Frontline Program on the Secret History Of Credit Cards

[GOPS Worst Fear]

PBS'S program on how the credit card industries stick it to the average consumer and how the lobbys are getting them even more protection.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/view/

watch the 5 different segments.You need windows media player to watch.

If you spent alot of money this Christmas on plastic..you need to be aware of what the Credit Card companies are changing without you knowing it.And..Even IF your credit history is good.

[FloridaPat]

1. Thanks.

[GOPS Worst Fear]

2. You're welcome!

I just hope enough people would curb their credit usage. We need to become the "Deatbeats"as the credit card compaies call the people who pay thier cards off every month. And get everyone who owes debt to credit cards to get them paid off asap. We need to drive these greedy B*stards off the face of the earth!

[TallahasseeGrannie]

3. Credit cards are going to destroy us all

[FloridaPat]

7. You sure the gov't won't destroy us first?

[TallahasseeGrannie]

16. I think they might be the same entity, actually.

[acmejack]

4. This a wonderfully informative program.

I can't encourage folks enough to watch it.

[gizmo1979]

5. I saw that.

I had to turn it off because it made my wife so mad she was going to pop a vein.

[PDJane]

6. I don't have one.

It's somewhat restrictive, as there are difficulties in ordering things online, but I got tired of the credit card industry a long time ago.

[lovuian]

8. If they keep this up there will be such a backlash

Anger and with all the identity theft thats going on Its Usury...

[KharmaTrain]

9. Predatory Interest Rates = Campaign Gold

It's a shame even Democrats are beholden to big money banking interests (and they are) or this could be one great campaign issue. While I applaud the movement to put Minimum Wage increase initiatives on ballots this year (ala how the Repugnicans used the Gay Marriage charade last year), there is a deep and strong resentment to the large credit card companies and their savage ways.

In the early 80's, I interviewed a Democratic candidate for the statewide Treasurer's office. His main campaign theme was to force caps on credit card companies (they had just been lifted by Raygun) to keep them within 2 points of the prime rate. He gained a lot of press and won the election. A year later I had the chance to talk to him again and asked him about the progress on his proposal to cap interest rates and he looked at me like I'd just landed from Mars. He finally said that he was studying the problem further and couldn't comment. I smelled a rat. Sure enough, several years later this fine politician was convicted of bribery and some of that dirty money belong to the very banks he said he was going to bring to heel.

Hopefully a time will come...first the Repugnicans have to be outsted...then once Democrats are in control of the House and Senate (and the sanity), then it's time to revisit that bankruptcy bill and then put pressure on Democrats who caved in to the big banking interests last year to do the right thing this time.

Happy New Year...

[GOPS Worst Fear]

10. I strongly encourage everyone to use their debit cards first.

I no longer own any credit cards except with my debitcard which carries a visa logo. I use my debit card like a secured credit card..until my bank account is empty. When it's gone, it's gone until next payday. I do without alot. But I have no need for a credit card so long as I have my debit card. Most rental car places will now take the debit card too under certain circumstances. If you do that you won't go too deep into debt.

[KharmaTrain]

11. Been There, Done That...One The Other Side

As the report says, I'm the credit card company's worst customer...I'm a "deadbeat" since I never use the card unless I've got plenty to cover it. But there was a time I was on the other side. In the need to pay to move my family, I dug myself into credit card hell...maxing them out and then spending the next decade paying them off and clearing my name. Yes, once you get into this mess it's hard to climb out...many never do.

Sadly, we live in a consumer society where the mantra of "spend now, pay later" is so ingrained that people almost feel entitled to own big ticket items or live a bit higher than they really can afford and these companies are more than happy to accomodate that impulse. My son is a High School senior and already has several companies that have offered him a card...as I'm certain happens to many others, just to lure them in at a young age into using the cards and then into the long-term debt game that in a silent killer in this country.

Debit cards are a good idea for those who want a card for the identification purposes, but not to use it for anything but basic purchases. However, I'd take a good look at the contract on those things as well. Since the new laws have gone in effect, there are virtually no regulation on how almost any lending company...even one that's union or a cooperative...from manipulating rates.

Welcome to DU...

[earth mom]

12. Yes, the credit card companies are PURE EVIL!

Excellent program-Thanks for posting it!

Also, don't know when this program was made, but I'd like to have seen something about how the recent change in the bankruptcy law has and will effect consumers.

I'd say it's gonna get really ugly....

[GOPS Worst Fear]

13. ...And What If..There is a deep Recession or Depression?

The majority of cardholders would go default,thus putting these vampires out of business but at the same time hurting our economy.

[lumberjack_jeff]

14. I have one credit card.

It is a Visa with a cash rebate program. It carries a $50 annual fee, but I pay it off each month, so I incur no service charges. You can get a card with a similar cash back arrangement but with no annual fee.

I'm building a house, so it gets used a lot, but since it's paid off each month, the credit card company actually loses a little money on me, and I get about 30 days of float.

Are credit card companies evil? Yes. I don't feel guilty.

[racaulk]

15. Kicked and recommended

This was a very informative series--thanks for posting. K & R because I think it's highly important that all of us have a better sense of the cost of borrowed money and become more informed consumers. :)

Also, I think this is the series that Randi said she had posted on her website. She was talking about it at length with several callers recently. Very scary stuff, if you're not careful.

[GOPS Worst Fear]

17. Yes it is the series that Randi Posted on her website.

..and for all those right wing capitalist you run into who think this situation won't hurt them,show this series to them. Because even I didnt know they were screwing even the best credit card holders. Congressman Dodd said he keeps getting stopped at every angle when he tries to put some bill through to reform these parasites. Yet, one more reason to vote all Democratic ticket in the mid term and get some checks and balances back.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

18. Kick.

[GOPS Worst Fear]

19. Kick Again..

N/M