A GOP fleecing of card usersPage 2 of 2 -- For example, on a credit card debt of $9,000 (par for the course), minimum payments at 15 percent will keep you paying for 39 years at a total cost of $23,000.
The home mortgage people, trapping more and more Americans of modest as well as median means in the same kinds of prisons, aren't much better. Here, legislation is needed, and for all those who listen to the Bush propaganda about Kerry's Senate record (a domestic version of the smear on his Vietnam service), he is well known as one of housing's most consistent champions. So-called "subprime" mortgages are an excellent way to help lower income families make their most important investment, but they come at a very high cost. Many housing experts believe they are unnecessary for half their present holders. It's not a minor financial matter; over 30 years, a subprime can cost an extra $400,000-plus on a typical home. Naturally, the real estate and finance folks backing Bush want to block Kerry and protect their gravy train. In particular they want to protect the mechanisms for abuse -- penalties for early prepayment, delayed or "balloon" payments that require still more financing, and ridiculous insurance mandates requiring up-front payments no matter how long a mortgage is held. As the Census Bureau reminded us last week, incomes are stagnant three years into an anemic recovery. At $43,000, median household income (half make more, half make less) is actually lower than it was in 2000. For the rich, tax cuts cover higher costs; for everyone else, they didn't come close to matching 50 percent increases in health insurance premiums, $2 per gallon gasoline, higher local taxes, and higher tuition expenses. This means that for a huge portion of the public, debt is how people keep up with current expenses, and the usury industry is doing its best to make sure that that elusive goal is always kept just out of reach. On top of all the other higher burdens on working families, credit card and mortgage interest scams have added something like $30 billion to the burden of just getting by. The big shots gathering here will make sure Bush has no answer. Kerry does.
Thomas Oliphant's e-mail address is oliphant@globe.com. © Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.
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