:: Running from the Thought Police ::

:: Thursday, February 10, 2005 ::

If Anyone Asks...

How Republicans are bad for average consumers, this (via Atrios) is a good answer:

Republican leaders in Congress began clearing the way yesterday for swift passage of legislation backed by the credit card industry and opposed by consumer groups that would make it harder for consumers to wipe out debt through bankruptcy...

Lobbyists for the credit card industry say the legislation is needed to close loopholes that make it too easy for people to wipe out their debts when they could repay some of them.

Consumer advocates say it would allow some rich debtors to continue to hide wealth through homeownership while bankruptcy relief would be denied to many people with low or moderate incomes who have fallen on hard times because of illness, job loss or divorce. They say credit card companies must share the blame for increased bankruptcies because they aggressively market products and inadequately disclose how interest rates and penalty fees mount up. For example, eliminating a $1,000 credit card balance paid off at a rate of 2 percent a month and carrying an interest rate of 17 percent would take 88 months, or more than seven years.

I'm sorry, but if you're dumb enough to lend money to anyone who has a pulse, you need to be willing to absorb the risk that they're not going to be able to pay up. I'm not advocating going heavily in debt, either. I, myself, don't own a single credit card and run everything through my checking account.

Note: I added a larger exerpt, cos I went back and re-read this post and saw that I hadn't really established what I was talking about.

:: The Squire 10:51 PM :: email this post :: ::
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