messed-up priorities
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here we see in action the very notion of "keeping the world poor" and the messed-up priorities of our society... if these stories don't make your blood boil, then i don't know what will... to echo the words of Vandana Shiva, "if we are serious about ending poverty, we have to be serious about ending the systems that create poverty by robbing the poor of their common wealth, livelihoods and incomes... before we can make poverty history, we need to get the history of poverty right..."
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Professional Athletes to Get "Disaster Relief"
The Revolving Door of Debt
Credit card companies have long solicited bankrupt people, on a calculated risk that income from the higher interest rates and late fees paid by those who are trying to get their credit back will outweigh the losses from those who fail to make payments altogether. The companies also directed many of those customers toward so-called secured cards, which require a cash deposit. Credit cards are the most profitable part of the banking industry, with late fees and high interest charges helping make them so. Last year, more than five billion solicitations for new cards were sent out, nearly double the number from eight years ago. "The whole business model of the credit card industry is built around outstanding debt," said Ellen Schloemer, a researcher at the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit group that tracks lower-middle-class financial issues. "This is the only industry that calls people deadbeats when they pay all their bills every month."
Under new American legislation, which the banking industry spent more than $100 million lobbying for, bankrupt consumers may be even more attractive as clients because it makes it harder for them to escape new credit card debt and extends to eight years from six the time before which they could liquidate their debts through bankruptcy again. The new law makes for an even better gamble for lenders because it also requires many of those who do go back into bankruptcy to pay previous credit card bills that may have been excused under the old law. Consumer groups say the new law has put millions of Americans at risk of being in a continuous debt loop through their credit cards. While the banks have taken a short-term financial hit because of the new filings, they will benefit in the long run because the new law makes it much easier to make money on people who live near the edge every month on their credit cards.
here we see in action the very notion of "keeping the world poor" and the messed-up priorities of our society... if these stories don't make your blood boil, then i don't know what will... to echo the words of Vandana Shiva, "if we are serious about ending poverty, we have to be serious about ending the systems that create poverty by robbing the poor of their common wealth, livelihoods and incomes... before we can make poverty history, we need to get the history of poverty right..."
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Professional Athletes to Get "Disaster Relief"
New Orleans Saints players will get a $40,000 bonus from the NFL and the NFL Players Association for "performing under unusual and unanticipated conditions arising from the Hurricane Katrina tragedy." The bonus applies to every Saints player who has been on the roster for the entire season, including inactive players, practice squad members and those on injured reserve, the team said in a statement yesterday. Players on the roster for less than the full season will receive $2,350 for each week on the roster.
-- ASSOCIATED PRESS, Washington Post (2005/12/15)
--------------------The Revolving Door of Debt
Credit card companies have long solicited bankrupt people, on a calculated risk that income from the higher interest rates and late fees paid by those who are trying to get their credit back will outweigh the losses from those who fail to make payments altogether. The companies also directed many of those customers toward so-called secured cards, which require a cash deposit. Credit cards are the most profitable part of the banking industry, with late fees and high interest charges helping make them so. Last year, more than five billion solicitations for new cards were sent out, nearly double the number from eight years ago. "The whole business model of the credit card industry is built around outstanding debt," said Ellen Schloemer, a researcher at the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit group that tracks lower-middle-class financial issues. "This is the only industry that calls people deadbeats when they pay all their bills every month."
Under new American legislation, which the banking industry spent more than $100 million lobbying for, bankrupt consumers may be even more attractive as clients because it makes it harder for them to escape new credit card debt and extends to eight years from six the time before which they could liquidate their debts through bankruptcy again. The new law makes for an even better gamble for lenders because it also requires many of those who do go back into bankruptcy to pay previous credit card bills that may have been excused under the old law. Consumer groups say the new law has put millions of Americans at risk of being in a continuous debt loop through their credit cards. While the banks have taken a short-term financial hit because of the new filings, they will benefit in the long run because the new law makes it much easier to make money on people who live near the edge every month on their credit cards.
-- TIMOTHY EGAN, New York Times (2005/12/11)
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posted by þΛųL jØŋαŦhΛŋ @ 12:00
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