September 2nd, 2008
For immediate release: Sunday, August 31, 2008 Ohioans For Financial Freedom Files More Than 400,000 Signatures To Give Ohioans Financial Choices and Jobs Columbus? Ohioans For Financial Freedom made its voice loud and clear today filing more than 400,000 signatures with the Ohio Secretary of State from Ohioans who want to keep their financial choices and 6,000 good paying jobs. Ohio consumers and volunteers helped unload the boxes and boxes of signatures helping put a Vote No on Issue 5 measure on the November 4 ballot. “This effort was a great opportunity to hear from Ohioans, and it’s clear from this massive number of signatures there is a strong sentiment among voters that politicians need to stop killing jobs and financial choices in the state – especially when the economy is faltering and businesses are fleeing Ohio, “ said Committee Member Bridgette Roman.“ In signing the petition, Ohioans took part in their democratic right to repeal a bad law (H.B. 545). “Ohioans have been enthusiastic about this effort because they are tired of government inserting itself where it is not needed,” said Roman. “Ohioans deserve to have financial choices.” The number of signatures filed is well over the 241,365 signatures from 44 Ohio counties required by law. The signatures provided to the Secretary of State (SOS), are now sent to the local county boards of elections for verification, then back to the SOS for official certification. Today’s filing of the 400,000 plus signatures comes on the heels of strong endorsements from the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and the Ohio Grocers Association. read more
More here: 08/31/08 Press Release from Ohioans For Financial Freedom
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August 25th, 2008
We’ve recently read about several contests or competitions to encourage low or middle-income families to save more money. The contests are usually sponsored by local banks or non-profit organizations, and reward the family that saves the most with a financial bonus. One example is discussed in today’s El Paso Times. Here’s a brief quote about the contest:
The Duran family is one of six families participating in this year’s GECU Savings Challenge. The families were given “coaches,” GECU employees who helped them set goals and are giving them guidance.
The top two families will win $10,000 each, while the other families will get $2,500 each for participating.
The goal of the program is to educate the families about sound financial habits but also help educate the community by using the families as examples.
Maureen Hankins, director of the El Paso YWCA’s Consumer Credit Counseling Service, which is not affiliated with the challenge, said that using the families as public examples can help others who are facing similar issues.
Consumers “can read about other people who are just like them and think, ‘I can do this too,’ ” Hankins said. “People don’t want to discuss their money issues and money problems with other people.
“A lot of people think they are alone in their situation. That’s not true. Everyone has the same money issues. Everyone is trying to save and everyone is trying to get out of debt.”
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August 21st, 2008
In an article titled “Payday Loans Attract Interest“, another blogger provides info about pending payday loan legislative activity. This time the battleground is in Alabama. Check the article out. It gives the details of the potential payday loan bill to be introduced.
[Note -- we just received a comment that this was 'old' news -- the bill stalled and was not adopted]
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August 21st, 2008
The credit crisis is about to hit our quality of life according to a recent article in Fortune.
We are used to being able to afford a higher standard of living each year.
Even with stagnant real incomes, we can always live a little better every year through borrowing and pretending that our living standard is still rising, just as it was for decades. Last year, just as the subprime crisis happened, credit card debt took off. The home-equity ATM had been shut down, so people turned to the last source of easy money they had left, the most expensive debt on the menu, credit card borrowing. Since credit card debt has been growing much faster than the economy - more than 8% in last year’s third and fourth quarters and over 7% in May (the most recent month reported)- people are apparently using it as a substitute for income. Credit card debt, like mortgage debt, gets bundled, securitized, and sold off by banks. Citigroup, one of America’s largest credit card lenders, just reported that it lost $176 million in the second quarter through securitizing such debt. That happens when the buyers of those securities observe rising delinquency rates and rising interest rates, and decide the debt is worth less than Citi thought. More generally, the amount of credit card debt that is securitized nationwide has plunged by more than half in the past five months because it’s getting riskier. That means credit card issuers will be charging customers higher interest rates, and since the banks can’t offload as much of the debt as before, they’ll have less money to lend to cardholders. But bottom line, the credit card money window is going to start closing - and soon.
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August 19th, 2008
The Seattle Post Intelligencer has a great essay on the political psychology of debt. Here’s a taste of the article:
Today, our current economic troubles notwithstanding, we yet presume that prosperity-via-indebtedness is our natural and eternal condition. As for our addiction to debt-as addicts say, “We can handle it.” But we can’t. And the four addictions that have made for our 21st century prosperity are rapidly becoming the four walls of our debtors’ prison.
The essay argues that, unless we change, Americans are doomed to end up in a virtual “debtors prison”, strapped with consumer debt.
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