Abu Greed: How Reagan-Bush Created A Debtor’s Prison Without Walls

[Purveyor]

In 1987, Ronald Reagan’s government decreed that consumers—you and I—would no longer be able to deduct the usurious interest rates on consumer loans and credit cards of all sorts. (And we really didn’t even know, then, what usurious was.)

No interest would be deductible except that on home equity loans. Needless to say, we all went scampering off to our friendly banker to turn our consumer debt into liens on our homes.

At the time, I feared the intention of the government was to make ordinary people into a nation of serfs. Little did I know. The Reagan maneuver meant that we would be more landless than ever before (among the defining elements of serfdom), but it took George W. Bush and his complicity with the credit card companies (and I’m being nice by using the word complicit) to finish the job of making free citizens into indentured servants.

But wait; there's more.

Since October 17, 2005, when the changes to the bankruptcy laws authored by the credit-card companies took effect, consumers have been virtually prevented from discharging overwhelming debt and starting over. For decades, if a person got into severe financial trouble, usually because of job loss or serious illness, that person could wipe the slate clean and begin again. The process destroyed that person’s ability to get credit, and often even housing and jobs, for ten years. But at least they could carry on. They could live. And yes, a few abused it. But by and large, bankruptcies were caused by job loss or major illness.

Now, of course, we have widespread and growing job loss, major illness covered less and less well by rapacious insurers (for those lucky enough to have insurance), and usurious interest rates charged by those same companies. Working together, these factors will ensure that overburdened middle-class and working—not to mention unemployed—citizens cannot get a fresh start. The credit card companies (banks), Wall Street and insurance are, of course, getting a fresh start with something much better than bankruptcy--money. Yours and mine.

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EXAMINER: http://www.examiner.com/x-2134-DC-Ethical-Issues-Examiner~y2009m1d30-Abu-Greed-How-ReaganBush-created-a-debtor-prison-without-walls

[terisan]

1. Unfortunately Biden and many Dems were enablers too. They could reverse the cc evils this week.

The so called cc bill of rights is insufficient to right wrongs and the Democratic Congress delayed enacting it for a long time and has delayed its taking effect until 2010.

Joseph Biden, as the senator from Delaware where the chief companies.industry is the credit card industry has been responsible along with many in Congress for the practices and perqs of the cc companies.

He is right up there with Reagan and Bush on this evildoing.

It is total bs that he is for the middle class.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

3. Biden is also in the RIAA and MPAA pocket. He has supported everything they have asked for

[ProgressiveProfessor]

2. The article misses a key point...its the tax code stupid...

Those changes made to the tax code were broadly supported as tightening loop holes and encouraging the right kind of borrowing. WRONG AGAIN. Its what we get for not having a straight forward progressive tax system. What we have today is more intricate that the legislature can understand. Its got a whole industry behind it. KILL THE BEAST before it kills us.

[ikojo]

4. Bill Clinton and Robert Rubin were

instrumental in doing away with the Glass Stegal Act.