Credit card defaults soar.
By on Dec 24th, 2007 at 10:31 am
Credit card defaults soar.
“Americans are falling behind on their credit card payments at an alarming rate, sending delinquencies and defaults surging by double-digit percentages in the last year and prompting warnings of worse to come. … Experts say these signs of the deterioration of finances of many households are partly a byproduct of the subprime mortgage crisis and could spell more trouble ahead for an already sputtering economy.”
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My apologies for this post being “off topic” but take a look at this “new police tactic” happening right now in Green Bay and soon to be coming to a city, town, or village near you:
Police Begin Fingerprinting on Traffic Stops
Source: WBAY-TV Green Bay
If you’re ticketed by Green Bay police, you’ll get more than a fine. You’ll get fingerprinted, too. It’s a new way police are cracking down on crime.
“If you’re caught speeding or playing your music too loud, or other crimes for which you might receive a citation, Green Bay police officers will ask for your drivers license and your finger. You’ll be fingerprinted right there on the spot. The fingerprint appears right next to the amount of the fine.”
Naturally, Police say it’s meant to protect you! And by the way, if you think this outrageous behaviour by the police violates your constitutional rights, you’re probably right! BUT REMEMBER it’s the SUPREME COURT who would have to make the final decision – Does anyone really want to “Roll the Dice” with THIS Supreme Court?? Or better yet, with the Supreme Court or what’s left of it IF a Republican is our next President.
December 24th, 2007 at 10:37 amNo, rising heat/gas/electric prices can’t have ANYTHING to do with this, now can they?
Heh.
Once again, lamenting how expensive everything is today.
December 24th, 2007 at 10:38 amThats why I don’t have credit cards, just a “check card”.
December 24th, 2007 at 10:42 amI found out my ex had 10 credit cards in my name and they were maxed out, when we got divorced. Cards I didn’t even know existed.
Took me years to clean that freakin’ mess up.
To this day I decline all credit card offers.
Comment by ForeverDem — December 24, 2007 @ 10:37 am
I read that article this morning too.
December 24th, 2007 at 10:45 amSomeone needs to challenge them in court over that.
That is a violation of the 4th.
I’d say that the wheels are finally coming off the borrowed-time economy.
Thirty-five years ago, you could have a middle-class lifestyle on a single income.
Now, a household has to have an income and a half, pull equity out of the house, and run up credit card debts to keep up with the Joneses.
We’re seeing the combination of the deterioration of wages (caused by union-busting and bad trade policy), relentless consumerism, and a far too loose regulation on lending.
You can’t have prosperity based on looting – only based on making. But we’ve eviscerated our manufacturing sector, we’ve replaced sound demand-side economics with insane supply-side nonsense.
And it’s beginning to bite us on the ass.
December 24th, 2007 at 10:51 am#1 – when they ask for your finger, politely extend your middle finger and say, hey buddy, you’re #1!
December 24th, 2007 at 11:02 amExpect an increase in crime as the economy and US society collapses in the New Year.
Merry Christmas (I’m required to say that now)
December 24th, 2007 at 11:03 am“Experts say these signs of the deterioration of finances of many households are partly a byproduct of the subprime mortgage crisis and could spell more trouble ahead for an already sputtering economy.â€
Actually it is a sign of the cost of living skyrocketing, $3 gas, etc. The economy sucks right now, no matter what the Bush apologists claim.
December 24th, 2007 at 11:04 amYes, but don’t stop now shoppers, you’ve still got 16 hours left here out West to keep the economy from going down the tubes…..
sarc/off
December 24th, 2007 at 11:12 amSo much for the Middle Class which made this country once great!
December 24th, 2007 at 11:15 am5. I think you are exactly right. This has been happening for years now. to use a really bad analogy: its like a snow ball rolling down a mountain. At first its momentum is slow and its not a big deal, but after a while it get so much momentum that it can not be stopped.
December 24th, 2007 at 11:20 amTotal amount of money spent this year for Christmas: $250. Way under the average it seems. My thoughts? We’ll go to the grocery store, pick up a ham, some odds and ends to go with that ham, and candy and stuff for our stockings (family tradition type stuff). Round it out around $350. The rest has to be kept for bills. *sigh* Fortunately, Christmas isn’t about who gets the most Stuff ™…that makes it feel a bit better, that and being with my wife for the holidays.
December 24th, 2007 at 11:42 am“Experts say these signs of the deterioration of finances of many households are partly a byproduct of the subprime mortgage crisis and could spell more trouble ahead for an already sputtering economy.â€
- Maybe this is the consequence of usary. Credit Card companies are getting away with charging 27 and 29% interest rates driving up people’s debts and minumum payments. It might serve them right if across the country people with any card charging over a decent interest rate (10% or so) refused to pay until the rates are dropped and the portion of their balance due to interest reduced retroactively.
People are paying significantly less interest on their home loans than their credit cards.
December 24th, 2007 at 11:50 amAccording to war profiteer/criminal turkey idiot Bush “the economy is safe and sound!” What an idiot!
December 24th, 2007 at 11:55 amDumbest demographic in the world: middle class voting republican.
December 24th, 2007 at 12:19 pmNotice these days how everything “surges?”
December 24th, 2007 at 12:20 pmBut, but, Lord God George W. Bush said the ‘fundamentals of the US economy are ’shtrong’.
-GSD
December 24th, 2007 at 12:22 pmI think the time has come to take care of these greedy credit card companies, Tyler Durden-style!
“You’re not your job. You’re not how much money you have in the bank. You’re not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You’re not your f**king khakis.”
December 24th, 2007 at 12:35 pmAnd wait till the Xmas shopping overdrafts come due mid/end January. Wham.
December 24th, 2007 at 1:34 pmThis is a very bad sign. Most people want to pay their bills, contrary to what the wingnuts/trolls would have you believe. This sort of default rate is the true indicator of our economy.
December 24th, 2007 at 1:53 pmI’d say that the wheels are finally coming off the borrowed-time economy.
Comment by PeterW
******I’d say you are right on.Let’s see how the free marketers spin the coming doom.
December 24th, 2007 at 2:02 pmLet’s see how the free marketers spin the coming doom.
They’ll call it the Clinton Great Depression, and call for bigger tax cuts for the rich and corporations, and more taxpayer spending on military contractors.
Come on, that’s too easy.
December 24th, 2007 at 2:12 pmForeverDem,
The Police State can take your fingerprint in such circumstances. Heck, they can even use a digital camera, take your picture, front and side, and download it into their database from their cruiser. Actually, with the right equipment, they could scan and download your entire set of fingerprints into their database during the traffic stop. It won’t be long before they could run an automated search of the fingerprint database from the field.
Next up: DNA sampling from the field. I imagine they could end up doing this Constitutionally by running a comb though your hair to pick up strands of hair you have shed.
December 24th, 2007 at 2:17 pmThe only question for the final year of the Cheney-Bush economy will be recession or depression?
December 24th, 2007 at 2:35 pmArizona has been fingerprinting on routing traffic stops for a while now.
December 24th, 2007 at 4:18 pmWhile I might in fact be the first person to agree that this nation is sliding slowly into what you might term a ‘police state,’ I must take exception to both the article you cited and your conclusion.
The ‘taking’ of a single fingerprint does not constitute the equivalent of a full set of identifying prints. You are not under arrest when instructed to provide the confirming single print. This single print is not intended to be an investigate tool: it is, rather, intended to establish identity and an acknowledgment of the citation in a manner similar to that of providing a signature on a traffic citation—but, with far less opportunity to deny identity—should the issue arise later during a hearing before a court.
It is not significantly intrusive enough to violate the 4th Amendment to the Constitution, and is not inconsistent with widely practiced measures already in place in many jurisdictions. An officer can, in most cases, arrest an offender who refuses to sign a citation, or engages in other activity suggesting that an arrest is warranted. Your operation of a motor vehicle on a public roadway in almost all circumstances requires licensing, the consent to undergo various procedures to determine intoxication or fitness to drive, and a clear instruction to provide identification.
Don’t be paranoid about this issue. There are far more intrusive processes operating at the national level which seek to deny you your rights, and which are successfully doing so. If you do not consent to such reasonable procedures to secure identity while operating a motor vehicle and having been stopped for an offense, then I suggest that you simply don’t drive.
December 24th, 2007 at 4:23 pmThe house of cards is falling apart. The financial reporters present a rosey picture of what is happening. They continue to tout “core” inflation as being a tame 2.1% yet the actual inflation rate for the last 12 months is 4.6%. Employers then boast about how generous their 3% pay increases are. Well, the people are smarter than that as the polls show regarding questions about the economy. Today the economy is suffering from stagflation which is on the increase.
December 24th, 2007 at 7:42 pmYou know, MAYBE it’s all those 60 inch tv’s and cadillac escalades, and stereos, and stuff and stuff and stuff. Jeesh. Around the block from me, a house was built by “habitat for humanity” or something like that, the next week, instead of a beat up nissan, there were 2 brand new mercedes benz parked there. A year later, added a ford expedition. This year, they are having to sell, because the place and land given to them for free is being foreclosed on. While watching them move out, there were 4 tv’s, all plasma, and just tons and tons of stuff.
Now as for the people whining about the tax cuts.. do your homework. The amount of taxes paid by the rich went up 2% after the tax cuts went into effect. Middle and Lower class people also paid a much lower percentage of the total tax burden after the tax cuts.
December 24th, 2007 at 7:44 pm