Shame on the credit lenders

Policies harm spiritual, emotional and physical well-being of millions

Religious leaders have fought to end slavery, segregation and denying women the right to vote. They have championed labor laws, affordable housing and national health insurance. Yet the voices of faith today are silent against the unjust gain of the credit card industry.

Bank policies along with credit bureaus and collection agencies are harming the spiritual, emotional and physical well-being of millions of people.

It is legal in the United States to charge 79.9 percent interest on a credit card. Usury laws no longer exist. Some argue that it is a person’s choice to have credit cards with interest at 21 percent, 29 percent or higher. Indebtedness is the fault of the card holder.

There is a veneer of legitimacy in this Darwinian logic. Independent of people not fully understanding the impact such an interest rate has on the household budget; however, there is the broader issue that plastic is the primary way to establish a credit score. Absent a credit history, functioning in modern society becomes difficult. This rigged system inevitably leads many to live with crushing debt.

According to one psychologist, up to 16 million Americans suffer from physical or emotional stress from consumer debt. It can lead to divorce, suicide, insomnia, anxiety, chronic headaches, stomach disorders, alcohol abuse and contribute to heart disease. A May Associated Press-GfK poll found that 46 percent of Americans surveyed described debt stress as a “great deal” or that they were stressed “quite a bit.”

Americans tend to feel a sense of shame that they’re in debt, even though surveys show that one out of three families uses credit cards to help cover basic living expenses. Citizens have been conditioned to think that if they haven’t succeeded at living the American dream, it’s their fault.

In this recession, 6.4 million Americans have been unemployed for six months or more. In February, there were more than 15 million unemployed Americans. Credit card bills can’t be paid. This will directly impact credit scores.

A poor credit score can deny someone employment, a mortgage, rental housing and student loans. A yet-to-be recognized human rights problem exists. In 2007, 35 percent of employers used credit scores to assess a candidate’s qualifications, according to Ben Arnoldy, a Christian Science Monitor reporter who has written about credit checks as a civil rights issue. Another journalist, John Schoen of MSNBC, recently wrote about a survey of 100 employers by the Society of Human Resource Management that found 60 percent of respondents used credit histories to determine employment suitability.

Consumer advocates have consistently argued that there is no connection between consumer debt and job performance. It’s likely that Wall Street titans all had sterling credit scores, yet it didn’t stop them from unethical behavior that caused a historic financial crisis. –PAUL PETER JESEP

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=947618&category=OPINION#ixzz0std3XNGK