The big problem with the U.S. economy isn’t high interest rates, and won’t be fixed by lowering them. The big problem isn’t lack of a few dollars from Washington, and won’t be fixed by a $600-$1,200 giveaway. The big problem is that consumer spending has become too much debt-based with credit cards. And not only is this credit being tightened today, but credit card issuers are sticking it to many borrowers with higher rates while the Fed lowers its own.
American Peon
The banks sold you on plastic
Said your life it would enrich
Hyped the glories of free spending
Never hinted at a hitch.
They were quick to raise your limits
Made it all seem so sublime
You could live above your income
Pay in driblets over time.
Of course there were some drawbacks
Fees and fines for paying late
That caused a growing balance
Even faster to inflate.
Over time the easy payments
Morphed into a challenge hard
Though each mail brought an answer
Offers for another card.
But alas, life ain’t no picnic
It can throw a nasty curve
Your job gets shipped to China
Illness strips your cash reserve.
And suddenly the plastic
That let you dine out at the Ritz
Gets used to pay the phone bill
And for purchasing some grits.
All at once the banks are on you
First they trash your credit score
Soon they come for all they loaned you
Come for that, and more, much more
They have gamed the legal system
They have paid their Congress dues
They control all of the levers
It’s a lock...they win...you lose.
Now the masters of the plastic
Have you well and truly pinned
And cunningly convinced you
It ain’t them, its you that sinned.
So for them you now will labor
Pay their quirky bloated toll
Try to think what could have led you
To this awful peon role.
*******
