the USA are working for very little and not taking away jobs because most of us would never want to take the job they have regardless of the pay (within reason of course) why is that, that we would not want there jobs ? because it would never allow for a minute of rest.

I wonder what the per capita purchase on flat screen hi definition TV's are in India compared to here in the US, there economy has been growing at a blistering pace of over 8% a year, or china, they are in a slump if they go under 8% I wonder how many 3,000 sq ft homes they have per capita in Beijing ?

America's credit busting delirium us all over and the quicker everyone realizes it the better, the days of wine and Roses are "gone with the wind" roll over and face up to a Chinese looking over our shoulders to see if we really need what we are buying.

Ewent: Your point is well taken. I do understand that it is harder to save now than ever before, particular given the fact that some working individuals are still experiencing furloughs. However, I remain firm in my belief that we can still put something aside each month. It might mean cutting back on some things (i.e., such as cable/entertainment, water/electricity, eating out, etc. ) but it is possible to save even if it is just a little.

I am not insensitive to those that are bringing home less. More importantly, I would not be advocating saving if I did not try it myself and found that it is doable. In fact, once you start saving you are going to get so excited about seeing your savings grow that before you know it, you will find yourself increasing the amount you put aside. Good luck and as always, thanks for your feedback.

I have $100.00 going to credit union savings account every paycheck, and it builds up fast. I was able to pay cash for a new computer last year, which is the most expensive thing I would use a credit card for. If people would save for big ticket items like this they would not have to rely on credit cards so much. But then again there are always the unexpected big buys, like replacing a dead appliance or car repairs, or having dental work done.

You couldn't said it better. True!!!!

Profit allows you to have a computer to post your message.

Ian Blokesworth...No...Workers who make billionaires of sand fleas own computers because they are smarter than the overeducated MBA geniuses. Nice that you can deny workers the credit for the money they earn while rah rah rahing the fat cat thieves who skank away at their employees at every chance.

i agree ! Oh....and i don't give the 10% tithe to the church either !!!!