Congress Must Stink at Checkers

My oldest son has gotten pretty good at looking to see how his brother’s piece will take his, and only moving into “safe” locations. However, he and Congress both have a similar problem with strategy– they only look at the next move.

The Obama Administration and Congress have decided that they must do everything in their power to make you spend money, but not your money– they want you to spend someone else’s money!  They just want capital in the system.

One of the biggest sources of getting capital in the system is/was credit, and so it’s natural that they think that there’s a lot to be addressed there.  Specifically, they see “predatory lending rates” and fees as places where they can help the little guy.  Congress is very well intentioned, but they seem to consistently fail at looking ahead.

And to make up for lost income, the card companies are going after those people with sterling credit.

Banks are expected to look at reviving annual fees, curtailing cash-back and other rewards programs and charging interest immediately on a purchase instead of allowing a grace period of weeks, according to bank officials and trade groups.

“It will be a different business,” said Edward L. Yingling, the chief executive of the American Bankers Association, which has been lobbying Congress for more lenient legislation on behalf of the nation’s biggest banks. “Those that manage their credit well will in some degree subsidize those that have credit problems.” [Credit Card Industry Aims to Profit from Sterling Payers – New York Times]

I know that many people that I’ve talked with about credit cards justify their use by saying that they’re earning money, points, frequent flier miles, and that they always pay their bill off every month.  What do you think will happen when the credit card companies reintroduce annual fees, start charging from the point of sale, and reduce the freebies.

If you said “those people will start using credit less, which means that there could possibly be less spending going on” you get the gold star.  Even those that pay their card off every month like the convenience of the card.  When forced to deal with only the money they have on hand– or deal with cash– people spend less.  And where does that leave the credit card companies?

Why is it that this government must continue to villify private business?  Whether it’s the banks, the insuarnce industry, the auto industry, etc. the government continues to pit “the people” vs. “the big bad industry” and in turn they just hurt the people more.

Is private property sacred in this country or not?  What about contracts?

• Does the money spent on credit belong to the bank?
• If it does, do they not have the right to determine the terms of using their money?
• If they make them too onerous, will people continue to sign up?
• Should government be in the business of telling people what to do with their money– where they can spend it, who they should loan it to, etc.?  Isn’t that what got us into this recession in the first place?

In the end, I was able to take two kings my younger son had and beat the older son’s 4 kings.  I could see the result and plan ahead.  I’m not sure why we’re governed by a bunch of people that must stink at Checkers.  Perhaps my son can give them some lessons.