Credit Cards and such

There is so much out there on how terrible credit-card companies are, how they are basically scamming people out of so much money by creating fees and penalties that are suspect, sneaky, and downright tricky.

OK, I get it. I'm sick of it. People can keep bitching and complaining about how unfair it is. Or they can do something about it.

In this article about how credit-card companies refuse to change their ways (without fees, penalties, and obviously interest there would be no profit), there was a bit of sanity thrown in there:

"The costs people are concerned about, whether it's higher interest rates or fees for late payments, are within the control of the consumer," says Clayton of the bankers association. "They can avoid these fees and avoid interest rate increases. One of the challenges we have is getting across to people that this is a loan. If you pay it back, it doesn't cost you a cent."

Granted, that's a corporate-interest response, but it's still valid.

It is a loan. If you pay it back, it doesn't cost you a cent.

It always gets me thinking about the issue of taxes and Republicans—how so many people fear Big Government, how the government should stay out of "our" business as much as possible. Here is the thing: sometimes we need someone to save us from ourselves.

But people are stubborn and don't want to hear, and this kind of stuff will keep happening. If people only took the time to actually vote for leaders they can trust, then they could allow those same people to protect them from these kinds of problems. Things commonly filed under "saving us from ourselves."


OK that started in one place and ended up in a totally different one.