The Senate and Congress passed a bill that would finally give us some credit card fee relief. Well, it’s about time the average person got some relief help. Up to now, all the help has gone to the banks and auto industry. Very little help has come to us who are supporting the failed banks and car industry bail out. This is a step towards stopping the gouging by the credit card companies. Credit card companies relentlessly think of innovative ways to tap into our funds. Some ways are quite imaginative. The ones I like are increasing your interest rate without telling you and for no apparent reason. Credit cards companies are known to increase interest rates when the consumer has met all their obligations timely. And if you’re savvy enough to call them, they will sometimes decrease it. Then, there’s the dialing for dollars scheme. The card companies will allow us to pay our bill by phone. Then they charge fees as high as … [Read more...] about COMING SOON: CONSUMER CREDIT CARD CRUNCH RELIEF
Legal
Leadership: Michael Steele and Barack Obama
Michael Steele is the first African American chairman of the Republican Party. Barack Obama is the first African American elected as President. What do Michael Steele and Barack Obama have in common besides race? The answer is nothing. Therein lays the problem for Michael Steele. Let’s face it Michael Steele was elected to the chairmanship of the Republican party at this moment in time because he was black. The Republicans needed to change their image to appear more diverse. That’s how Sarah Palin got her start too. The only problem has been that Michael Steele brought nothing to the Republican Party besides his race. Now that is not to say nor imply that Steele is not qualified to be chairman. What I mean is that he did not have a leadership plan, only an image. Mr. Steele started to think and act as if he could be all things to all people. So he started rapping, using slang, attacking Rush Limbaugh and making speaking blunders. Who was he trying to fool? … [Read more...] about Leadership: Michael Steele and Barack Obama
Charging Cheney For Committing Torture
Dick Cheney and other Bush administration officials bent and broke all rules against the use of torture by approving waterboard tactics on a 9/11 captive. Waterboarding is recognized throughout the world as one of the most inhumane forms of torture used against war criminals. President Obama calls it torture. President Obama promised to bring international respect back to our country by showing we are ready to lead again. How the Cheney situation is handled by us will show the world what we’re now made of. We need to show that we are not hypocrites in leadership. Will we look the other way because Cheney was our Vice President? Will politics force us to water down the waterboard issue when it involves the use by Americans in the Bush administration? Will we take the high road and do what is just and fair under the situation? The best way to show the world we are ready to lead again is to do unto Dick Cheney and others what we would do if the tables were reversed. If the … [Read more...] about Charging Cheney For Committing Torture
Hating Homelessness or Hating the Homeless
Maryland became the first state in the country to sign a law to protect the homeless under its hate crime law. This now means that it will be a hate crime to target the homeless while committing a crime. Other hate crime laws already include protection for race, nationality, religious beliefs and sexual orientation. Since statistics have been collected, it is estimated that 800 attacks were made in the last decade targeting the homeless with 217 deaths occurring as a result. Maryland’s law goes into effect in October, 2009. Hopefully, the nation’s capitol will also enact a similar law. It’s a cruel world we live in when homeless people are targeted for crimes and attacked viciously just because they are homeless. But we all know bias exists against the homeless in many ways and on many levels. Maryland’s new hate crime law is targeted against those persons who see the homeless and view them as less than human. Yet there are many who refuse to see the homeless, view them as … [Read more...] about Hating Homelessness or Hating the Homeless
A Change is Coming to the Court
While it is indeed too early to tell what type of legacy President Obama will leave, one thing is for sure. He will leave an indelible stamp on the laws of the country. With the announced retirement of Supreme Court Justice Souter and perhaps others yet to follow, President Obama will have the opportunity to bring the Supreme Court to neither the left nor to the right. As diverse as his cabinet is, he will have the opportunity to bring the same diversity to the highest court of the country. He will have an opportunity to bring the court back to what it should be. A court of justice for all. A court of neither for the Republicans nor for the Democrats. A court dispensing justice fairly for all people. We've come a long way from the days of Gore v. Bush,when the Supreme Court decided the presidential election of 2000 instead of the people. We may not know what the outcome will be regrding the choice of the new Justice. But we know a change is coming. And that's good news. I … [Read more...] about A Change is Coming to the Court