I know it's been busy on d-kos lately, between
Abramoff,
Card/Bolten, and the
awesome rubber-stamp morality play all taking place in the last couple of days. Still, I had a moment of outrage, and I always like to share those.
I was sorting through the mail today, separating the to-be-shredded from the to-be-recycled, and there were the usual assortment of credit card applications. Just by chance, I happened to look at the one from Citibank, on their Initial Disclosure Statement, under "Facts about Rates and Fees":
Default APR: 31.49%. All APRs may (heh) automatically increase up to the Default APR if you fail to make a payment to us when due (even thouh we may have waived the late fee), exceed your credit line, or make a payment to us that is not honored.
Not that I've ever used Citibank --- or that other credit card companies are any better --- but, holy cow! Talk about usury. I know nothing should be surprising in the climate of big business (think I'm going to blame it on Bush? You bet I am), but when a credit card is legally allowed to charge an interest rate of one-third? Seriously, we're majorly f#cked up.