Thoughts On Finance

Candidate Obama promised to make changes to the financial structure of the country, and mostly as a pro-consumer advocate and financial analysts are saying that he may in fact institute a credit card bill of rights.  What this basically means is that the industry has been ripping off people for years and they haven’t made us aware of any of the loopholes that they keep catching consumers in.

Obama, the candidate, put forth a pro-consumer platform that includes:

• Creating a credit card rating system similar to the five-star rating system used for other consumer products to assess card features. Issuers would be required to display the rating on all credit card applications and solicitation materials.
• Establishing a credit card bill of rights to ban universal default, prohibit unilateral changes to contracts and prohibit charging interest on fees.
• Reforming bankruptcy laws to allow families with huge medical bills to have their medical debts forgiven and allow homeowners filing for bankruptcy to adjust the terms of their mortgage so they can keep their homes.
• Capping interest rates on payday loans at 36 percent and requiring clear disclosure of loan terms.

Financial analysts, however, warn that these changes need to be made swiftly and in the beginning, as that is the platform that he ran on and that is what American’s are looking for.  If he waits too long, the excitement for change may be gone, and then it will be too late.  Many people believe that since this is what the people want Congress will probably try to get a consumer friendly bill signed by Bush before he leaves office, however there are others that think this is doubtful at best.

Honestly, we need something to help out the people in this country and although many people oppose Obama’s thoughts, especially those on finance, I think that overall we must do something to help the unemployed and the people who are losing their homes to foreclosure.  Something must be done to stop the madness, and the truth is doing something is better than doing nothing, so I guess we will see how this all pans out.  Things can’t get any worse than they are…or can they?