Correctamundo!. Deficit spending is just another form of "print-money inflation".. But they've gotten away with it for decades because average Joe citizen doesn't grasp the consequences..
You want to see how really fucked up some people are? Go to http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showforum=2 You have people on there that have literally (NO BS) 40 (that's right FORTY+) credit cards. And you thought there were psycho's on ET! stock_trader3 looks normal compared to these folks. Credit is a hobby to them. They want to get higher and higher credit lines and more and more credit cards. I don't have a PHD in Psychology but it seems to me these folks suffer from very low self esteem and getting Platinum cards with high credit lines makes them happy. Really sick stuff. These are the folks that have defaulted on everything and now try and finagle a way out of paying their debts. They must be in euphoria with all the foreclosure help and now credit card help. DEADBEATS.
Maybe I missed it. Where does the article say the group is asking for the government to provide actual funding and 'bail' out consumer credit card debt with tax dollars?
Bar Stool Economics Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this: The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing. The fifth would pay $1. The sixth would pay $3. The seventh would pay $7. The eighth would pay $12. The ninth would pay $18. The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59. So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one! day, t h e owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers, he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes, so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so: The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings) The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings). The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savin! gs). T he eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings). The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings). The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings). Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant the men began to compare their savings. 'I only got a dollar out of the $20,'declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,' but he got $10!' 'Yeah, that's right,' exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!' 'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!' 'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!' The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and ! had bee rs without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill! And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier. David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D. Professor of Economics, University of Georgia
"Your revolution is over, Mr. Lebowski. Condolences. The bums lost. My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir. The bums will always lose. Do you hear me, Lebowski?" [the Dude walks out and shuts the door] "The Big Lebowski: The bums will always lose! " ----- I guess the Big Lebowski had it wrong. The bums do win.
You might be right. Perhaps we eager ETers inferred that the Gummint would be paying the CCCs to allow them to forgive 40% of their customers' balances... that might not be the case.
As BLSH said, I think you have to read between the lines. Maybe I'm just bailout sensitive, but it sure does sound like the beginnings of a bailout to me.
I detest that credit card industry. All those organizations that advertise that they can help you negotiate with the lenders are funded by the credit card industry!! You can have a messed up bank like I did making automatic payments consistently late and before you know it you are over 30% in interest!! And I do mean before you know it, nobody informed me and I don't read every line of the statements or my telephone bill for that matter. Government help for that industry is a sick idea. The whole thing is a mess including the credit reporting agencies, they won't comply with Federal laws to help the consumer protect themselves against identity theft so we have to spend $100 a year with lifelock to force compliance... I defaulted on a lot of debt a few years ago.. I just looked at the whole thing and decided to tell them all to shove it and try to collect. I was surprised how little they were actually able to get too....
Bailout of sorts...the CC companies essentially can also become like the debt negotiation companies as well. Get the money already to ease off the balance sheets, then try to get a negotiation from the consumer before writing off the bad debt....thus still making even more money.