Howard's Views

by Howard E. Morseburg

FINANCIAL GRAVE DIGGERS: VISA & MASTERCARD COOPERATING WITH PREDATORY LENDERS

April 18, 2003: "The Economy stinks. Some blame the Administration, some blame the Federal Reserve, and others blame the war. " A greater portion of the problem, if not 90% of it, can be placed solidly in the realm of the Credit/Charge Card Cartel than any of the above. They've not only sold the consumer/card-holders on debt and taken extreme advantage of them, but they've also given the retail business owners the Royal Shaft at the same time.  They're part and parcel of an industry without a conscience, the spotted-hyenas of the business world, and they're brought a once proud vocation down to the level of a street walker.  Revolving debt continues to climb by a couple of hundred millions a year in the U.S. Older folks are going deeper and deeper into debt, while bankruptcies in the "over fifty" group rose from 180,000 in the year 2001 to more than 450,000 in 2003. If that doesn't give you a good indication of what is going on in our nation, then you simply aren't paying attention, my friends.  Yet, Congress fails to pay attention and they are more interested in making laws that favor the banking industry than those which will give some protection to the average citizen.  They ignore the real problems with America's financial future.  The main problem has been the same for years now, debt.  It is the ever increasing personal debt, the selling by the banking industry to the public of debt as favorable and good for the economy rather than the worst thing that can happen to America. We all need to give this serious thought and realize what is happening to us before it is too late. No longer can debtors wipe the slate clean by filing for bankruptcy, as they once could do.  Now it is a more expensive and extensive process, and the creditors have many new advantages. We can thank Senator Grassley for that, while wondering what inspired him to work so hard for ten years to betray his constituents for the sole benefit of the North Dakota's banking industry, for the multi-billion dollar banks, the monoliths of power more awesome than that of any nation.  To the common people of Iowa, to the ordinary people, to the voters who put him in office and continued to elect him to office he might be compared to Aaron Burr.

RE-FINANCING YOUR HOME The fastest growing segment of the Loan Industry today is in re-financing your home, and the main selling point they use is to "pay off your high-interest credit card debt.  In other words, it is an established fact that the Credit Card Cartel, which includes both Visa and MasterCard, has shamelessly and greedily driven millions of Americans hopelessly into debt, but this debt is in "unsecured loans".  Now the industry savors the taste of more profits and induces these debtors to re-finance their homes and pay off this huge cial burden, knowing full well that many of these very same people will use these now clear cards to run up additional debt and end up back in the very same position they were originally.  But, they've secured their money and the new scheme is to have them even refinance a second time, and thus the family homes, the only security that many of America's debtors have, and when once again they become enmeshed in credit-card debt, to take over the home.  They're not worried about how many people they make homeless, just that they get their money back. The scheming bankers wish to entrap the unwary, the unsophisticated, the mentally slow, the young and the elderly, and it never stops. They continue with their predatory ways, and they're continually looking for new victims, the virtual enslavement of large groups of people their continual goal.  The credit card cartel cannot continue to grow without plundering this market, and time will show this to be true. There is no other way to describe it, to bring it to the public's attention and to bring the legal community into the fray without this extensive use of hyperbole.  Call if amateurish, call it laughable, if you will, but any investigation will reveal the truth of each statement I have made on this website.

ALWAYS BE WARY If your mailbox has been filled on a daily basis with offers from banks that issue Visa and MasterCard accounts, as mine has, even a cursory examination should have revealed the truth...that most of it is deceitful, misleading, confusing, even outright lying.  The legal terminology frustrates even college professors, a giant plot to ensnare the unwary, mislead the naive, and cheat as many millions of cardholders as they can.    Read the small pamphlets they send you, and you'll find that everyone of them is filled with deliberate misinformation couched in terms that make it difficult for even trained lawyers to understand just what they are getting into. The use of fine print is an art form today and designed to make it most difficult to read.  It is all apparently sanctioned and blessed by the two largest franchise operators, Visa and MasterCard. It may not be illegal, but in the opinions of many, it is unsavory. They have a staff professional Grave-diggers and they're digging your financial grave; their intent is to bury you deep in debt.  It is managed by Morticians, and they're fully prepared to embalm your bank account, your savings, your security. The bosses are autopsy experts, ready to use their surgical skills to perform an reserves, and amputate them from your body.. At one time they concentrated on the more affluent members of society, but then they discovered that the middle class was actually a more profitable target. Still later they realized that the less affluent were an even better target, and so they descended to the level of the street thugs and began robbing the poor of their meager weekly wages.  Never mind the chauffeur driven Mercedes or the Cadillac limo with a bank logo that pulls up to the curb, there's nothing but a bum in the backseat.  It's his instincts and actions that mark him, not the clothes or the flashy diamond rings. We used to call them the Suede Shoe boys (selling siding), but these guys wear sharkskin shoes, and have wallets made of rhinoceros hide. They mail offers to the low income  earners, the poorest among us, knowing full well they will surely cause most of them financial agony with higher interest rates, stiff late charges, over-limit fees, etc. They split up families by burying them in overwhelming debt. Capital One is certainly in that category of Financial Grave Diggers. [an error occurred while processing this directive]Copyright © 2006 Howard's Views. All Rights Reserved. Check out the Video below for more Information Click here:  http://www.howardsviews.com/index.html

Frontline Video Report on the Credit Card Industry