Credit Card Companies Lobbying with taxpayer money.

I love it. Barack Obama is proposing to cap the interest percentage that credit card companies can charge. Almost ever state has implemented a cap on this predatory lending practice of getting people to sign up for a low-interest credit card, only to later find themselves being charged 30-40% interest on their Credit Card. The consumer signs up for the card under a 10-15% interest rate and given the 4 page contract of words that require a magnifying glass to read, which somewhere states that at any point in time their percentage is variable and the % rate could change, and in most cases, does, then consumers end up paying a credit card minimum balance for years and years.

When the states began to cap this interest, what do the Credit card companies do? They move their offices to a state that doesn’t cap, which then, allows them to continue charging these mafia-like % rates to get consumers stuck with this debt and they forever make their money.

Now Barack is working to cap their interest rates, and what do corporations like Citibank do? They begin their lobbying tactics…ahhh…the wonders of corporate lobbying. Always seeming to be able to buy someone off with their billions of dollars they spend each year just to lobby. The worse part about this now, is that we have given them bailout money to keep them from going under…oh hail to corporate welfare..

So lets break this down. We give a corporation tax-payer money so they can turn around and lobby our congress to fuck us some more. That’s wonderful. We are getting fucked with our own money. Good Job guys…well played out.

I understand a lot of people are going to say..”well they signed the contract.” Or “They can charge what they want because it was their money that they loaned to you.” These are the talking points of the right, but the fact remains the same. It isn’t right for a company to treat it’s customers in this fashion. “Borrow money from me, and I’ll get you stuck in a rut so long that your grandchildren will be paying it back.” This is what they want.

I know of lots of people that are close to being maxed out…miss a payment by ONE day, and get charged 75$+ in late fees and THEN they get charged sometimes 200$ in over-charge fees BECAUSE of the late fee. Wow…that’s completely ridiculous. one day and you have to pay almost 300 dollars for that money just to get back to where you were the day before. That’s insane, and one of the reasons this country is in the shape it’s in today.

Granted. I think people rely on credit waaaay too much, and people should stop borrowing money all together. If you don’t have the money for something, then DON’T FUCKING BUY IT. I do not put all of the fault on the banks. Some of the blame lies with the consumer trying to “keep up with the jones’” That being said, I still do not believe it’s right for a company to do that to their customers.

I dunno..what do you think?

Published in:  on April 24, 2009 at 1:19 am Comments (1)
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Not going to prosecute those who tortured?!?

Obama announced the other day that he has released the memo’s regarding the torture that took place in our prisons. We all know the song and dance, I don’t think I need to delve too far in to that.

He announced that

“In releasing these memos, it is our intention to assure those who carried out their duties relying in good faith upon legal advice from the Department of Justice that they will not be subject to prosecution,”

um…so we are going to use Nixons excuse? I’m the president..therefore it is not illegal? If a lawyer tells me I can run a red light, and I do so…could I now use this as an excuse to not be prosecuted for running this stop light? I think not. This is a horrible precedent to be set. The people torturing knew what they were doing was wrong. It is absolutely against the law, and here is the law:

LEGAL STANDARDS APPLICABLE UNDER 18 U.S.C. §§ 2340-2340A

This opinion interprets the federal criminal prohibition against torture codified at 18 U.S.C. §§ 2340-2340A. It supersedes in its entirety the August 1, 2002 opinion of this Office entitled Standards of Conduct under 18 U.S.C. §§ 2340-2340A.

That statute prohibits conduct “specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering.” This opinion concludes that “severe” pain under the statute is not limited to “excruciating or agonizing” pain or pain “equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily functions, or even death.”

The statute also prohibits certain conduct specifically intended to cause “severe physical suffering” distinct from “severe physical pain.”

Now if you wish to read the actual law on this. Here is the link:Law against torture This comes straight from the dept. of justice website so it is accurate and it is valid, the law in that link I provided goes in to great detail on what constitutes torture.

All the facts out of the way. We can not allow anyone to get in the way of justice. Every single person involved in the horrendous acts committed during the Bush Administration or ANY administration for that matter should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. As the courts always say…ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law. The only way that we can keep people from doing this in the future is to prosecute those that took part in it, either directly or indirectly. If they knew about it and did nothing they should be prosecuted as an accomplice to a crime. This is the way it works. No if’s, and’s or but’s about it.

Also, in addition to all of those prosecutions taking place, we then need to prosecute Barack Obama for Obstruction of Justice for trying to keep the course of law from taking place. I am dead serious about that. I appreciate what he is trying to do, but there is no high road to take when it comes to these horrendous acts perpetrated by this country.

These things can not be taken lightly. This country is better than this and we should act as though we are. We would no more like our men in uniform to have to go through these types of “interrogation techniques”, than the family members of those that we tortured and even killed. There have been a few cases in which prisoners were actually tortured to death at our prisons. This is not ok, and I firmly believe at this point that Barack Obama is committing a crime right along with everyone else and should be investigated and put to trial for this complete obliteration of this nations laws and moral standing.

This is something that should outrage anyone. If not…ask yourselves these questions. Would you like it if your children were hanged upside down until their legs turned black from lack of blood? Would you like it if your children were forced in to a box of scorpions and biting ants, and you had to be nearby and hear them screaming in agony? It happened..read the memo. you can find the pdf files on this page {Torture Memos}. Would you like your children to be drowned? That is what waterboarding is, only it is stopped before death occurs and then they do it again.

If you answered yes to these questions, then you should call for the investigation and prosecution of all individuals involved, especially those that gave the orders, which include George Bush, Dick Cheney, Alberto Gonzales, just to name the most known names.

If you are as outraged as me by this, then please…send a letter and call all representatives. If you don’t know who it is GO HERE

I have laid this out as factually based as I possibly can. I have done all the research for you..it is what I enjoy doing, so please don’t let my work be in vain. Contact ALL of them..not just your own. Tell them how pissed you are..let them know. If you don’t say anything..they’ll never know..

Until next time, Okie.

Published in:  on April 21, 2009 at 3:43 pm Comments (8)
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Hugo Handshake

The right is starting to throw fits because Barack Obama shook hands with the Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chavez. They are calling Hugo “Anti-American”, which simply is not true. Hugo was anti-Bush, and with very good reason.

For example, you have a kid at school that goes around bullying everyone that is smaller than him, and beating up on those that dislike him for this reason. Someone hits the bully in the face, so the bully pulls out a gun and shoots him. Then on the other hand you have a guy that gets along with everyone. Always has a smile on his face and talks to people about disagreements rather than “throwing bones”(as they say). Which guy is going to get more respect and which guy is going to get the most out of everyone. The one that tries to force agenda’s or the one that tries to negotiate them? I don’t think I have to answer that for you.

This is the simple fact. Barack is restoring dignity to this country. If this is the only thing that he does during his whole presidency, then his presidency could be considered fairly successful.

In my opinion, the right dislikes the ideal of getting along with other countries that may have ideological differences but essentially wish the same, because they can use those leaders as a “boogey-man”, which allows the disintegration of our constitutional rights, and rights as human beings on this planet. We don’t need any more boogey men…we need peace, and that is what negotiations can bring if done correctly, and in my personal opinion, that is exactly what Obama is doing.

Published in:  on at 2:15 am Leave a Comment
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