Today's Obama One on One with People With Debt

[SlingXShot]

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama charged on Wednesday that U.S. credit card companies are tricking Americans with deceptive practices and that Republican John McCain has done nothing to stop it.

http://www.reuters.com/article.../idUSN1147645220080611

Obama considers that wasteful spending on CC is bad and instead spend the money only if you have it.

I can already see this... that Obama later on would propose credit card classes where they would teach people how to use credit cards responsibly, but of course no one would go, so if you go, your interest will get lowered.. something like driving safety program... hehe..

I actually just paid off my CC debt after 2 years... Never going to do that again...

 

[StageLeft]

Frankly, sir, I'm fvcking tired of politicians blaming this on companies that may be partly to blame when the PRIMARY focus of blame, ridicule, and shame SHOULD like with the damned consumers who acted like fiscal fvcking midgets in the first place. How is it that I have currently no standing CC debt and other people are up to their ass in lots of it and may have made even more money? Am I really so smart? YOu don't have to answer that (hint: yes).

Fiddling with laws may make some difference, but it's merely treating the symptom. Avarice and impulsivity cannot be legislated out of the psyche of the American.

 

[nakedfrog]

That's some good pandering right there!
Joe Middleclass: "Hey, I have CC debt! Obama cares!"
Mine have been paid off for a couple years now, too, and I also will never do that again.

 

[Craig234]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
That's some good pandering right there!
Joe Middleclass: "Hey, I have CC debt! Obama cares!"
Mine have been paid off for a couple years now, too, and I also will never do that again.

There may be a fine line between pandering, and addressing an important issue.

Hey, look at those politicians pandering to the disaster victims, getting them food and help!

And pandering to those women with breast cancer research!

And pandering to those returning GI's from WWII with the education and home assistance!

And those drivers by building those new roads!

 

[ElFenix]

while i agree that consumers themselves are to blame, credit card companies are evil. day late with your payment? charge a late fee and put your account in default, jacking your rate to 29%. max out your card? put your account in default, jack your rate to 29%, and when you pay off your balance by the due date cut your limit by 66%.

 

[Specop 007]

Originally posted by: Craig234

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
That's some good pandering right there!
Joe Middleclass: "Hey, I have CC debt! Obama cares!"
Mine have been paid off for a couple years now, too, and I also will never do that again.

There may be a fine line between pandering, and addressing an important issue.

Hey, look at those politicians pandering to the disaster victims, getting them food and help!

Obviously a liberal can not see a clear cut difference between the consequences of ones actions and the consequences of actions outside of ones control.

Then, to assume there was a distinction would be an admittance most social programs arent needed so obviously we have to keep logic and facts out of it.

 

[brandonb]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
while i agree that consumers themselves are to blame, credit card companies are evil. day late with your payment? charge a late fee and put your account in default, jacking your rate to 29%. max out your card? put your account in default, jack your rate to 29%, and when you pay off your balance by the due date cut your limit by 66%.

Why not look at the terms of the credit card? If someone can't handle it, then they shouldn't sign on the dotted line. If nobody signed on that dotted lines, the companies would have no choice but to change the terms and eliminate such greed from their terms. But nobody cares and reads the terms. Who's fault is that? Consumers or the company?

Edit - grammer.

 

[ProfJohn]

Why hasn't Senator Obama introduced a bill to deal with this problem?

He has been in office for four years, surely he has had time to come up with a solution...

This an example of why we haven't had a Washington 'insider' win the Presidency since Kennedy/Johnson.
They talk about all these problems, but when people ask why they haven't done a thing to solve them they have no answer.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: Craig234

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
That's some good pandering right there!
Joe Middleclass: "Hey, I have CC debt! Obama cares!"
Mine have been paid off for a couple years now, too, and I also will never do that again.

There may be a fine line between pandering, and addressing an important issue.

Hey, look at those politicians pandering to the disaster victims, getting them food and help!

And pandering to those women with breast cancer research!

And pandering to those returning GI's from WWII with the education and home assistance!

And those drivers by building those new roads!

There may be, but I think this is pandering. There are already credit consolidators that can provide people in these situations with a way out. I do think jacking up the interest rate because you were late on a payment on something else is kinda bogus, and I think the 29-33% max interest rate some of them charge is exorbitant.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: Specop 007

Originally posted by: Craig234

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
That's some good pandering right there!
Joe Middleclass: "Hey, I have CC debt! Obama cares!"
Mine have been paid off for a couple years now, too, and I also will never do that again.

There may be a fine line between pandering, and addressing an important issue.

Hey, look at those politicians pandering to the disaster victims, getting them food and help!

Obviously a liberal can not see a clear cut difference between the consequences of ones actions and the consequences of actions outside of ones control.

Then, to assume there was a distinction would be an admittance most social programs arent needed so obviously we have to keep logic and facts out of it.

Obviously a conservative doesn't care about anything but the bottom line. You know, since we're using partisan brands as insults to pointlessly to label our "enemies"

 

[Robor]

Originally posted by: brandonb

Originally posted by: ElFenix
while i agree that consumers themselves are to blame, credit card companies are evil. day late with your payment? charge a late fee and put your account in default, jacking your rate to 29%. max out your card? put your account in default, jack your rate to 29%, and when you pay off your balance by the due date cut your limit by 66%.

Why not look at the terms of the credit card? If someone can't handle it, then they shouldn't sign on the dotted line. If nobody signed on that dotted lines, the companies would have no choice but to change the terms and eliminate such greed from their terms. But nobody cares and reads the terms. Who's fault is that? Consumers or the company?

Edit - grammer.

Who really reads all the terms of these contracts? The credit card companies deliberately bury these 'details' in 10 pages of fine print. On top of that they change terms when they want and all they need to do is notify you - with 10 pages of details of course.

 

[Specop 007]

Originally posted by: brandonb

Originally posted by: ElFenix
while i agree that consumers themselves are to blame, credit card companies are evil. day late with your payment? charge a late fee and put your account in default, jacking your rate to 29%. max out your card? put your account in default, jack your rate to 29%, and when you pay off your balance by the due date cut your limit by 66%.

Why not look at the terms of the credit card? If someone can't handle it, then they shouldn't sign on the dotted line. If nobody signed on that dotted lines, the companies would have no choice but to change the terms and eliminate such greed from their terms. But nobody cares and reads the terms. Who's fault is that? Consumers or the company?

Edit - grammer.

Because the underlying principle of Democrats is the complete absolvement of personal responsiblity.

Its not YOUR fault you got pregnant, have some money.
Its not YOUR fault you robbed someone, have so probation
Its not YOUR fault you built ona flood plain, didnt have insurance and didnt leave when advised to for the past 2 weeks, have a trailer
Its not YOUR fault you raped and tortured someone, have aa psychiatrist assigned to you.
Its not YOUR fault you didnt budget or live within your means, let us get rid of your debt.

See a pattern? Not your fault. Do whatever you want. Life carefree and irresponsible, its not your fault.

 

[Specop 007]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: Specop 007

Originally posted by: Craig234

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
That's some good pandering right there!
Joe Middleclass: "Hey, I have CC debt! Obama cares!"
Mine have been paid off for a couple years now, too, and I also will never do that again.

There may be a fine line between pandering, and addressing an important issue.

Hey, look at those politicians pandering to the disaster victims, getting them food and help!

Obviously a liberal can not see a clear cut difference between the consequences of ones actions and the consequences of actions outside of ones control.

Then, to assume there was a distinction would be an admittance most social programs arent needed so obviously we have to keep logic and facts out of it.

Obviously a conservative doesn't care about anything but the bottom line. You know, since we're using partisan brands as insults to pointlessly to label our "enemies"

Huh. Well, the presidential candidate for the Dems seems to fit my description pretty well doesnt he? He wants to reward you for being a victim of a tornado, a hurricane.....or having a credit card.

If the shoe fits, wear it. Seems the generalization fits.

 

[Craig234]

Originally posted by: brandonb

Originally posted by: ElFenix
while i agree that consumers themselves are to blame, credit card companies are evil. day late with your payment? charge a late fee and put your account in default, jacking your rate to 29%. max out your card? put your account in default, jack your rate to 29%, and when you pay off your balance by the due date cut your limit by 66%.

Why not look at the terms of the credit card? If someone can't handle it, then they shouldn't sign on the dotted line. If nobody signed on that dotted lines, the companies would have no choice but to change the terms and eliminate such greed from their terms. But nobody cares and reads the terms. Who's fault is that? Consumers or the company?

Edit - grammer.

To be fair, the credit industry creates pressures on people even if they don't use credit.

When many are using large amounts of credit, your own lifestyle can decline as a result.

In some cases, such as houses, the more people are willing to take on large debt, the higher the prices go, and the less house you as a credit avoider can afford.

In other cases, it's simply that your 'lifestyle' is at a lower level than others around you with similar situations, something you can deal with, but nonetheless affecting you.

This is where it becomes important that at least some constraint be in place by lenders being accountable for the aggressive lending; they'll cause great harm if they can get 'bailed out' by the government for making highly profitable bad loans, but between the political donations they can afford with all that profit, and the cover line the politicians can use that it'll harm the economy not to bail them out, it can happen.

 

[Craig234]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: Craig234

Originally posted by: nakedfrog
That's some good pandering right there!
Joe Middleclass: "Hey, I have CC debt! Obama cares!"
Mine have been paid off for a couple years now, too, and I also will never do that again.

There may be a fine line between pandering, and addressing an important issue.

Hey, look at those politicians pandering to the disaster victims, getting them food and help!

And pandering to those women with breast cancer research!

And pandering to those returning GI's from WWII with the education and home assistance!

And those drivers by building those new roads!

There may be, but I think this is pandering. There are already credit consolidators that can provide people in these situations with a way out. I do think jacking up the interest rate because you were late on a payment on something else is kinda bogus, and I think the 29-33% max interest rate some of them charge is exorbitant.

The two are not mutually exclusive; and there is a unique government role in the issue apart from the credit counselors (is it true most of them are affiliated with creditors?)

 

[CPA]

Originally posted by: Robor

Originally posted by: brandonb

Originally posted by: ElFenix
while i agree that consumers themselves are to blame, credit card companies are evil. day late with your payment? charge a late fee and put your account in default, jacking your rate to 29%. max out your card? put your account in default, jack your rate to 29%, and when you pay off your balance by the due date cut your limit by 66%.

Why not look at the terms of the credit card? If someone can't handle it, then they shouldn't sign on the dotted line. If nobody signed on that dotted lines, the companies would have no choice but to change the terms and eliminate such greed from their terms. But nobody cares and reads the terms. Who's fault is that? Consumers or the company?

Edit - grammer.

Who really reads all the terms of these contracts? The credit card companies deliberately bury these 'details' in 10 pages of fine print. On top of that they change terms when they want and all they need to do is notify you - with 10 pages of details of course.

They are required to put them with the offering. have you ever flipped over the page of the offer? All the details are right there.

 

[Genx87]

Damn you McCain, this is all your fault!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lmao

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
while i agree that consumers themselves are to blame, credit card companies are evil. day late with your payment? charge a late fee and put your account in default, jacking your rate to 29%. max out your card? put your account in default, jack your rate to 29%, and when you pay off your balance by the due date cut your limit by 66%.

Well the most obvious course of action. Never be late with your payment

 

[Tab]

I totally agree with Obama.

Yes, it is not responsible to take out loans on stupid items such as furniture, tvs and fancy cars however the loan companies on the other hand have encouraged this behavior through deceptive marketing and questionable business practices.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: Specop 007
Because the underlying principle of Democrats is the complete absolvement of personal responsiblity.

Its not YOUR fault you got pregnant, have some money.
Its not YOUR fault you robbed someone, have so probation
Its not YOUR fault you built ona flood plain, didnt have insurance and didnt leave when advised to for the past 2 weeks, have a trailer
Its not YOUR fault you raped and tortured someone, have aa psychiatrist assigned to you.
Its not YOUR fault you didnt budget or live within your means, let us get rid of your debt.

See a pattern? Not your fault. Do whatever you want. Life carefree and irresponsible, its not your fault.

Do you hate society or something?

 

[lupi]

Originally posted by: brandonb

Originally posted by: ElFenix
while i agree that consumers themselves are to blame, credit card companies are evil. day late with your payment? charge a late fee and put your account in default, jacking your rate to 29%. max out your card? put your account in default, jack your rate to 29%, and when you pay off your balance by the due date cut your limit by 66%.

Why not look at the terms of the credit card? If someone can't handle it, then they shouldn't sign on the dotted line. If nobody signed on that dotted lines, the companies would have no choice but to change the terms and eliminate such greed from their terms. But nobody cares and reads the terms. Who's fault is that? Consumers or the company?

Edit - grammer.

There are some aspects, such as unspecified leeways where a CC company can jack your rate to what ever the hell they want to, they are rather slimy and should be eliminated.

Other than that, not sure what the hell he is trying to accomplish via this line of pandering.

 

[Specop 007]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: Specop 007
Because the underlying principle of Democrats is the complete absolvement of personal responsiblity.

Its not YOUR fault you got pregnant, have some money.
Its not YOUR fault you robbed someone, have so probation
Its not YOUR fault you built ona flood plain, didnt have insurance and didnt leave when advised to for the past 2 weeks, have a trailer
Its not YOUR fault you raped and tortured someone, have aa psychiatrist assigned to you.
Its not YOUR fault you didnt budget or live within your means, let us get rid of your debt.

See a pattern? Not your fault. Do whatever you want. Life carefree and irresponsible, its not your fault.

Do you hate society or something?

I hate the society we're trying to become.

 

[Craig234]

Originally posted by: CPA

Originally posted by: Robor

Originally posted by: brandonb

Originally posted by: ElFenix
while i agree that consumers themselves are to blame, credit card companies are evil. day late with your payment? charge a late fee and put your account in default, jacking your rate to 29%. max out your card? put your account in default, jack your rate to 29%, and when you pay off your balance by the due date cut your limit by 66%.

Why not look at the terms of the credit card? If someone can't handle it, then they shouldn't sign on the dotted line. If nobody signed on that dotted lines, the companies would have no choice but to change the terms and eliminate such greed from their terms. But nobody cares and reads the terms. Who's fault is that? Consumers or the company?

Edit - grammer.

Who really reads all the terms of these contracts? The credit card companies deliberately bury these 'details' in 10 pages of fine print. On top of that they change terms when they want and all they need to do is notify you - with 10 pages of details of course.

They are required to put them with the offering. have you ever flipped over the page of the offer? All the details are right there.

It's true, liberals passed laws making them disclose the terms pretty clearly.

 

[Jhhnn]

Meh. Perhaps the most egregious thing about the current credit situation is the concept of universal default. When a consumer is late in paying one creditor, they all get to pile on, raising interest rates to 30% or so...

Which is completely unreasonable, as are the parameters used to determine when and if a debtor is eligible to return to the original rate...

A variety of situations from divorce to illness to loss of employment can put otherwise responsible people in way over their heads wrt debt, none of which matter in the slightest to lenders who see kicking people when they're down as a business opportunity...

 

[Craig234]

Originally posted by: Jhhnn
Meh. Perhaps the most egregious thing about the current credit situation is the concept of universal default. When a consumer is late in paying one creditor, they all get to pile on, raising interest rates to 30% or so...

Which is completely unreasonable, as are the parameters used to determine when and if a debtor is eligible to return to the original rate...

A variety of situations from divorce to illness to loss of employment can put otherwise responsible people in way over their heads wrt debt, none of which matter in the slightest to lenders who see kicking people when they're down as a business opportunity...

That's bad, but at least they know going in the situation - I'm not sure it's not in second place to the giveaway bill for the lenders that greatly restricted bankruptcy protections.

As has been discussed, the majority of bankruptcies were caused by unexpected medical bills, so it's a bill to profit the lenders at the expense of some of the last people to target.