Monday, July 1, 2013

Running Them Out Of The Temple

Social Security, now will automatically deposit my Social Security check in something called Direct Express. It is managed by Comerica and there are fees associated with using this debit card. Recipients of Social Security do have an option of direct deposit to their bank accounts and Coemica has a reasonable fee structure, so no grips here ... yet.

However, my experience is that there is an erratic acceptance of the Direct Express card both on-line and at box stores. Netflix won't take the card (I don't care because I have issues with Netflix.), AT&T thinks it's a gift card, Capital One will only take on-line payments from bank accounts. This requires me to pay fees for money orders which in effect is a forced usury fee to use my own money.

I am much better off than the people in this article. How outrageous to exploit minimum wage workers with fee after fee after fee. (Chase Bank will raise your interest rate on credit cards if you don't use them.) Exploiting the lower class both financially and politically has become a national past time of the financial and political elite in this country. Next in line is the ever shrinking middle class,

The working class in this country has no advocates anymore. Labor unions are going the way of the dinosaurs and politicians, even at the local level, are more interested in accumulating money from large contributors for re-election than representing the larger constituency, thanks to the Supreme Courts idiotic Citizens United judgement  The most insidious aspect of this dynamic is that the victims of this downward spiral support this. Just read the comment sections of your local on-line newspaper edition. This support is based on a confused ideology combined with a self-destructive Schadenfreude without a critical examination of its corrupting, narcissistic nature.

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