Read between the lines of this article. This is not about 'debt forgiveness,' as the casual reader might probably assume. This is about more 'bailing out.' The Great Credit Card Bailout Push of 2008 Has Begun. Why Not? Everyone Else Is Getting 'Some.' Give tax dollars to everyone and anyone. Print, Baby, Print!!! http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/29/news/economy/creditcard_bailout.ap/index.htm?postversion=2008102921 Groups seek credit card debt forgiveness Consumers are defaulting at high levels on their credit cards, they contend, while banks bleed tens of billions in red ink from the losses. October 29, 2008: 9:47 PM ET WASHINGTON (AP) -- An alliance of financial industry interests and consumer advocates on Wednesday asked federal regulators to allow lenders to reduce by as much as 40 percent the amount of credit card debt owed by deeply indebted consumers in a special program. As the economic crisis has deepened and consumers increasingly are defaulting on their credit card debts, write-offs on the loans have mounted for banks and other lenders. The unusual joint request from the Financial Services Roundtable and the Consumer Federation of America highlighted the urgency of the situation: consumers - even those with strong credit records - defaulting at high levels on their credit cards, while banks battered by the credit crisis bleed tens of billions in red ink from the losses. "In this case we have a clear common interest," Travis Plunkett, legislative director for Consumer Federation, said in a telephone interview. Record debt The request came in a letter to U.S. Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan, whose Treasury Department agency oversees national banks. The groups asked him to approve a pilot project allowing major credit card companies to sharply reduce the amounts owed by heavily indebted consumers who don't qualify for the repayment plans that are currently available. "This proposal would make it financially feasible for credit card lenders to provide immediate financial assistance to American consumers who are carrying record levels of debt," the two groups said in a release. Nearly all the biggest credit card banks have agreed to a temporary pilot program in which lenders would forgive as much as 40 percent of the amount consumers owe, allowing them to pay back the remainder over time, they said. The amount of debt to be forgiven would be determined case by case, depending on the borrower's financial condition; those receiving close to the maximum forgiveness level would be nearing a personal bankruptcy filing. Current government rules don't allow lenders to offer repayment plans that reduce the amount of principal owed and borrowers to repay the balance over a period of several years. In cases where the principal can be reduced, under credit card settlements, borrowers normally are required to pay off the remainder over months rather than years. Robert Garsson, a spokesman for Dugan, said the agency's staff hadn't yet seen the letter and declined to comment on it. "The most important thing right now is to strike a balance between the lender and the consumer," Steve Bartlett, president and chief executive of the Roundtable, which represents more than 100 large banks, brokerage firms and insurance companies, said in a statement. "We are asking the (comptroller's office) to provide guidance to lenders that will in turn offer relief and stability to consumers." Five big financial companies - Discover Financial Services LLC (DFS), Bank of America Corp. (BAC, Fortune 500), Citigroup Inc., (C, Fortune 500) JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM, Fortune 500) and Capital One Financial Corp. (COF, Fortune 500) - issue around 80 percent of all U.S. credit cards. Americans now are weighed down by around $900 billion in credit card debt, according to Federal Reserve figures.
If my tax dollars go toward CC companies or their customers, I'm moving to another country. Once again, penalize the people making sound financial decisions and bailout the fuck-ups.
WARNING!!! ABSOLUTE STATEMENT AHEAD!!! THOSE OFFENDED BY SWEEPING GENERALIZATIONS SHOULD SKIP THIS POST!!! Anyone who fails to see, in the 'bailout' matrix, the design of the wealthy to make them wealthier on the backs on taxpayers, needs to stop trading, get a sheeple job and never complain about paying taxes ever again.
Anyone with a semblance of intellect should immediately seize on the true meaning of the very first paragraph of the article: "An alliance of financial industry interests and consumer advocates on Wednesday asked federal regulators to allow lenders to reduce by as much as 40 percent the amount of credit card debt owed by deeply indebted consumers in a special program. Come on. What's another 360 billion (40% of 900 Billion) in the grand scheme of things? Oh yes!
Well, it IS better to get a check from taxpayers than to write-down bad debts... If you're the CC company, of course. The CCC's should ABSOLUTELY NOT get bailout money... they charge usurious interest rates to offset non-collectibles. They want taxpayer money TOO?? What gall!! This COULD be another Socialist hand-out. Relieve CC customers of their balances and free-up their credit limits so they could go charging all over again. This would be supportive to the economy.
I don't know how much more I can take of this kind of shit. Punish the competent. Reward the foolish/greedy.
Hey look... all the Gummint needs to do is "print about $300 TRILLION and send every citizen $1,000,000"... then we could all settle our debts and go right on spending*. Sound like a plan? * This is the "high on meth" version of NOBama's "spread the wealth around"... in case you didn't recognize it.
#%@^ them. Credit cards that let losers run up a huge balance not only should have to eat that loss, but maye they should be fined in addition! Certainly they do not deserve a #@^ #@^% bailout! But I guess that's the wave of the future for us. Reward those who #@&^ up and punish those who do well. "From each according to his ability to each according to his need." "Spread the wealth." "Let them eat cake." FETE.