In 2008 Banks Billed their Customers Over
SIXTEEN BILLION DOLLARS ....THIS IS NOT A TYPO!!!
by Allen Herman

I spend a great deal of my work day in the car. Therefore I have the opportunity to listen to more news broadcasts and talk shows than most people. I hear of the businesses that are either in or about to go into some form of bankruptcy.
I note the canceled business plans and projects of many firms because investment funds have disappeared. I see the falling stock market and observe those who have been forced to "un-retire" while more and more join the unemployment line. It's upsetting ... its frightening. And last week I visited with four advertisers who closed their doors. They've become friends and their troubles sadden me. It also is upsetting to see other magazines and newspapers, our competitors, stop publishing and turn off their lights.

Night after night I came home with mixed emotions..... excited and depressed. I am thrilled ( and very appreciative) by our publications' growth but, like everyone I meet, I'm apprehensive about our Nation's future and, on a personal level, the long term health of our little magazine. We all hope that Government incentives and programs will work and the seas of financial turmoil will calm down.

Most of us are talking about the President's Recovery Package. Whether you agree or disagree ....... we know it sure is one hell of a lot of money. And so much rests on its success.

If you are in favor of the new Stimulus Bill you risk being called a liberal, left wing fanatic with little idea of finance or history. You're accused of being too stupid to realize that the plan is the work of crazy Liberal Wacko Leftist Democrats who have used this crisis as a vehicle to introduce every stupid and expensive pork barrel piece of personal legislation ever conceived. Further, you may be branded as a nut case who is in favor of spending money we do not have on programs we do not need. And when things really get nasty this side of the argument has been known to throw the final insult ... you like Nancy Pelosi and share her secret desire to "left wing" this nation into Third World status. It really is a shame as many of the provisions ...... certainly not all ... are quite worthwhile.

The other side of the issue is equally ugly. If you disagree you're demonized as Republican anarchists from the Right, hell bent on destroying the poor, the Democrats, America and the President. The idea of less taxation and less government regulation and involvement falls on deaf ears. People like Hoover, closed factories, unemployment and bread lines get thrown in your face. You're blamed for all the woes we now face after eight years of Mr. Bush. Even worse, you might be accused of being a closet racist with little concern for our nation's future or its minorities. This too is a shame as many of the objections ..... certainly not all ... are quite valid.

Personally, I believe both sides are correct and horribly wrong. What is needed is some new thinking. We have gone from being the world's largest creditor nation to the world's largest debtor nation. Our industrial base continues to shrink and we are becoming more and more dependent on other nations for natural resources and manufactured goods. We owe "buckets of bucks" and many individuals are committed to extensive payments for credit cards, home equity and car loans, mortgages and more for years and years and years into the future. And while this continues, the "Powers-that-Be" seem to be more interested in blaming rather than repairing what is wrong. Does it really matter?

In my opinion, spending more and more or taxing less and less will solve little. We need to rethink what is going on in America. We have to do more than spend our way out of trouble ... in fact, I don't believe you can spend your way out of trouble. We must correct what is wrong. To give money to Philadelphia to buy Korean Trolley Cars and fund Los Angeles' purchase of light rail from Italy makes little sense. To improve highways so that Hershey Chocolate can move out of Pennsylvania and manufacture and ship via new highways from Mexico also doesn't help.

Money for the protection of rats in San Francisco, golf courses in Texas, tattoo removal in Los Angeles and a rafter of other non essential (dare I say stupid) programs will do little to assist this Nation in our time of trouble. Millions for TV converters, more millions to help smokers stop smoking, fourteen million for the homeless in Philadelphia and close to a trillion dollars to rebuild houses in Gaza ... Gaza(?)... these items will not help us turn things around or get us much love or appreciation in foreign lands.

I agree, there is money being provided for legitimate things that we should applaud. We desperately need alternate sources of energy and improved schools. I support helping students go to colleges ... colleges that don't pay their football coaches over three million bucks a year and millions to their deans. We need to encourage medical research and the study of diseases.

I want NASA and Amtrak to be well funded, our roads modernized and our infrastructure repaired and maintained. I want to fund the rebirth of American Industry. So yes, there are excellent parts of this program as well as pure pork. The pork should go. It isn't kosher.

Just look at the economic history of the world and you'll see that where and when there's been a strong, large middle class, regardless the politics, .... communist, capitalist, socialist, democratic, utilitarian or whatever ... you've had a healthy nation. And that has been America's greatest strength. This Nation has become great because of its middle class ... its work ethic and values.

And my friends, this Nation (excuse me... the United States Congress) has been doing everything possible by design or stupidity to destroy our middle class. Our middle class is evaporating.

Every year it shrinks and shrinks. It is the most unappreciated segment of society that is being legislated, taxed, overcharged, overworked, screwed and levied out of existence. It is rapidly becoming unaffordable to remain in this economic section of society. Gradually more and more of this group are becoming "collectors" instead of "contributors."

Many of the problems facing both the nation in general and the middle class specifically are solvable without spending more and more money that we don't have. Many of those biggest problems require thought and not money. It, the middle class, should be entitled to protection... and that doesn't necessarily mean spending.

How about adjusting bank fees to be on the "fair" side?! Recent reports show that during 2008, banks, nationally, billed their customers over sixteen BILLION dollars in fees for bounced checks. THIS IS NOT A TYPO! And this figure does not even include the fees for checks that were presented against "uncollected funds." Nor does this figure include obscene profits the credit card companies grab with their thirty-four percent interest rates and the slightly under fifty dollar penalties for late payments and over-the-limit fees.

If you really want to put money in people's pockets without new taxes or tax cuts why not demand that Congress limit these outrageous bank charges?! Since we have to bail out these thieves anyway ... at least let them do what we want.
If bounced check fees were limited to ten bucks and credit card interest rates curbed and only raised with cause, on future purchases only, the average American would havea heck of a lot more money in his or her pockets. I believe the annual savings would come near one hundred BILLION big ones..

That money has been snatched from the middle class and they, we, deserve it back. President Obama should keep the $400.00 a year in tax rebates (many for recipients who never paid any taxes to start!) and get Congress to pass some "pro middle class" banking laws. They could produce the same amount of savings without requiring public funds... not per year but per month.

The list of potential "money-kept-for-the-middle-class" is extensive. Let's talk auto insurance. I have been told that a person living in Philadelphia zip code 19111 is now paying about five hundred dollars per year for uninsured motorist coverage. That's extra insurance just in case there's an incident with an uninsured motorist! P.S. Most Americans are paying too much for auto insurance, regardless.

How do the "uninsured" get away with it? Well, you must have insurance to get your auto license plates. Some people pay insurance just for one month, get their plates and never pay again. Unless they're in an accident or get stopped by the police, they get away with driving sans insurance. Why not have motorists place a sticker ... like their inspection sticker ... on their windshield that would be color keyed to show whether the car has current insurance? End of "uninsured" problem and most two car ... or more ... families would save a grand a year.

Allow me to also suggest, if I dare, that some – certainly not most – do not have insurance for their cars, their bodies or college tuition because they prefer to put their earnings into fancy cars, clothing, entertainment and/or Eagles tickets. I have no interest in supporting them.

Ask MD's why so many Americans can't afford medical insurance. Many wll say that costs could be cut dramatically if they didn't have to practice "cover-their-ass" medicine. Frequently they are forced to run exhaustive and expensive tests or send their patients for sometimes painful and always nerve racking procedures that serve one purpose only .... to protect the Dr. from potential law suits.

Let's not forget the outrageous cost of malpractice insurance that Doctors are forced to pay. Many have stopped practicing in Philadelphia because of these high premiums. Think of the money that the average family could save if the legal profession was held in check. Again, as in the cases sighted above, all of this would be extra money for the consumer to spend without Uncle Sam paying a dime or being forced to cover. WOW!

The bottom line is, when you consider what is unnecessary and what can be saved and the corrective measures that can be implemented ... this Country, our Country ... lead by a jump started middle class, can be booming again. Better medical attention and education for less and lowered costs of tuition and protection from banks will all help.

My suggestions are just a start. There are many more minds, better than mine, who are more experienced in addressing our economic state. Maybe we can spread the word ... get people to think, to demand, to correct what is obviously wrong and set things straight. Hey, we can always try. Maybe we can win one or two battles. Who knows? One or two battles won would be good.

You are welcome, if you so choose, to advise people you know to read this article.

Allen Herman
uptightsuburban@aol.com