“Let the Buyer Beware”
Predatory lenders have caused a record number of home mortgage foreclosures. Credit card firms are extorting millions of dollars in “penalties” from customers who have never made a late payment or gone over their credit limit. Insurance companies are weaseling out of billions of dollars' worth of claims, using the zaniest excuses imaginable. And you're paying hidden fees and surcharges every time you rent a car, stay in a hotel, go to the bank, sign up for a new phone service (or cable TV or Internet service), deposit money in your retirement account…
And yet Libertarians and rightwing Republicans keep insisting that there's no problem here. This is capitalism, Buddy; the free market. Caveat Emptor. That stupid mouthbreathing retard should've read the fine print.
Riiight.
What the fuck are we devolving into? A company can hide a booby trap on page 37 of a contract — written in legalese in a size .01 font — and it’s up to the customer to spend several hours poring over the contract with a magnifying glass.
How far does this “logic” go? Is it legal to sell fake Rolexes on the street for $200 apiece? After all, if some dumbfuck is gullible enough to buy one — cool!
Auto repair shops should be allowed to use the cheapest shoddiest parts they can find and then tell you they used the highest quality components money can buy (and charge you accordingly). Hell, why even make them work on your car at all? They can just tell you they did it and then charge you $1,200 for the work they didn’t do. Hey, if you're suspicious, just look under the hood and check it out for yourself. What, you want some big fluffy drooling Nanny State hovering over you??
And why is it against the law to assault or mug someone? When you're walking down the street, it’s up to you to be aware of your surroundings and be ready and able to fend off any would-be attacker. If a person is oblivious or preoccupied, and/or too feeble to defend him/herself — hey, easy pickings!
People get thrown in jail when they try anything mentioned in the previous three paragraphs. And when slippery businesspeople mug their customers with deceptive practices and fine print, they belong in jail too. And throw the key away.
cross-posted at Bring It On!
Labels: fine print, hidden fees and surcharges, predatory lenders free market
posted by Tom Harper @ 4:07 PM
14 Comments:
We have become a people downtrodden by the government which no longer has anything to do with the people. You can vote in a representative on one platform and he/she will feel no responsibility to stick to it. Government gets in bed with the financial institutions and the insurance companies and foreign interests and we all pay the price. I really, seriously fear for our country and the direction it's taking.
Rockync: Very well put. If an industry lobbyist pays a huge "campaign contribution" to a Congressperson, that money will outweigh the opinions of millions of constituents. They used to call this bribery.
Government and industry are so closely intertwined, it's hard to tell where one leaves off and the other begins.
Yeah,
Like in the housing market the same crowd who are falling over themselves to bail out the educated wall street investors to made the risky investments while chastising the stupid consumers who bought into it.
Erik
I'll take the Democrat over the Republican in November, but sadly, not much is going to change on this front. The corporations are still going to write the rules for various reasons. And the average Joe and Jane is going to be stuck with the bill.
Erik: Yes, it's a nice cushy arrangement -- a warm fuzzy nanny state for corporate executives, and a knockdown drag-out free market for everybody else.
Randal: I'm afraid you're right. There isn't much difference between the 2 parties. Democrats make nicer slogans, but both parties are completely owned and operated by global corporations.
Tom...
I am here to ask for your help. You may not know that "The Iraq Veterans Against The War" are doing a "Winter Soldier" next week in D.C. Hundreds of IVAW combat veterans along with Iraqi civilians will testify about occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. I've got a blog up that is full of info and links.
We need to spread the word about this extremely important event. Could you blog about it, install an IVAW link, donate, or just plain tell everybody. Thanks, KWW
I've got mine, Tom!
Damn America hater!
:)
KWW: That sounds good. I'll check out your post.
Mike: Uh oh, you've seen through my smokescreen. Yes, my true goal is the violent overthrow of the United States of America :)
what cracks me up even more is how these very same right wingers will clamor for and applaud corporate bailouts for the very same corporations that fleeced Americans.
The banks will get a two-fer: The government will secure they bad paper they hold on foreclosed homes AND they will be able to resell the home.
All the while the right wingers will be screaming how we must not help those deadbeat people who were stupid enough to get a mortgage they could not afford.
They should have known their ARM would jack up to unpayable levels and that the housing market was going to melt down.
Meanwhile, golden parachutes all around for the CEOs of these crooked corporations that teeter on bankruptcy after peddling their subprime loans.
PoliShifter: Yup, it’s all pretty fucked up. A nanny state for CEOs and free enterprise for the rest of us. And like you said, the people who want taxpayers to bail out every fuckup CEO are the same ones who say “that dumbfuck should've read the fine print before he took out the loan. Let him twist in the wind.”
Since the time Nixon got in bed with the newly formed HMO's and realy put a hurting on the American people. We've been suckered into paying and making rich all those associated with big business.
rockync makes some very good points as do this post.
Let's Talk: True, this trend started with Nixon. Then it got even worse under Reagan and Bush 41; and now it's gotten intolerable.
By now I guess we're all so used to it, it just seems normal.
In case you forgot, these overweight CEOs with combovers plan to live the American dream. It is therefore the job of the little fella to make sure the 1% experience the American dream, you know the one consumerism has redefined. So we need to stop bitching and send our pay checks to these rich fucks. How much are you willing to give so they don't take your house?
Jo
Jo: I'm personally willing $0.00 to those assholes. But unfortunately Congress disagrees, and they're owned lock stock and barrel by the robber barons.
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