Since I am not an economist, all this talk about bailing out companies that screw the American people on a daily basis is very confusing to me. For some reason I just can't comprehend how giving money to companies that have overcharged us for years and are now suffering from their greed is going to help "fix" the economy. I'm talking about the oil companies, the utility companies, the American auto makers, the insurance industry, and the banks and finance companies just to name a few. I really take offense to the government officials and the media blaming the American citizens for the cause of this problem when these companies have been taking advantage of us with the government's blessings for years.
Most people don't know they are being taken advantage of because if they can afford to pay higher prices, they don't worry about the value they are getting for their money. They also either don't care or realize that they are making it more difficult for those trying to make a living on incomes below $50,000 a year. Think of it like this: if I had a million dollars, $50,000 is the equivalent of a nickle to a dollar. Now keep this figure in mind as we explore this problem. Let's apply this figure to the auto industry. With the growing number of millionaires through sports, music, and other means, it is nothing for them to walk into a car dealership and drop $50,000 on a new car. I walked into a dealership earlier this year and told the salesman I was looking for a "used" car that I could make payments of no more than $200 a month. He said we don't sell bicycles here. In other words, car dealerships could afford to laugh at the person making an average income because they knew they would catch the rich suckers and overcharge them and make a huge profit off of a couple of sales a day. Now they want the public to bail them out so they can continue taking advantage of the rich.
The insurance industry piggybacks off the auto industry because the law says you have to have insurance, therefore they can charge you what they want or you risk fines and jail time for not having it. Let your payment be late, you will be charged reinstatement fees and a higher rate for discontinued service. They will also cancel you for no reason in order to raise your rates. Some companies are allowed to raise your rates even if you haven't had any accidents or tickets since they have been covering you. How can you raise someones insurance if they haven't had any incidents and the value of their vehicle is steadily decreasing? Well it's because the government allows it. The gasoline companies took advantage of having oil men in office that allowed them to do whatever they felt like with gas prices. Create false shortages based on natural disasters and raise prices. It's holiday or summer vacation time, let's raise prices.
Banks and finance companies have been charging high interest rates for years based on what the government sets as the prime lending rate. I can remember when the interest on your savings account was higher than the interest rate on your loan. We even earned interest on checking accounts, just slightly lower than the rate on our savings. These institutions have found ways to punish you for having credit. It is almost impossible to keep your credit rating intact these days. Just watch the infomercial on "Debt Cures They Don't Want You To Know." Although I don't recommend the book for curing any debt problems, it gives a detailed message as to how the financial institutions work together to bring own your credit score. Why? Because the lower your credit score, the higher the interest rate they can charge you. Most of you know that every time you apply for credit, your score is lowered, but how many of you knew that every time you cancel a credit card, even if there is no balance due, you take a hit? There are all types of little hits designed into the system to bring your credit score down even if you've never missed a payment. For example, if you have a $1000 credit limit and you have charged $750 worth of merchandise and you make the minimum payment every month, your score is going to take hits for having a high balance and for slow pay, even though you are paying the minimum amount each month.
These are just a few examples of how these companies have been taking advantage of the American public for years because the government allows it. But all of this ripping off the poor has finally caught up with them. In the afore mentioned book, it tells how charging over 20% in interest rates is akin to loan sharking, yet credit companies regularly charge between 20-25% if you miss a payment, or they hold back your payment in order to accrue late charges and raise your interest rate. You may sign up for a 6% rate but be a day late and watch that rate jump to over 20%. People cannot afford to pay their bills due to all of these hidden increaes raising their payments from the original agreement. Now your credit score can affect your ability to obtain work. Can you believe that? If you have a low credit score, you may not be hired by a lot of companies. So you can't even get work to pay your bills, you can't even get work so you can be garnisheed! So they have created a situation where they can't get paid back because they were trying so hard to make it hard for you to pay in the first place.
The government wants to bail out the companies that have been ripping us off and still leave us in debt. As we have seen, when AIG got their money the executives went to a luxury resort within a few days. When the auto makers appeared in front of congress asking for money, they flew in on private jets, and when asked if they were willing to fly back on commercial airlines, no one responded with a yes. They want us to give them more money so they can continue to rip us off, and the government thinks this is a good idea. Well I've got a better idea.
Let's take that $700 billion and divide it by $25,000. That comes out to 28 million families that can use that money to get out of debt. The economy will be stabilized and everyone will be happy. Quit giving us these little ass teaser checks that wont even pay a months rent. Remember I said families, not people, should get the $25,000. They can pay off their debt and still have money to make new purchases. These families cannot make more than $100,000 a year, therefore their debt shouldn't be over the $25,000 level, excluding what is owed on a car and house. The average person in the lower income range doesn't have that much debt because they can't get that much credit, so let's bail them out and let them bail their creditors out that way. You would have to apply for the relief money the same way you would apply for a loan, by providing proof of your debt. If you think 28 million families is a lot, consider the fact that about 125 million people voted in the presidential election, not families, people. If necessary, just add more money to the bailout, if you can do it for companies and war, you can do it for the American people. What's a trillion dollars anyway?
Most people don't know they are being taken advantage of because if they can afford to pay higher prices, they don't worry about the value they are getting for their money. They also either don't care or realize that they are making it more difficult for those trying to make a living on incomes below $50,000 a year. Think of it like this: if I had a million dollars, $50,000 is the equivalent of a nickle to a dollar. Now keep this figure in mind as we explore this problem. Let's apply this figure to the auto industry. With the growing number of millionaires through sports, music, and other means, it is nothing for them to walk into a car dealership and drop $50,000 on a new car. I walked into a dealership earlier this year and told the salesman I was looking for a "used" car that I could make payments of no more than $200 a month. He said we don't sell bicycles here. In other words, car dealerships could afford to laugh at the person making an average income because they knew they would catch the rich suckers and overcharge them and make a huge profit off of a couple of sales a day. Now they want the public to bail them out so they can continue taking advantage of the rich.
The insurance industry piggybacks off the auto industry because the law says you have to have insurance, therefore they can charge you what they want or you risk fines and jail time for not having it. Let your payment be late, you will be charged reinstatement fees and a higher rate for discontinued service. They will also cancel you for no reason in order to raise your rates. Some companies are allowed to raise your rates even if you haven't had any accidents or tickets since they have been covering you. How can you raise someones insurance if they haven't had any incidents and the value of their vehicle is steadily decreasing? Well it's because the government allows it. The gasoline companies took advantage of having oil men in office that allowed them to do whatever they felt like with gas prices. Create false shortages based on natural disasters and raise prices. It's holiday or summer vacation time, let's raise prices.
Banks and finance companies have been charging high interest rates for years based on what the government sets as the prime lending rate. I can remember when the interest on your savings account was higher than the interest rate on your loan. We even earned interest on checking accounts, just slightly lower than the rate on our savings. These institutions have found ways to punish you for having credit. It is almost impossible to keep your credit rating intact these days. Just watch the infomercial on "Debt Cures They Don't Want You To Know." Although I don't recommend the book for curing any debt problems, it gives a detailed message as to how the financial institutions work together to bring own your credit score. Why? Because the lower your credit score, the higher the interest rate they can charge you. Most of you know that every time you apply for credit, your score is lowered, but how many of you knew that every time you cancel a credit card, even if there is no balance due, you take a hit? There are all types of little hits designed into the system to bring your credit score down even if you've never missed a payment. For example, if you have a $1000 credit limit and you have charged $750 worth of merchandise and you make the minimum payment every month, your score is going to take hits for having a high balance and for slow pay, even though you are paying the minimum amount each month.
These are just a few examples of how these companies have been taking advantage of the American public for years because the government allows it. But all of this ripping off the poor has finally caught up with them. In the afore mentioned book, it tells how charging over 20% in interest rates is akin to loan sharking, yet credit companies regularly charge between 20-25% if you miss a payment, or they hold back your payment in order to accrue late charges and raise your interest rate. You may sign up for a 6% rate but be a day late and watch that rate jump to over 20%. People cannot afford to pay their bills due to all of these hidden increaes raising their payments from the original agreement. Now your credit score can affect your ability to obtain work. Can you believe that? If you have a low credit score, you may not be hired by a lot of companies. So you can't even get work to pay your bills, you can't even get work so you can be garnisheed! So they have created a situation where they can't get paid back because they were trying so hard to make it hard for you to pay in the first place.
The government wants to bail out the companies that have been ripping us off and still leave us in debt. As we have seen, when AIG got their money the executives went to a luxury resort within a few days. When the auto makers appeared in front of congress asking for money, they flew in on private jets, and when asked if they were willing to fly back on commercial airlines, no one responded with a yes. They want us to give them more money so they can continue to rip us off, and the government thinks this is a good idea. Well I've got a better idea.
Let's take that $700 billion and divide it by $25,000. That comes out to 28 million families that can use that money to get out of debt. The economy will be stabilized and everyone will be happy. Quit giving us these little ass teaser checks that wont even pay a months rent. Remember I said families, not people, should get the $25,000. They can pay off their debt and still have money to make new purchases. These families cannot make more than $100,000 a year, therefore their debt shouldn't be over the $25,000 level, excluding what is owed on a car and house. The average person in the lower income range doesn't have that much debt because they can't get that much credit, so let's bail them out and let them bail their creditors out that way. You would have to apply for the relief money the same way you would apply for a loan, by providing proof of your debt. If you think 28 million families is a lot, consider the fact that about 125 million people voted in the presidential election, not families, people. If necessary, just add more money to the bailout, if you can do it for companies and war, you can do it for the American people. What's a trillion dollars anyway?
