Even Arianna Huffington thinks the Credit Card Companies are out of control.

Click here to read Arianna Huffington's piece about how The Credit Card Industry is doing more harm than good right now.

However, when Arianna Huffington states, 

The Senate overwhelming approved legislation reining in some of the most egregious practices of credit card companies...Huffington couldn't more wrong. 

The Credit Card Bill is a watered down version of what it should have been. In the near future I'll post a link to a guest column I have written for another blog in which I highlight TEN THINGS THE CREDIT CARD REFORM BILL DID NOT address, but should have.

More Proof that Wall Street is Out of Touch with the Real Economy and Real Americans as Credit Card Companies Continue to Suck the Economy Dry.

Click here for the most recent DailyPUMA article.

(Edit note, a couple of weeks after the writing of this article comes a powerful article from Asia Times that basically concurs with a few of the major points made below. ASIA Times on the Global Economy.)

(2nd Edit Note, Monday May 18th, 2009, almost three weeks after what was written below comes an article questioning the stock markets recent rise.)

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Since I started my Daily-Protest against Chase Bank and the credit card industry, my television viewing time has dropped. Very very early this morning, while I was revamping Daily-Protest.com, I had the overnight news on.

The CBS overnight news kept replaying a story that the worst was behind us, that inventories had depleted, and that sometime this year the economy would pick-up. The only way the economy will pick up this year is if the CREDIT CARD INDUSTRY does EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE of what they are presently doing!

Lets add up middle america economic indicators, the real indicators, the ones that matter. Joblessness, continues to rise. Home prices continue to drop. Rising home sales are from forclosures. Car Dealerships, going out of business too fast to count. Credit Card debt, rising.

Funding two wars halfway around the world, priceless.

If the world's net worth has dropped by 1/2 over the past year or two, but the world's unsecured debt has remained the same, then that means that the worlds unsecured debt has actually doubled when comparing the numbers! 

Factor in that the Credit card companies have actually raised interest rates, stolen frequent flyer miles from their best customers, are labeling anybody a with low interest rate on their unsecured debt as a toxic asset, and are assessing huge, 100% to 400% increases in the interest rates whenever a customer is late on a payment, and we can actually safely state that the credit card industry's percent of the world wide wealth has increased by at least another 100% on top of that doubling!

But wait, it is even worse than that. After a person is late on just one credit card payment, the other credit card companies can also raise that person's credit card interest rate to around 30%. Eventually people give up trying to pay down a debt at 30 percent interest rate. However, before the debt is given up on by the credit card company, it keeps growing by obscene amounts every month. 30% unpaid interest can increase one's debt by 50% or more every year!

The overly inflated credit debt keeps racking up higher and higher debt. Then it goes into default. The entire debt, that has been first outrageously inflated by 50 to 100%, is then sold to a bill collection agency for a portion of the total debt due. When the banks sell the defaulted debt, it might be 60 cents on the dollar, 40 cents on the dollar or even just 25 cents on the dollar. However, because of how the debt was so rapidly inflated at that 30% interest rate, the bank actually doesn't lose any money, even if they sell the debt at 25 to 30 cents on the dollar!

Here is where it gets really ugly. The bank is able to then write off the ENTIRE overly inflated debt that caused the debtor to eventually give up trying to pay it off. Imagine if you could being keep all of the money you earned in a years time while legally claiming that you lost an additional 50% and are owed a rebate, or bailout money from the government!

But wait, it's even worse than that! Not only do the banks get this huge credit card default write off on their 30% interest credit card debt, they then can receive new bailout monies from the government to help mitigate phantom credit card loan losses that don't actually exist!

But wait, it's even worse than that. The banks hold on to the new bailout money, refusing to circulate the very money the government has allocated them. By not releasing this new bailout money and not using it to lower credit card interest rates to the consumer, tens of millions of americans continue to create more and more debt on their credit cards, and the entire credit card debt cycle mentioned above repeats again!

But wait it's even worse than that. The banks then squeeze those who relying their credit card debt and home equity line debt to get through these bad economic times by REDUCING their credit lines, sometimes to BELOW what they owe! Now factor in those who have missed a payment for a medical emergency, job layoff, even an electronic billing mistake that can easily happen when a credit card company CHANGES THE DATE on a bill without informing the customer! All of these are reasons for the credit card company to raise the interest rate to 30%! 

Yet many of these law abiding citizens fight to salvage their credit score, resulting in additional huge profits for the banks from those who believe a debt is a debt that must be repaid, even at 30% interest. Unfortunately, a 30% interest rate is so high that unless one can make at least 3 times the monthly minimum due, or pay the debt off in full right away, the debt may never go down fast enough.

If one gives up trying to pay a 30% interest rate card, the banks make huge profits from several different sources. If a customer continues to pay 30% interest, the banks are happy because the customer is just stalling the inevitable, in essence creating additional wealth for the banks before the customer eventually defaults. The banks win no matter what the indentured credit card borrower does once the interest rate is raised to 30%.

The banks are winning every which way even as the FDIC "clamps down" on the banks for not having enough cash reserves.

So, going back to our percentage analysis of unsecured debt and how much it has increased when compared to the world's actual wealth, we can safely add another layer of gross profiting by the credit card industry at the worlds misery. Credit Card debt may have actually increased by over 400% when it is compared to the amount of perceived wealth that still remains in the world's economy.

Credit Card debt at 30% interest IS the additional hidden tax being perpetuated on the world's economy.

But wait, it may be even worse than everything stated above. What if the bankers, upon classifying a credit card loan at 30% that the consumer has given up trying to pay back, a "toxic asset", sells that "bad" credit card loan to another company that is run by a friend, a relative, a lover, a drug cartel? If the banker is in anyway connected with the new buyer of the debt they have resold, that means the banker has found an additional way to profit from the same piece of debt, also known as insider trading or collusion.

So, going back to our percentage analysis of unsecured debt, we can safely add another layer of gross profiting at the worlds misery. 

Over the past two years, Credit Card debt may have actually increased over 500% when compared to the amount of perceived wealth that remains in the world's economy. I don't have to know what the actual two numbers are to make an estimate at the percentage amount. A 500% percent increase in credit card debt as compared to the world's perceived economic value cannot be a good thing, can it?

And if I am correct, then there is NO WAY THE eCONomy can recover, unless some of these usurious interest rates are made to disappear.

So what do the credit card companies do in this time of worldwide crisis? They raise the interest rates on all of their credit cards while trying to destroy the credit rating of their best customers by raising the monthly minimum payment on these always on time paying customers by 250%.

Won't you join me in fighting back? Just put a Daily-Protest.com sign somewhere where others will see it. It is really that simple. Learn more at CHASE BANK PROTEST DAY-9, HOW YOU CAN HELP. IT IS FREE AND YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO PROTEST.

This LINK just in, Congress Fiddles while Home burns. If everybody had less to interest to pay on old credit card debt, they'd automatically have more money to apply towards their mortgage payment.

Arianna Huffington's new nickname for Barack Obama, The BankCentric Kid, and She's Right, for a Change, ahem.

For the past several weeks, I have had an uneasy feeling about all of those "meetings" Barack Obama has had with Wall Street Bankers and the financial "stall warts" that really don't relate to US.

JOHN ZIEGLER ACROSS AMERICA TOUR
CLICK HERE TO SEE MEDIA MALPRACTICE SCHEDULE

I've never quite felt comfortable with Barack Obama's ability to connect with the everyday person during last year's election because Obama also relied on the corporate elite banker to win the white house. These two groups couldn't be more polar opposite and don't relate to each other.

I do believe Barack Obama deserves a year before he is judged. However, I keep seeing the same type of pattern emerging that makes me wonder if it is going to be pointless to wait a year before judging.

Passing a heavy handed bailout package that has no support at all from the other major political party is what I call a forfeit victory. The other side didn't have enough players to compete effectively, so the game is called without being played and is called a forfeit victory.

WHO CELEBRATES A FORFEIT VICTORY?

In sports, the winning side must be very careful if they choose to celebrate a forfeit victory. In some baseball competitions, a team can get a forfeit victory by being ahead by either 10 or 15 runs. The winner is wise to not openly gloat about their "mercy rule" victory in front of the losing team and instead may wait until later, just as Barack Obama did after the bailout bill passed and celebrated at the white house. However...

If the other side did not have enough players to compete at the start of the game, this too can be called a forfeit victory. I can pretty much guarantee that NOBODY celebrates a forfeit win when the other side can't even field enough players at the start of the game.

When it came to the passage of the bailout bills, one could call that a forfeit victory as well as the Republicans could not even field enough congress people to prevent a "mercy rule" victory.

Barack Obama celebrated his bailout bill mercy rule victories at a white house party replete with 100 dollar a pound wagyu steaks imported from Japan. Welcome to Barack Obama's world, where celebrating a slam dunk victory when the other side could not even field enough players, is a way of life. Not much different than when Barack Obama had his opponents disqualified for technical reasons in past political races. The patterns seem to remain the same and point to someone who thinks he is growing even as he performs the same old tricks he always has.

While Media Matters disputed the 150-170 million dollar estimated expenditures for Barack Obama's Inauguration, was it really necessary to spend that much money while people were actually freezing to death in their homes across the country? What if Barack Obama had budgeted 150 million for the Inauguration, then practiced his budget cutting skills and cut his own inauguration budget to 75 million, and then used some of the saved money to pay the heating bills of people who instead froze to death?

Wouldn't that have sent a clear and loud message that Barack Obama was really going to "change" things? Wouldn't he have instantly mobilized and even won over some of his critics if he could have kept his inauguration budget to one dollar lower than the last inauguration?

Now Arianna Huffington, who IS HILLARY CLINTON'S BIGGEST NEMESIS on the planet, is calling Barack Obama and his administration a bankcentric driven team, and she doesn't like it one bit. Neither does George Soros. Barack Obama's team of rivals seems to be in the habit of looking for the next forfeit in which they can unanimously declare a victory and then celebrate with 100 dollar wagyu steaks. It appears they don't even buy their victory steaks from a US company. Wow.

The latest evidence of Barack Obama's next forfeit victory was his recent statement that little cracks of light are shining through the economic gloom as Wall Street indicators begin to brighten...even as the credit card companies are wreaking havoc on millions of customers who have stellar credit and payment histories!

When the credit card companies begin to steal frequent flyer miles from their most loyal and trustworthy customers, and when the credit card companies begin to increase monthly minimum payments by 150% on their customers who practice smart borrowing habits, can one really state that the economic gloomy clouds are lifting?

Perhaps the better question is, for whom are the gloomy economic clouds lifitng? Certainly not for the almost 2 million Chase bank customers who suddenly have to come up with as much as 500 dollars a month for a credit card bill they have never been late paying in the past or they will lose their super-low interest rate loan.

It seems to me if you believe in the everyday person Mr. President, and feel their pain, (ahem), you would want to harness those people's expectations and enthusiasm and guide them into creating their own success. Instead, I get the sense that the everyday person is really there to feed Barack Obama's world, and not the other way around.

Did you know that you You may be a Toxic Asset and not even know it! The reality that any american who accepted a low interest "until the loan was paid off" credit card offer from Chase Bank and other banks may now been labeled a toxic asset! These customers with low interest loan rates are being isolated for eradication by the credit card companies and is ANOTHER example of a Barack Obama team of rivals forfeit victory. The destruction of these smart consumers now know as toxic assets will generate more profit for the credit card companies as their credit rating gets slashed, thereby ensuring they pay higher interest rates on their debts, which creates more value on Wall Street. Is this the way banks are to operate so Barack Obama can then state that the economic clouds are lifting?

The amount of trustworthy credit card customers who were offered life of the loan, low interest credit card rates is relatively small, perhaps just a couple of million of customers who still have these great rates intact. Yet the bankers can't wait to destroy these customer's credit rating by raising their monthly minimum payment from 2% to 5%, a 150% increase above and beyond what they are already paying, with no opt out clause for the consumer!

If Barack Obama believes that labeling credit card customers with stellar payment histories "toxic assets" as one key to fixing the economy, then that is not the type of economy that needs fixing.

To Arianna Huffington, just what was in it for you to elect the "BankCentric Kid" in the first place since you now condemn his BankCentric approach?

TEA PARTY PROTESTS START TODAY, APRIL 11TH, 2009 COME OUT to STUDIO CITY, CA. CHASE BANK, 12051 Ventura Blvd, JOIN the PROTEST AGAINST CHASE BANK!

(Edit Note-Please see the more current Tea Party Article as well. TEA PARTY PROTEST DO's and DONT's.

If you live in LA, you are invited to a Studio City Tea Party Protest in front of the Washington Mutual Bank/CHASE BANK in Studio City.

Time: 1:30 - 4:30pm

APRIL 11, 2009 TEA PARTY PROTEST DAY, MEET US IN STUDIO CITY AT...

Date: April 11, 2009 (Saturday)

Where: Studio City
(on the corner of Laurel Canyon Avenue and Ventura Blvd)

Address: Washington Mutual Bank (Now CHASE BANK) 12051 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City, CA 91604.

BE A PROUD AMERICAN
JOIN A TEA PARTY

TEA PARTY and PROTEST
STUDIO CITY, CALIFORNIA

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My Daily-Protests started last Monday, but this is the kick off of the nationwide TEA PARTY protests that will be running through April 15th. I plan on continuing after April 15th because there are specific, illegal things being done by the Credit Card companies that need to be immediately stopped, reversed, and apologies set forth by the executive boards of everyone of the major credit card companies. If you are interested in joining any of the protests, the goal of Daily-Protest.com is to donate one hour a day to protesting at a Chase Bank in your area.

You can learn more at Daily-Protest.com

How Come the Biggest Consumer Blogs fall short of condemning condemnable actions by JP Morgan Chase Credit Card?

I have a friend with a Chase credit card. Approximately 2 years ago Chase Bank offered this person a 5.99% balance transfer offer until their loan was paid off. They were required to make a 2% monthly minimum payment. They have good credit and had reduced the loan from 13,500 to 10,000 by dutifully making their monthly payments on time.

Their monthly minimum payment on the 10,000 dollar debt is presently 200 dollars. Chase Credit Card is now going to raise the monthly minimum payment on this account from 2% to 5%. Chase's latest gambit preys on customers who had a good deal with them will probably help ruing their credit rating while robbing them of food to feed their families with. My friend's monthly minimum payment with Chase Bank is set to go from 200 dollars, to 500 dollars!

A three hundred dollar monthly increase is probably going to lead to default for my friend. The problem is not that Chase wants their money nor that they want their money back sooner rather than later. The problem is that Chase set up the rules, the customer completely abided by the rules, and now Chase wants to change those rules WITHOUT GIVING THE CUSTOMER THE RIGHT TO OPT OUT before the changes are made.

Citibank and many if not all other credit card companies have opt out clauses in their credit card policy that protect the consumer. I fear that if Chase is allowed to destroy the concept of "OPT OUT, other credit card companies will follow suit.

My friend can keep their 2% minimum payment option if they agree to have the interest rate raised from 5.99% to 7.99%. This creates the equivalent of an escalating monthly penalty that starts at around 18 dollars a month. However, when we factor in that each and every month 18 extra dollars goes towards interest and 18 less dollars is applied to the PRINCIPLE, the penalty will continue to escalate and extend the life of the loan.

After one year, we are looking at a loss of 500 dollars, and each year forward it will increase at least 100 dollars per year. So this one move by chase will cost my friend 500 dollars this year, 575 dollars next year, 650 dollars the following year. By the time this card is paid off, I am estimating it will cost my friend over 4,000 dollars in extra payments.

Prior to this latest move, Chase began, then eliminated a 10 dollar a month usage fee to anyone using their credit cards. Now Chase has figured out a way to replace a one fee for all with another fee for those who had solid credit that Chase trusted enough to give them a solid loan offer. Is it Chase's goal to first lure, then destroy every tier of middle class customer that presently exists with their bait and switch credit card tactics?

Chase credit card company already had the option of raising my friends rates for a late payment. If JP Morgan Chase Bank wants to so violently change the rules, then please allow your customers the right to OPT OUT and keep the existing agreed upon rules in place. It is the respectful, rightful, and ethical thing to do.

If somebody from the government does not step in and stop what Chase Bank is doing, even as the US Government is giving these same banks billions upon trillions of dollars, then we can all be sure that nothing has "changed".

JP Morgan Chase Credit Card Hurts Consumers but Looks Good to Wall Street Investors. What's Good for Wall Street is not necessarily Good for US.

(Edit Note). This topic got me so angry that I have started a protest website against Chase Bank and anybody else who follows them down their racketeering path.

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Chase Credit Card already was lambasted by its customers for wanting to charge a 10 dollar a month "user fee". The 10 dollar monthly fee would have instantly made Chase a violator of their low interest fixed rate lifetime balance transfer offer, but Chase tried it anyways and had to be rebuffed by the New York Attorneys General office and Chase customers before removing the monthly fee.

In an effort to impress Wall Street by increasing their revenue, JP Morgan / Chase Credit Card has now decided that a customer's right to "opt out" to new changes in Chase's Credit Card terms no longer exists.

Chase Credit Card has opted out of allowing its customers to opt out of new Credit Card Rules that forces the consumer to increase their monthly minimum payment by 250 percent!

I believe Chase Credit card will probably have improved financial results next quarter because of their boorish tactics, and that Wall Street and the News channels will report Chase's "success" as "good news". The news statios will then conclude that the economy is recovering. What won't be reported is the misery the change in terms Chase has wrought upon good, honest people who were diligently paying down their debts and were not allowed to "opt out" when Chase raised their monthly minimum charge by 250 percent.

Hundreds of thousands of Chase Credit Card Customers accepted Chase's offer of low, fixed interest credit card rate balance transfer offers with rates that would never go up on the amount transfered if the customer was never late on their monthly payment. These customers have now been forced to accept a jump in their monthly minimum payment from 2% to 5%, or, they can keep the 2% monthly minimum payment but have their interest rate increased from 5.99% to 7.99%.

Ironically, I created a website a few years ago that demanded credit card companies raise their minimum monthly billing by a factor of 3 or 4 (aka 6% or 8%) called credit-card-cap.com. However, my idea was to raise the monthly minimum payment on new debt by beginning borrowers, NOT OLD DEBT in which such tactics can just burst a families tender economic bubble.

The changes Chase is making would be fine, as long as the customer had the right to "opt out" of these new changes. "opt out"means the customer is in essence closing out their account at the terms that were in play when the customer agreed to the original credit card balance transfer loan. When "opting out", the customer further agrees to continue to pay off the debt while no longer using the credit card. "opt out" is a fair and righteous protection that should be automatically granted to all consumers when dealing with credit card companies, yet the "opt out" option has never been given teeth by those who claim to protect us.

Our government, our consumer rights advocates, our president, and our congress people don't seem to think that you, the consumer, have a right to "opt out" and stick to the original credit card agreement that you signed up for. A deal is only a deal as long as the credit card companies can change it later on, without any recourse from you but to IMMEDIATELY pay off the ENTIRE debt or accept new terms which most often favor the credit card company and hurt the consumer.

Until credit card customers have the undeniable right to "opt out" from any sudden or new changes regarding the terms of their existing credit card agreement before the changes are made, the consumer will continue to get royally railroaded even as Wall Street and the financial news programs cheer the increase in revenue these leveraged consumer bashing manuevers will probably bring to the credit-card-companies.

Maybe the day is coming when ACORN will demand Barack Obama actually be for the consumer. Surely what Chase Credit Card just did is a strong start towards getting ACORN hopping mad, especially if Barack Obama does not intercede and demand that consumers have the right to "opt out" of changes made to their prior credit card agreement.