U.S. film shows despair under mountain of debt

[UpInArms]

http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USN1535741120070220

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sky-high interest rates on credit cards can make a mountain of debt seem insurmountable. Eventually for some, it is.

An unfortunate minority depicted in the new movie "Maxed Out" finds the burden too great to bare: suicide seems like the only way out.

America's predilection for debt is well documented. U.S. consumers owe over $2.4 trillion, nearly one fifth the size of the total economy. As a country, the United States borrows over $2 billion a day to cover an insatiable demand.

Larger-than-life as they seem, these figures mask individual tales of tragedy and despair, according to "Maxed Out," which gives viewers a peek at moments when indebtedness becomes deadly.

<snip>

Yet, rather than discouraging such practices, regulators look the other way.

...more...

[ForFuxakes]

1. thank you Ronnie Raygun

For de-regulation!

[Deja Q]

2. I've thought about suicide many times while in debt... you know what?

I'm paid off.

And I still think of suicide.

In short, don't worry. We're all going to die someday anyway. Enjoy what you've got, regardless of financial status. We're all forked in the end.

[SpiralHawk]

6. "Wrong-O. Whoever has the most toys at death wins." - Republicon elites

"We Connecticut preppy Skull & Boner 'elites' are having a blast. Now what was that Talking Point? Oh yeah, too bad about your debt. Life's a bitch, huh? Why don't you proles just shut up and sit down."

- Commander AWOL



The elites enjoy harvesting the bounty in New Orleans, post-Katrina

[TexasLawyer]

8. LOL

Good one!:rofl:

[saigon68]

9. OUTRAGEOUS !!! Those fuckers wouldn't dare show up there

They would need the entire 1st Cav to protect them from being ripped to shreds by the residents.

[Kutjara]

3. Yep, regulators look the other way, because...

...if they didn't, our whole Ponzi scheme of an economy would come crashing down.

In a country where Starsky shills for loan sharks, you know something is screwed up. :)

[SpiralHawk]

4. Thanks a pantload republicons & allied elite corrupt corporate cronies

the republicon self-proclaimed 'elites'
SO deserve a planetful of pantloads for destroying America's
freedom, and the economic well being of the middle class,
while shredding the social safety net.

[ohioINC]

5. sounds like a cool documentary

Credit Cards are the Devil.

[UpInArms]

7. Welcome to DU, ohioINC!

Glad to have you here :hi:

[Democrats_win]

10. States won't enforce out-of-state gay marriages but will enforce usury which is illegal in most stat...

Usury is charging an illegally high interest rate--which is what credit cards do.

Basically two states made usury legal--Delaware and S. Dakota. There's some obscure law that says if it's legal in those states it's legal in the other states. But, as we see many states have made laws that makes recognizing gay marriage illegal. So... since usury is illegal in your state, why does your state enforce credit card collection efforts through the courts?

I know, it has to do with contracts, but all American states should make it illegal for any jurisdiction in that state to enforce these illegal credit cards.

[nyrnyr1994]

11. Delaware you say?

I've noticed alot of CC companies just happen to be based in DE? What are the chances of that?

:sarcasm:

[SharonAnn]

13. Many are HQ in South Dakota. Citibank's credit card, for instance.

That's been so for many, many years.

[liberalhistorian]

12. Medical debt is another huge problem

that's even affecting the middle and upper classes now. Even the insured can be sunk with debt due to a chronic condition/illness, or serious illness such as cancer, and the uninsured-fugeddaboudit! Over half of bankruptcies are filed by MIDDLE-class families with insurance who are destroyed by medical bills and bankrupty is the only way they can save their house, property and assets.

This relates to credit-card debt because many, many people use credit cards to pay the outrageous bills, a lot of them have no choice. And if they have a chronic illness, well, then, all the worse in terms of such debt. But our congress critters sure as hell don't have to worry about that, now, do they? So, why should they care if we proles don't have the same health care program they do that WE pay for?

[EVDebs]

14. Corporations are pathological

see the movie's 'synopsis' under 'the film' at

The Corporation
http://www.thecorporation.com/index.cfm?page_id=2

The corporate "persons" amongst us are psychopaths !

""To assess the "personality" of the corporate "person," a checklist is employed, using diagnostic criteria of the World Health Organization and the standard diagnostic tool of psychiatrists and psychologists. The operational principles of the corporation give it a highly anti-social "personality": it is self-interested, inherently amoral, callous and deceitful; it breaches social and legal standards to get its way; it does not suffer from guilt, yet it can mimic the human qualities of empathy, caring and altruism. Four case studies, drawn from a universe of corporate activity, clearly demonstrate harm to workers, human health, animals and the biosphere. Concluding this point-by-point analysis, a disturbing diagnosis is delivered: the institutional embodiment of laissez-faire capitalism fully meets the diagnostic criteria of a "psychopath."

The entire system is designed to wring every dollar out of you and siphon it to the 'top' wealthiest CEOs and their progeny. Keyne's "marginal propensity to consume" (showing that keeping the poorest and middle class flush with cash was the smartest way to run the economy) is anathema to these morons and the "persons" they service, their corporate cloaking.

These certainly must be part and parcel of the unseen forces the Bible warned us about.

[Doondoo]

15. K&R

[Orrin_73]

16. What is the average credit card interest in the US?

[ArbustoBuster]

17. Between 12 and 15 percent, on average.

The rates as of Feb 14, via http://www.bankrate.com/brm/static/rate-roundup.asp">Bankrate.com:

Credit cards
Rates: 13.36 percent (standard fixed); 14.56 percent (standard variable)
All's quiet on the credit card front: Rates for all types of card remain where they were last week. The standard fixed rate stays at 13.36 percent and the variable at 14.56 percent. For all cards the fixed rate is 11.79 percent, and the variable rate is 13.86 percent.

[guruoo]

18. "Maxed Out": The VIP databases

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHEh3UsHP0A