As I promised I’ve added a little more clarity to the reason why I believe the Black Movement has been killed by the “Black” Obama. I make a point of Obama’s “Blackness” because I believe it has silenced the voice of the “Black” working class. Let’s face it… who among “Black Americans” really want’s to publicly criticize the First Black President of theUnited States of America? I believe it is hurting our ability to see straight. Where are the “Black” leaders that will challenge Obama openly to do right by the people?
Race politics, rich vs poor, red vs blue, democrats vs republicans all of these ying yang debates are distractions from the most obvious root to America’s problem. The Federal Reserve. So why do we jump onto the hamster wheel every time? Maybe because it’s safer that way. Biting the hand that feeds you is never easy or fun. Right Glenn Beck? Why Acorn when you have all of the Federal Reserve to play with 
Citibank decided to raise interest rates on up to 15 million credit card holders again. What I don’t understand is if we are an economy based on consumer buying, why they would raise interest rates again? Why would you want to pay 30% interest on an item that you more than likely can pay cash for within a short period of time. I understand the bank are in it for the money, but just because you can, doesn’t mean you have to.
Look at the housing crisis; the banks sold variable interest rate mortgages to millions of people. Understandable, some people bought more than they could afford, but many were first time home owners that were told that they could only get a variable rate for their first mortgage. People who were never late on their mortgage may have fell behind on a credit card, accumulated some medical debt, etc and their credit score dropped some. The banks took advantage of the situation and started to economically rape the American people. Millions of homes started to foreclose, people couldn’t afford the upkeep of their home and pay the mortgage, in turn, and house prices fell for everyone.
With Citibank doing this rate hike, do you think they are just taking advantage of people in a bad situation so they can further destroy the middle class or do you think that this is a good business practice? Do you think that this will further the decline of the consumer purchasing power?
I myself do not have any credit cards, and I pay cash for everything, so this will not affect me at all.
Here is the article from the financial times:
Citi raises card rates on millions
By Francesco Guerrera and Saskia Scholtes in New York and Tom Braithwaite in Washington
Published: June 30 2009 23:59 | Last updated: June 30 2009 23:59
Citigroup has sharply increased interest rates on up to 15m US credit card accounts just months before curbs on such rises come into effect, in a move that could fuel political anger at the treatment of consumers by bailed-out banks.
People close to the situation said that Citi, which is about to cede a 34 per cent stake to the US government as part of its latest rescue, had upped rates on between 13m and 15m credit cards it co-brands with retailers such as Sears.
Citi’s rate increases emerged on the day the government proposed legislation to create a new regulator with sweeping powers on consumer protection and a week after the bank was attacked by some politicians for raising employees’ salaries.
Holders of co-branded cards who failed to pay their balance in full at the end of the month saw their rates rise by an average 24 per cent – or nearly 3 percentage points – between January and April, according to a Credit Suisse analysis of data from the consultancy Lightspeed Research.
After FT.com broke news of the hike, Citi issued a statement saying: ”We have adjusted pricing and card terms for some customers as part of our regular account reviews. This is an ongoing process to ensure we offer terms, interest rates, credit lines and products based on individual needs and risk profiles. These changes also reflect the dramatically higher cost of doing business in our industry as we work to preserve the broad availability of credit.”
Citi’s move came as the economic downturn caused record defaults among US card users and prompted many issuers to raise rates, both to cushion their losses and pre-empt the new restrictions set to come into effect in February.
However, Citi’s increases have been larger than those of its main rivals, according to Lightspeed, which tracks about 12,000 US credit card accounts.
Carolyn Maloney, Democratic representative for New York, the author of the new rules that will sharply constrain lenders’ ability to raise rates for risky borrowers, criticised Citi’s move. “It’s hard to tell if rate hikes on existing balances being put in place now are the result of prior bad business decisions or getting in under the wire of the new law,” Ms Maloney told the Financial Times.
Perpetual - continuing or enduring forever; everlasting
Debt – a liability or obligation to pay or render something
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.”
The above statement was in a letter written by one of our founding fathers, and U.S. President Thomas Jefferson back in 1802. The letter was addressed to then Secretary of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin.
Even then, our founding fathers knew that creating a central and private bank would destroy the lives and freedoms of the people.
Thomas Jefferson also stated:
“I place economy among the first and most important republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.”
To understand this phrase, we also need to understand what perpetual debt actually is, and how our money system works. There are a few videos you can watch on YouTube. There are 5 in all that describe how the financial system works in this country. They are very well done, and worth the time to sit back and watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVkFb26u9g8
What should bother people the most about how our financial system works, is the fact, that all Federal Reserve Notes are backed by the power of congress to lay tax on the people. In Section 8, on the U.S. Constitution, congress has the power to coin and regulate money. Congress can also coin money without interest. To sum it all up, the government asks the Federal Reserve to borrow money. The Federal Reserve prints notes. These notes are traded with government bonds to be paid back with interest.
With the perpetual debt scheme that we have been following for almost 100 years, our money supply really never expands, and the interest can never truly be paid back. So we borrow more money, with more interest, tacking on even more debt to pay back the original debt. To give a better example, think of a high interest credit card, no matter what you pay down, the balance continues to go up.
Does this mean that the United States is caught up in the largest credit card scheme ever?
On June 4th, 1963 President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 11110. The purpose of this order was to print silver certificates without interest, and thrust the power back to U.S. Treasury. This order was never directly reversed, but on September 9, 1987, Ronald Reagan enacted Executive Order 12608, The Elimination of Unnecessary Executive Orders and Technical Amendments to Others, thus placing us back into perpetual debt.
So why do we still follow the Federal Reserve Act?
Would our national debt finally come down?
Would we finally be able to live the lives our forefathers pictured?
Would we continue to pay almost half our life for a home at 3 to 4 times its purchase value?
Now that’s change I can believe in!
