So Indebted To Debt

The economic situation that we’re experiencing in the United States won’t get much better any time soon. Just when Wall Street suggests we might soon hit bottom to the tumult, my notions put the economy high on the Richter scale of continued shaky financial ground.

Credit card debt is biting at the heels of stability of the banking industry with lenders writing off over $20B of unsecured consumer loans during the first six months of the year, with a strong likelihood that year-end figures of defaulted credit card debt will more than double. Credit card debt is the next ticking time bomb of financial doom.

I continue to get more offers for plastic than my wallet could possibly hold. I already have a number of cards that, if I were to carry all of them in my back pocket, they would give me a one-sided bubble-butt!

The banking industry has already done a good job to snag me into their web of irresponsible spending. Although I only carry one card at any given time, I typically only use it when absolutely necessary, using the debit card in most transactions; as I make entries into the checkbook, the balance shows me how seriously I must to do some penny-pinching.

On a recent timeout from the real life, I did some spending unbecoming of my pocketbook. From past experiences I've learned that there's little likelihood I'll revisit places I’ve been, although I did fall in love with the Black Hills with the mountains, rolling hills, canyons and the desert conditions of the Badlands. It may be another thirteen years before I visit other natural wonders in these United States. The Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and the Rocky Mountains are on my mind, just the other side of South Dakota. I can't disguise my yearning.

I splurged, within reason, by eating out every day and night, not willing to domesticate what was a time of freedom from everyday food preparations. I brought back a few souvenirs and momentos that I would never have the opportunity to cherish otherwise. Temporary housing was the major source of charges.

The bills are now due. The means of payment? They go on another credit card account, one that gives me a transaction fee of 3% and an "intoductory" interest rate of 0% through the billing period in July 2009. This was my “budgeting plan" for the trip. If I fail to make the minimum monthly payment or go over the credit limit, the default rate is over 25%. Depending on a person's credit score, the standard credit card company charges the prime lending rate plus 14% with the same aforementioned default rate. I’ve already made other charges toward auto and home insurance premiums. Property taxes will likely be next in line. It adds up quickly. And so do interest fees.

Keep in mind, if you believe you're doing the right thing by canceling a credit card, it's a negative effect on your credit score. Cut it up and feel empowered to negotiate with the lender a means to pay off the balance, if necessary. Consumer aren't meant to get too far ahead, just like indentured servants in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Just as payday loan sharks snag the workingman with exorbitant fees of 30%, so does the banking industry with rates not much less severe. The recent bailout of large financial institutions that's intended to ease borrowing between banks won’t help the little guy much toward meeting their monthly shortcomings of cash; those Big Government dollars are meant for businesses with that tricky trickle-down expectation.

Hopefully, the bailout success is just around the next bend and the unemployed will get back tens of thousands of jobs, again giving them a means to be consumers, who are the ultimate source for economic growth through spending, the very same source that will fund the bailout.

I was wrong earlier this year to believe oil futures would reach $200 per barrel by years’ end but who knew an alarm through financial markets would grind the wheels of transportation to a near halt? “The squeaky wheel gets the grease” but only if the driver pays attention to the warning signals. It didn’t happen, so the grease slick sent the economy slip-slidin’ away, now flat on its back. Where’s an honest chiropractic mechanic when you need one?

I’m not a financial swami, but more ongoing foreclosures and job losses will continue to lead people to max out their high-interest credit cards, declaring bankruptcy and leaving lenders in another round of what will be a further meltdown in this and world economies.

Hopefully, Election Day 2009 will bring leadership that will prompt changes in credit card interest rate lending practices that create too challenging an obstacle for consumers to pay off their debts. Consumers need a clean slate before they can give a real boost to the economy by, once again, using their credit cards. Indeed, it's a revolving door of credit debt.

The Buck Falls Right Here

When I first heard about JP Morgan Chasing the Bear, I immediately got goose bumps and had a sense of vertigo. I didn’t feel good at all. The implications have yet to be fully realized and I fear the worst is yet to come.

The United States and The New World Order may find America of lesser influence in globalization than anyone could have imagined. We don't have oil, we don't have the funds and we don't have jobs.

Americans are debt-ridden, as is the Federal Government, and neither has a means to overcome the mismanagement of funds. The world community is unlikely to have the means, nor the notion, to resolve what has occurred. Bush’s War watered down the dollar bill and political scandals and financial crooks during the Bush years won’t bring us much sympathy.

Most of the planet has anticipated the end of the Bush Regime but neither John McCain nor the Clinton/Obama outcome suggests strong economic policies. Each of these candidates has shown that they put their own self-interest and ego above considerate direction that America must take for the future. Of course, in the weeks and months to come, they’ll all be touting how their personal expertise will bring sunshine and rainbows back into everyone’s life.

Perhaps American politics could take another course whereby the candidates are actually candid about their means of achieving their intended goals. With whom will they entrust their legacy? Who will be the vice presidential choice? Who will be given the all-important post of Secretary of State? Why should it be a voter’s guessing game as to who might be given positions in the President’s Cabinet? Why not bring forward the intended Secretary of the Treasury and A Plan?
It’s impossible to foresee which Presidential candidate is best for America when promises aren't meant to be honored or when professed experience belies the resume of a career. Who of us wouldn’t feel a sense of security with a future leader if names and faces were placed on the game board of a new administration? As unlikely the prospect would be, a coalition of minds and philosophies could remove much of the guesswork of a doubtful voter.

The current economic turmoil with America’s financial institutions is highly unlikely to be resolved prior to Election Day. No one can predict with any certainty how Wall Street will react to the New Year and a new President. The best of hope will see the choice as decisive, not divisive. The Fed can print as much money as it will but there’s still going to be a debt to pay and the payees are we, the people. We have been grossly disrespected by the very institutions that have relied on our generosity to support their well-being by overextending our limits of economic credibility.

The Greening of America, as expressed by author Charles Reich in the early 70s, has brought about a monster whereby corporations have consistently prompted consumers to acquire all the materialistic rewards that “funny money” could buy. Big business has taken too many pieces of the pie, feeling secure that global employment wouldn’t leave us without a means to maintain ever-increasing credit limits.

The piggy bank is broken. Goodtime Charlie’s got the blues but you can’t put the full blame on the poor chump; he was taught reading, writing and arithmetic but, when it came to responsible financial planning, the teacher was daydreaming about a new pair of shoes, an electronic device or a road toy.

Employers aren’t especially effective in promoting healthy savings plans for its employees either. The truth is, it’s not their responsibility nor should it be but it’s a catch-22 when the hardworking schmuck must seek a financial adviser. His stubborn self-righteousness convinces him that it’s a waste of money because if it were an important facet of life, then it would have been taught in school.

This economic meltdown puts Social Security’s future further in doubt. Also, corporations will likely limit their coverage to employee healthcare. Hillary’s health plan is a mindset that will most likely speed that process along. The most basic of life’s needs are in jeopardy: security in personal health and finance.

So, Russia and China are the future’s major global players of influence and economic stability. Neither Barack, Hillary nor John can turn the wheel of fortune back in America’s favor within whoever’s Presidency lays before him/her.

The Fed’s printing press is busy but invisible ink won’t put the bucks back into American’s pockets.

The bad news? It’s not just the banks that are in trouble, it’s you and me and we.

The embarrassing news? If the goal of the terrorists is to bring the United States to economic ruin then we have become our own enemy and accomplished what they haven’t done themselves.

Let's not take too long of a recess

Stocks have fallen to their worst levels since October 2006.

Consumer debt is heading toward 3 trillion dollars.

Job losses are at their worst in five years.

The housing industry has burst.

Lending institutions are broke.

To top it off, inflation in China is nearly out of control and expected to worsen, which means much higher prices on all those comfort goodies American consumers just gotta have.

It’s really bad when consumer confidence is as low as their savings account balances because the earnings on those accounts aren’t worth the interest. It’s a poor philosophy, but “spend it while you got it” can keep you going until you end up in financial ruin. In time, it may be the reality of many Americans.

And yet The Bush Boy has expectations that he can stimulate American buying power with a few bucks down the road when, in reality, he may suspect the middle class will use their credit cards now and then. It’s that typical mentality that says “I’ll get the check in time to pay off what I just charged.” The problem with that reasoning: it probably will become a truth in spending.

When a society is conditioned to spend now and spend later with the notion that being in debt is an acceptable behavior then, guess what?, they’re gonna do just that. This time around a family has little choice but to follow in those same habits just to make ends meet.

Time and time again economists and smart fellows are adamant that a recession is avoidable, as if it hasn’t already arrived to those homeowners who have received foreclosure notices. Careful, economic prophets, don’t let those stalagmites of financial discontent creep up your pantaloons – they are growing upward at a pace representative of the increase in consumer indebtedness.

Careful now, if the populous finds its buying power takes a recess for too long a period of time, consumers may become upset and, eventually, economically depressed.