We sure all love our plastic! In today’s fast paced society the ability to conduct transactions on instant credit has transformed the way we do business and how we make most purchases. Utility aside, it doesn’t give Visa, Master Card, and AMEX the right to make their own rules and rip off their clients.

There are a few things that credit card companies in the US can get away with, that they can’t get away with here in Canada, that just boggle the mind. How some of this has stayed under the radar this long, can only be answered by closely inspecting the palms of senators for signs of GREASE!

Example 1:

1) Your credit card may say 11.9% and when you make your purchase you are fully, and reasonably, expecting that the price of carrying that item until it’s paid off will be %11.9. But how wrong and silly you would be  in assuming that. Once the deadline to pay that purchase off expires, the credit card companies are free to raise their rates, to say 30%, on that balance, and they don’t even have to tell you. If fact, it’s nearly impossible to figure out exactly what interest rate you are actually being charged as the banks play with the rates depending on your credit score, your brand of toothpaste, and if you used clean socks this morning. For starters the US govn wants to impose a 45-day notice requirement, before jacking up someone’s rates.

The credit card companies’ defense is that they need to be able to price in risk accordingly. What a trully lame argument. You priced your credit risk when you evaluated the person’s credit at the time of application. Isn’t that what the application was process was supposed to be for? You are calculating your risk every time you increase a person’s credit, most times without being asked to do so. How does jacking up the rates on a consumer who was obviously unable to pay the purchase off, going to make it LESS risky? Dumb right?

Example 2:

2) If you made a $3′000 dollar purchase, and paid off $2′998 of those dollars off within the permitted period. Once the grace period expires, the credit card company can, and will, charge you interest on the entire $3′000, even if $2′998 of it was payed off from day one. This little secret applies to Canadian consumers as well, so be aware.

Example 3: This one is really criminal

3) Let’s say you bought something for $10′000, and had not finished paying it off. It has been a month now, and you went out and bought something else for $4′000. Once the grace period expires for the $10′000 dollar purchase Visa, Master Card, and AMEX, will jack up the rate you are paying for that purchase.

Let’s say it’s now two months later, and you still have both items on your credit card. The price of the $10′000 purchase has been increased to 30%, while the $4′000 is still at 12%. If you attempt to make make a $4′000 dollar payment, the credit card companies will channel the payment, at their discression, to the lowest interest bearing amount, so as to keep you paying 30% on $10′000, while you pay off your smaller debt at 12%.You can safely assume that anything else you put on that card, will be paid off before they let you pay a cent off the $10′000 that they are making such a killing on.

This sort of massaging of payments is in really bad faith, and keeps the higher interest on your credit for as long as possible.

There are more, but that’s a pretty good sampling of the more egregious ones. Lynch them all!

The Treasury Department has turned down Chrysler Financial’s most recent request for more financial aid. The impasse was the caps on executive compensation that the government wants imposed, to insure the company stays solvent long enough to pay the tax payer back. The latest installment would have added another $750 million, to the $1.5 billion already lent to Chrysler Financial. This is in addition to the $4 Billion lent to the Chrysler parent company.

It seems executive bonuses come first, maybe the exec can lend consumers the money to buy their cars. They expect union members to give up between $30-$40 in pay and benefits, but don’t want to set a good example with their own compensation. Lego my ego….I mean bonus.

 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517216,00.html

The Danes sailed onto our territory a few years ago and planted a flag on our soil. They obviously expected no fight.

The Russians sent a submarine (which we don’t have any of ourselves, not working ones) to the bottom of the ocean to plant a flag on territory that they claim as their own. Now Russia is creating an “Arctic Force” to establish a presence in the arctic which is an obvious attempt to add legitimacy to their claim, and is likely a prelude to more/expanded claims.

The French are just out of their friggin mind. They control two insignificant islands the size of rat turds with 6000 people on them, but they want to claim hundreds of square kilometers of open ocean as theirs. Interestingly, they use Canadian money, and get financial help from the Newfoundland Govt. I could have sworn that there is another region in Canada has always been a net burden to the rest of us, never stops bitching, and runs to France for help against the evil English. But I must be mistaken.

What brought about this change of heart you may ask? The new and “improved availability of electricity,” of course! Now, I know you’re getting excited, but there are a few “hot” items that won’t be available yet as the increasing fear of over-stimulating the cuban population is now a concern. In a country where the tempature never drops below 30 degrees, they’ve decided to hold off on the air-conditioners and instead allow the puchase of things to help add to the heat… how cruel. 24″ televisions, rice cookers and microwaves are among the top commodities that you’re everyday Cuban can own. Unfortunatley, the tortilla bread will have to remain moist and flacid. That’s right, the decision has been made… toasters will be restricted until 2010.