Eliminate Credit Card Debt

Today’s economy has put a major squeeze on the wallets of the middle class. Stagnant wages and rising prices have placed millions of Americans in a position of having very little disposable income. Monthly bills gobble up earnings and very little is left for non-essentials, like dining and entertainment. Unforeseeable expenditures, such as the breakdown of an automobile or household appliance, leave consumers with no choice but to employ the use of their credit cards to cover the cost. As a result, credit card debt adds up quickly, saddling the consumer with finance charges that further diminish the financial situations of many.

Once a person becomes burdened with high debt, there is no easy way to reduce or even eliminate the liability, but there are things a person can do to manage credit card debt and put themselves on a path towards eliminating it altogether.

Make Minimum Payments on Time

- Paying minimum monthly payments on time is critical to maintaining a good credit rating. Sustaining a superior rating is vital to managing credit card debt. High-quality credit ratings allow the consumer a wider choice of options, which translates to lower APR’s and faster diminishment of overall debt. With the deregulation of the financial industry in recent years, credit card companies have been afforded the option of assessing high fees and exorbitantly high interest rates, with little recourse for the consumer. Maintaining a good credit rating only gives consumers clout in any negotiations with banks, as these are the customers they desire.

Consolidate Credit Card Debt to Lower Interest Accounts

- Lower interest rates mean smaller finance charges. The intent is consolidating your credit card balances to the lowest possible APR available in order to pay down those balances.

- Credit consolidation offers generally come in two forms:

o A balance transfer offer from an existing credit card company, with which the consumer already does business, or

o Offers/invites to apply for a new account

- In reviewing balance transfer offers, it is critical to read the fine print and the disclosures carefully. Balance transfer offers usually come with a fee of 3-5% of the amount transferred. In addition, most offers stipulate that future payments are applied primarily to these transferred balances, further cementing the debt that’s already carried at the previous, higher APR. Taking these two factors into consideration, only you should be able to determine whether or not these conditions will help or hinder your goal of reducing your finance charges and therefore your overall debt.

- Another important consideration in analyzing consolidation offers is the length of time offered at the lower rate. Many agreements offer a choice of either a super low rate (sometimes even 0%) for a limited time or a slightly higher one that will be in effect until the balance is paid off. The lower, limited rate can be tempting, but should only be chosen if it will help remedy the specific financial situation of the borrower in the long run. Oftentimes, the low rate offer for the longer period is more beneficial.

Seek Professional Advice

-One benefit to arise out of the debt crisis has been the advent of debt counseling services. The notion of debt counseling, as opposed to debt consolidation, is providing people to manage their debt without ascertaining new debt. Quality debt advisement businesses offer a wide range of services to help consumers manage their debt. Such services include, but are not limited to:

o Offering budgeting advice to consumers who have difficulty managing their expenditures.

o Negotiating with credit card companies on their behalf, to help alleviate the burden of high payments as well as finance charges, in some cases. In most cases, multiple monthly payments can be consolidated into one, more manageable sum.

o Professional analysis of one’s overall financial situation to determine the best options for you.

- As with any other business service in the market, many predatory businesses exist within this booming industry. They offer promises to those in need, preying on those who could least afford to be victimized by such actions. It is vital to perform some thorough research in finding a valid credit counseling service. Determining the legitimacy of any debt counseling company will only serve to benefit you in your search for some valid help. The National Foundation for Credit Counseling (http://www.nfcc.org/) is a nonprofit agency that provides links to all sorts of services related to credit counseling.

Cut Back on Spending and Cut into Your Debt with a Small Daily Expenditure that You Can Afford

- Have you ever heard the quote, “Pay yourself first?” A couple of years ago, renowned financial advisor Suzy Ormon was on the Oprah Winfrey show giving tips on financial health. During the show, she suggested taking a small sum of money that you might spend needlessly on a daily basis, such as for lunch or coffee and putting it into a savings account. Ten dollars was her recommended amount. With this measure, a person would save $3650 in just one year without putting too much of a strain on their wallet. For people heavily in debt, this is surely a beneficial way to chip away at that large stone of debt, whether it’s ten dollars daily or even five.

Clearly, credit card debt is a major issue in the lives of millions of Americans. There is no magic pill for eliminating it all at once, but there are several options to help you effectively manage that credit card debt and make your way towards financial freedom. Above all, it is important to take a step back and explore all options thoroughly and decide on a plan that’s best for you.

Push and Pull

Immigrants

Like many who came before
From distant corners of the globe
Pushed from home
Fleeing calamity
Hunger, Poverty, War

The United States
Land of Dreams
Pulling those seeking a better life
Offering hope and optimism
To the downtrodden, the desperate

They’ve come to this New World
For several hundred years now
In crashing waves from different places at different times
Only to face new struggles
In a new land

“They’re taking our jobs.”
“They’re stealing our money.”
“They don’t want to speak English.”
“Send them all back to where they came from.”
They’ve all taken turns bearing the brunt

Eventually each group melds into the giant pot
Becoming a part of a new America
Time and time again
And the wave we have crashing over our shores now
Will, too

The Quick Fix Rebate Joke

The economy seems is in a shambles. The housing market is faltering badly, financial markets are falling, and the price of consumer goods has risen drastically. And what have our leaders, in a 'bi-partisan' manner, proposed to fix it? A tax rebate. That's right, our President seems to think that giving us a check (anywhere from $300 to $800 for an individual, double that for a family) will miraculously pull us away from the impending recession that we all already feel. It's a joke that I don't see as being funny.

Politicians like those who serve us presently have become so out of touch with the pulse of America. They think in simple, traditionalistic terms. They wish to appear like the great old uncle or grandpa, throwing his change at us when we were kids. This action of handing out a paltry sum of money will elevate their status in the public eye. They still believe we're the largely apathetic populace we've been for the past seven years. But, hope has come. There's a light at the end of the tunnel. Most of us have finally caught on to these shenanigans and won't be fooled by this disengenuous gesture.

Since Bush became President, money has been no object. The recession of 2001 brought us all a $300 rebate. Defense spending skyrocketed, even before September 11th. We've wasted billions and billions of dollars on wasteful endeavors, such as the war in Iraq (www.nationalpriorities,org/costofwar_home )and record pork barrel spending that's plagued Congress for the past decade or so.

In the meantime, millions of Americans live in poverty and millions more struggle from paycheck to paycheck, week to week. Our children are being left behind, doomed to failure as school districts are forced to follow mandates without the requisite funding. Our infrastructure is in serious need of repair. New Orleans has become a symbol of the disgraceful manner in which we take care of our own.

$275 million a day is spent on the war in Iraq (see National Priorities.org). There are much better uses for our collective money. 301 million people live in the United States. That's not even a day and a half of war. Imagine the boost to the economy if every citizen received a million dollar rebate. That would surely be a remedy for the economic state we're in. Yet, we continue to spend all of this money over there when we need it so badly over here.

Mr. President, you can keep your $300. It wouldn't even last me a day with my bills. Just do me a favor...stay out of it!

The State of Our Union

The state of our union is at once both regretful and promising. What once seemed like the highest of highs in the nineties crashed and burned early this century. The past seven-plus years have greatly diminished our relationship with the world and each other. But with the record length of a presidential campaign coming towards a foreseeable end, hope looms on the horizon.

Without question, the nineties will be remembered as a time of prosperity and good times. The economy was performing well, people were working, and home sales soared to record numbers. The nineties weren’t all that rosy, however. The popularity of a President incited a wave of hatred towards him and all he represented, and that abhorrence came to a head in the election of 2000.

I hadn’t realized the hate I’d developed towards the other side until the day after results of the election were finally confirmed. I was so angry at the time; I spent several hours putting all my frustrations on to twelve pages of paper, only to be ripped into pieces in the frustration of the helplessness I felt. Although the country had been experiencing good times, there was a certain group of people bonded together to start a movement, playing on the sentiments that would divide the masses by appealing to a segment of the population motivated by the distractive issues that had nothing to do with the nation as a whole, but issues that affected the liberties of the individual. Pundits and politicians alike played on moral issues to divide and conquer. From big-time radio pundits like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, to the rising political players in the ‘neo-con’ movement, the American people flocked towards opposite ends of the spectrum, separating us into the red and the blue. In the moments of haphazard penning, I realized that this marked a turning point in our history. It was an event that would change the way we existed as a nation. The goal of dividing the country in two had been successful.

With the endowment of the presidency to George Bush by the Supreme Court in 2000, the lines had been drawn. Left-Leaning Americans were left in a state of shock as the Bush era forged ahead reversing an agenda that was the complete opposite from anything Clinton had done. At first, it seemed innocuous. The most egregious offense committed by Bush during the first nine months of his presidency was his record length of vacation time. That is, until September 11th.

At the time of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the country became as united as never before. I recall being moved to tears as I witnessed the displays of unity all around me. Flags and banners hung on highway overpasses, the glances of solidarity towards fellow Americans became a source of comfort, and candlelight vigils outside my home with all my neighbors present all gave me the feeling of intense nationalism. I was overwhelmed with love and pride for my country.

In the aftermath, the President had the support of the nation and the world. He had been given the opportunity to take his place among the great leaders in history, to harness the collective energy of a grieving nation to face adversity in the eye and overcome it. Indeed, the world would have been behind him had he’d made the right decisions in achieving justice for what had been done.

Instead, September 11th, 2001 has become a point in time from whence our great United States became disjointed. Far too many controversial and decisive issues have been brought to the forefront to discuss in detail here, but needless to say, the country has been longing for something, or someone, to come along, to take us away from all this madness and bring us together as a country again.

The present campaign for the Presidential election of 2008 began in November 2004. Never before in our history has there been such an eagerness for change so early on in an administration. As we begin 2008 with the knowledge that change is on the horizon, people seem to be getting a little excited, and that’s a good thing. Clearly, the Democratic Party, the party that’s been suppressed for the past twenty-plus years is finally regaining the confidence it needs to right the ship. We have been presented with a group of talented people who all have the ability to right the ship, and we are fortunate to be given the chance to choose from among them. Every candidate on the Democratic side possesses the ability to steer the country back towards unity and prosperity.

In this campaign cycle, we are presented with two clear choices: a group of candidates who promise a redirection from the regretful course we’ve taken, and those who would continue to play on our fears and our divisions to their own ends, leading us further towards the demise of our great society. I am confident that the choice has already been made. The only question left is which person will be chosen to take the lead.

There is a light on the horizon. There is hope that Americans will finally see through all that’s happened the past seven years and look towards the future once again with hope, hope that our time as a beacon for democracy and a champion for human rights has not ended. Of course, not everyone shares this optimism. There are still those out there who wish to continue the great divide for whatever reason. But for the first time in a long time, there is hopefulness. And come November 4th, the outlook is surely promising. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll become the “United” States of America once again.

SICKO, A Must See

Like him or not, Michael Moore has created a film that everyone can relate to and should take the time to go see. Sicko is a movie that should both shock and anger most Americans. I know that the great majority of people care more about Paris Hilton's imprisonment (Michael Moore was actually 'bumped' from Larry King Live the other night in favor of La Hilton!) or Lindsay Lohan's crash and burn, but this movie tells a story that affects everybody: health care. My advice to anyone who might read this is to just go and see it!

The movie is produced in classic Michael Moore style, combining heartbreaking, true life stories with snippets of pertinent, informative, and sometimes humorous sound bites. The movie opens with the story of a uninsured man who had to choose between repairing his middle finger ($60,000) or his ring finger ($12,000), which had been severed in a table-saw accident. Being a hopeless romantic, he chose the less expensive ring finger. After another couple of similarly tragic tales, Moore informs us that although these stories are sad, the movie is not about them. The purpose of the movie is to highlight not the 45 million or so without access to the system, but the rest of us who believe that we're protected from any sort of major health problem because we have insurance.

Here are some eye-opening highlights that scream for attention and action:

- Countless stories of unnecessary deaths resulting from beaurocratic red tape and denial of services.

- The premise that people who work for insurance companies are rewarded with bonuses and promotions based on the number of denials for treatments they issue. He showcases the 1987 congressional testimony of Linda Peeno, a physician: “In the spring of 1987, as a physician, I denied a man a necessary operation that would have saved his life, and thus caused his death. No person and no group has held me accountable for this, because in fact what I did was save a company half a million dollars. ... I had one primary duty, and that was to use my medical expertise for the financial benefit of the organization for which I worked.”

- The millions and millions of dollars contributed by pharmaceutical companies, HMO's, physicians and other health care professionals to elected officials in our government. What for? Guess!

- The brainwashing of Americans into believing that socialized anything would lead to communism. You know, that communism, the evil of our times. At the same time, Moore points out that we already have socialized programs (fire departments, library systems, schools...even the post office), yet we've been led to believe that socialized health care is somehow evil.

- Moore takes us on visits to three countries: Canada, Great Britain, and France. All three countries have one form or another of universal health care. What we see in these episodes is quite unbelieveable to any American: cheap drugs, quality health care, incentives (to medical professionals in Britain) for prevention, free health care, doctors (in France) who are on call all night being dispatched around town to people in need of care (did I mention, it's free!), and countless other mouthwateringtoAmericans accounts.

Of course, Michael Moore can be somewhat of an exaggerator. He's often been accused of skewing facts to fit his views. That's part of his purpose! Sometimes you have to experience the extreme to get somewhere in the middle and that's what he does. I'm sure things in these countries are as perfectly rosy as Moore depicts them to be. Yet still what they've got is better than what we've got, that's for sure. The US ranks 37th out of 191 countries right behind Costa Rica. (All three countries in the film are ranked ahead of us, too. France is 1st. World Health Report, 2000.) Even Cuba, site of the most controversial footage in the movie, ranks just below us, at number 39.

For sure, everyone needs to see this movie. Take your mind off Brittney Spears for two hours and wake up!

Capitalism Sucks II

Okay, Bank of America is off the shit list. For now! After a second email (along with a threat to close out my account), they refunded my $39 late fee. And I'm not sure about the rate, though. We'll see. They said that this was a one-time 'courtesy' on their part. Don't worry. I learned my lesson. If you make the due date on a weekend, pay it by Friday.