You Are Part Of The Rebellion, Like It Or Not...

For my follow-up to Tuesday's piece on the new credit card bill, I am going to bring in another movie reference because while we may be experiencing the beginning of a minor version of the collapse of all of those bank buildings like at the end of Fight Club, it is not actually coming until August 22, 2010, so until then, America is going to be feeling a bit like Lando Calrissian. Remember in Empire when Dick Cheney kept telling Lando to pray that he didn't alter the deal further? If you are carrying any credit card balances between now and when the credit card reform legislation actually forces the credit card empire to lower your interest rates to reasonable levels on Augsut 22, 2010, you are going to feel like going back to finish your Jedi training so that you can better fight the evil credit card empire.

Think of today's credit card times in the context of the six Star Wars movies. Today, we are in the midst of Episode 5 - The Empire Strikes Back. Episodes 1-3 are folklore, bits and pieces of mythological details - times long gone that came before you that witnessed the birth of credit cards, issued with low interest rates by small local banks to consumers who always paid their balances off every month, and then witnessed the early battles between the banks and consumers as the banks grew larger and the consumers were oppressed into submission over time, accepting higher interest rates and not paying off balances anymore, until at the end of Episode 3, when the banks had become a massive multi-national credit card empire in supreme control, bending consumers to their will, those consumers still taking on ever-increasing amounts of credit, feeding the empire's growth, not necessarily against their will, but in a complacent stupor. All of this came before you, but somehow, you are paying the price for it today.

Think of Episode 4 as your own personal New Hope that spanned from the day you were granted your first credit card until May 22, 2009, the day The Leader signed the credit card reform bill into law. It was a coming of age for you, where you learned how credit worked and began to see the evil credit empire for what it really was. People offered you credit card guidance through their own painful stories, but you yourself had to experience the pain first hand before you realized that it was time to do something about this evil empire.

So, at the end of Episode 4, we as consumers all banned together and forced our leadership into doing something to fight the empire. There was a glimmer of hope about the future as Episode 4 ended on May 22, 2009, the cameras fading away from The Leader as he signed the credit card reform bill and the credits began to roll to that famous march.

But just days later, we are realizing that there was a truly fundamental flaw in our attack plan at the end of Episode 4. We didn't actually kill Dick Cheney, but simply sent him reeling into space, where he will recover and come back at us harder than ever. You are currently living in Episode 5, which will span from May 22, 2009 to February 22, 2010 and prove to be nine months of absolute pain if you are currently carrying a credit card balance. While the Credit Card Reform Bill is good and strong, it is weak and inadequate in it's first nine months, giving the credit card empire that nine months to come into compliance with its laws.

So, what do you think the empire is going to do with that nine months? This is the "painful" period that I referred to on Tuesday where if you have a credit card balance, the credit card empire is going to pull a "Capital One" on you. Switch your current record-low rates to sky-high rates for the last nine months before the laws go into effect. Consumer groups are expecting these to be the highest interest rates that we will pay in our lifetime on credit card balances.

From now until February 22, 2010, credit card consumers that are carrying a balance are going to struggle just to keep their X-wing above water and make the sky-rocketing interest payments. Interest rates are going to soar, fees are going to soar, and the evil credit card empire will have full reign to do whatever it wishes. An unbridled Karl Rove giving us all a full, long, nine months to question why in the world the politicians in Washington gave the credit card companies this nine months to comply.

Again, on Tuesday, I praised the lawmakers and The Leader for the bill, praise which was, and is still deserved, but today I join the millions of Americans who are asking why in the world Washington has given the banks nine months to comply and thrown us all to the sharks like this. The banks didn't wait nine months for their taxpayer bailout money, did they? I don't think so.

I will, still, however, give Washington credit, but always question why they agreed to this nine month window where the American consumer with a credit card balance is going to take a hard hit, no matter whether they pay their credit card bills on time or not. I just cannot imagine what would have been so difficult to include legislation that mandated that the credit card empire not be able to raise rates on customers who are paying their bills on-time during this nine month transition period.

I guess we all have nine months to figure that out, right? Much like Episode 5, we will spend this time questioning the decisions that those who came before us made, resulting in the current fight that we are in, cursing them, but knowing that a better day is on the horizon.

On February 22, 2010, the major provisions of the Credit Card Reform Bill will actually take effect. The credit card empire will no longer be able to raise rates on existing balances, charge you over-limit fees, and subject you to universal default. This is the beginning of Episode 6, the final episode, Return of The Sane. The nine months of pain will be behind us, and though some people with credit card balances are going to be paying well over 20% APR, over 30% APR perhaps, the interest rate hikes will be over. The ability for the evil credit card empire to inflict an ever-increasing amount of pain on us will have ended. Episode 6 will run from February 22 through August 22, 2010, but if you pay all of your credit card bills on time and do not default on any debt during that time period, the law (with some help from the Ewoks) will force the credit card companies to lower your interest rate shortly after August 22, 2010, back down closer to where it was on May 22, 2009.

From here until August 22, 2010, the American consumer is going to have a hard fight, but that fight will ultimately lead to a better America, and a stronger American consumer. Credit is going to be nearly impossible to get during this time and the interest rate for credit is going to shoot up into space, and we are all going to pay the price for both what we have done, and sadly, for things that we had absolutely no part in. But, on August 22, 2010, the long fight will end and we can hopefully rejoice in having made it through such a ridiculous fight that we both brought on ourselves, yet at the same time, had so little effect on as a single individual.

We can only hope that things will play out differently, but with the law signed and the dates in place, there is nothing else that we can do but sit back and go for the ride that the credit empire and the politicians have just sent us on.

Time To Start A Fight Club...

If you have not seen the movie Fight Club, I urge you to do so. While there's a lot of crazy things going on in that movie that may not be to your liking or taste, there is one thing about that movie that every American should pay attention to -- the destruction of the modern American banking and credit system that takes place in the last couple minutes of the movie, all to a fitting song.

This a bit of a long read, but if you have even one credit card, regardless of whether or not you carry a balance, you need to read it...

This past Thursday, I intended to sit and type out an article, praising the current legislature and president for their credit card legislation bill. No, you read that right -- I am praising the current Democratic-controlled House and Senate and The Leader on a fantastic credit card reform bill that was signed into law last Friday. Again, you read that correctly.

It is going to cause some pain upfront, especially if you hold a balance on a credit card right now, but in the long run, it is going to benefit us all. It reigns back in the run-away credit that banks had been dolling out without any sense over the past decade, which is what led to their industry's collapse and subsequent socialist bailout by the American government to try to fix the failing economy.

While I will still tell you about this bill and still praise the lawmakers that wrote it and passed it, there was a surprise in my mailbox Thursday afternoon that turned this article into an attack on America's banks and credit card companies.

First, let's talk about the bill. Bottom line, it makes it illegal for credit card companies to raise the interest rate on a balance that you already owe them, unless it is a promotional interest rate. This means that days of you charging something on a card at a 9.9% interest rate and having them raise the interest rate the next month before you paid it off to 17.9% for no reason are over. The problem is, that if you owed them a balance the day the law went into effect, there is a still a work around the credit card companies have (more on that later), but any debt that you accumulate after the day the bill become law must always remain at the interest rate that you agreed to, as long as it is a standard interest rate and not a promotional interest rate. This is a great thing for the American consumer and is decades overdue.

The bill also gives your more time to pay your monthly bill from the time the credit card company issues it -- You'll now have at least 21 days from the day your statement is generated until you have to make the payment. It also restricts the credit card companies to having the cutoff before your bill is late be during their normal business hours. A lot of times, you'll get a statement and the bill is due on Sunday, when they are not accepting payments, but will consider it late if you pay on Monday. They also have been doing this for holidays as well. That practice is no longer legal. These are also greatly needed improvements to the credit card contracts and a great win for the American consumer.

Another great win, and one that the banks fought tooth and nail to try to leave out of this bill is the fact that any money you pay over the minimum payment must now be applied to the highest interest rate balance that you owe them. Before, the credit card companies would apply that money to the lowest interest rate. So, say you owed for purchases at 15.9% and owed a cash advance at 23%, when you would pay an extra dollar to the credit card company, they would apply it to the 15.9% balance, not the 23% balance, which obviously gave them a clear advantage in making more money off of you. This new legislation forces them to apply that extra dollar to the 23% balance first, and the 15.9% balance once that 23% balance is gone. This is going to cost them billions and billion of dollars in interest rates. No doubt the banks are going to lash out at the American consumer to make up for this gap of billions (again, more on that later).

Another area that is going to cost the banks billions is a change in over-limit fees. You will now have to "opt-in" to an over-limit fee, meaning that you must request that the bank allow you to go over your limit and charge you an over-limit fee for doing so. If you do not "opt-in" the bank will not allow you to charge over your limit, thus completely avoiding over-limit fees.

Another great benefit to the credit card consumer in this bill is the banning of what is known as "universal default". Under universal default, a creditor is allowed to raise your interest rate that you have with them if you default on any of your loans, even if it is not one you have with them. For instance, if you defaulted on a car loan, it would allow the credit card companies to raise your interest rate to their default rate, even if you had never missed a single payment with them. Universal default is now illegal and is going to save American consumers billions of dollars in the first year alone.

An area that is of less prominence in today's credit card war, but will still benefit the consumer, is that the credit card companies must compute your finance charges on the current billing cycle - meaning, charging you an interest rate on the current month's average balance as opposed to last month's average balance. This was designed to hit you one last time when you paid off a credit card balance. Say, in February, you owed $200 and paid that off. In March, when your statement cycled, with a $0 balance for each day that month, you would still be nailed with a finance charge on the $200 that you owed the previous month. The new legislation makes this practice illegal.

And lastly, while not effecting the actual agreement you have with the banks, the bill requires your statement to cite how long it will take you to pay off your balance if you are making just the minimum payments. I know most American consumers do not want to be reminded of that every month, but it will help you make better financial decisions when it comes to credit, I guarantee it. The statement must also show you how much you would need to send in order to pay off the entire balance in 12, 24, or 36 months, adjusted, of course, for additional monthly interest. This will give you a guideline in paying off your balances in a much more timely manner. You can image the grimaces in bank boardrooms all across the country over this one.

And that's the basics of the bill. It is a good piece of legislation and will benefit America in the long run, however, now, on to the "more on that later" part I told you about earlier. This will show you how the banks are going to try to get around this new legislation and legally continue to stick it to the American consumer.

Bottom line, if you owed $0 the day this legislation become law, you are set. You will know the day you charge something at a regular interest rate, that interest rate cannot be changed once you have completed your transaction. However, if you owed anything on a credit card the day this legislation became law, you are still in a fight with that credit card company until the day you pay that balance down to $0. In short, they will still be able to change the interest rate on the balance that you already owe them, and believe me, the credit card companies have known for months that this was coming and they have already gotten the ball rolling on getting around it. This is how...

Let's talk about one of my credit cards. A Capital One card I got in college with an original whopping $500 credit limit in 1993, that has a whopping $1200 credit limit today. This card has not carried a balance in over a decade and is one of the cards that I keep open solely for the purpose of having old credit lines open to benefit my credit report scores. It originally came with a 16.99% variable APR that after about five years was changed to a fixed 12.9% as my credit history and good payment record lengthened. That 12.9% was in turn lowered to an unheard of (for a credit card, at least) 7.9% fixed rate in April of 2008 - the true pinnacle of the banks' "credit for everyone" days.

Last Thursday, I received a notice regarding a change in terms on this credit card, literally the same day that I read the MSN article on the fact that the credit card reform bill was on the President's desk. So, the credit reform bill changes it so that a credit card company can only raise rates on existing balances if it is a promotional rate. The notice from Capital One said that they were changing the standard 7.9% fixed rate on my card, a rate I have had for over a year, and a card I have had for over 16 years, to a new promotional rate of 7.9% fixed. Do you see what that does for them? The new law says they cannot raise rates on existing balances that have a standard interest rate, but they can raise interest rates on a balance that has a promotional interest rate.

So, the bankers at Capital One not only changed my regular rate to a promotional rate which is exactly the same rate I had before anyway, but they have also done it to every Capital One credit card holder. Since all Capital One credit cards now have this promotional interest rate, after a period of time, which in this case is about 12 months (April 2010), they can then raise the interest rates on their customers' existing balances to whatever the hell they'd like. In my case, an increase from a 7.9% fixed rate to a 17.9% variable rate. Thank God I do not owe a balance on this card, or my interest rate on that balance would literally more than double to start with the option for them to increase it even higher than that.

So, while the new laws are fantastic, you can see that the credit card companies took steps to ensure that they had a new agreement with you prior to the new bill being signed into law. You can opt out of the rate increases by closing your account and your interest rate will remain what it was before the change, and you can pay them back in the same monthly installments that you have been paying them back in already, but you lose the benefits to your credit report for that account once it is closed. In my case, with this Capital One card, I would lose a card account that has been open for 16 years and has a perfect payment record.

So, what to do if you do have a credit card balance that the credit card companies are raising the rate on before the law goes into effect, or by skirting the law like Capital One is doing? You really need to weigh the long term benefits of the card being open and having a good payment record on your credit versus the amount of money that it is going to cost you to keep the card open if you are carrying a balance.

Keep in mind that your payment record will continue to be tracked, it just won't benefit your credit score as heavily because the account is closed. The bottom line always remains that if you are carrying balances on your credit cards, you should be paying them off down to $0 as quickly as possible. Be sure that you are paying the most on the credit cards with the highest interest rates. If you pay a card off, take your monthly payment for that card and add it on top of the monthly payment for the next card, this way you are always increasing the amount of credit card debt that you are paying off every month as your finance charges decrease. It is very easy to want to pay the minimum, especially as that minimum amount due shrinks every month.

You may have seen yesterday that I provided you with a list of the banks that received bail out funds. It was so that I could make this point to you today. What really ticks me off about the bankers at Capital One and a lot of these banks is that they are raising these interest rates on taxpayers within months of having received billions (yes, billions, such as $3.5 billion for the bankers at Capital One) in taxpayer dollars from the federal government. In what world, on what planet, in what dimension, is this in any way, shape, or form fair, or right? Well, just keep this in mind every time that you go to put a balance on a credit card...Fair has nothing to do with it, and in fact, once you are in debt to one of these newly socialized banks, they no longer have to be fair with you at all, even with this new credit card reform bill on the books.

If you have been reading my articles regularly in the past nine years, then you know that I have spent a good deal of time fighting to shed light on the mysteries and evils of the credit card industry. I will continue to do so in the future...

Welcome Back, Now Get To Work...

Welcome back to work, America! I hope you enjoyed your day off. I sure did!

But, now it is time to get back to work because your portion of the federal deficit is $35,000! Wait until 2012 -- you're portion doubles to $70,000 by then.

The fed is going to expect you, the taxpayer, to come up with your share. Well, that is unless you're not one of those idiots out there like me, working so you can give away a total of 50% of your income in income taxes, and sales taxes, and car taxes, and gas taxes, and phone taxes, and pretty soon, I am sure, breathing taxes.

Don't worry, though, that $70,000 figure is based on numbers that are completely skewed and inaccurate that were contrived to undersell you on how much your portion really is, so chances are, you 're probably into the fed's debt for much more than $70,000 by 2012.

While you're stewing on the fact that 50% of all that you earn, on average, America, goes to some form of tax (research it, keep track when you pay your bills and buy gas, and you're gonna be surprised), here is a list of all of the banks that got your money and are now going to be sticking it to you with higher interest rates on any debt that you have with them because America has not given them enough already:

10/28/2008 Wells Fargo & Co. San Francisco Calif. $25,000,000,000
10/28/2008 State Street Corp. Boston Mass. $2,000,000,000
10/28/2008 Bank of America Corp.1 Charlotte N.C. $15,000,000,000
10/28/2008 JPMorgan Chase & Co. New York N.Y. $25,000,000,000
10/28/2008 Citigroup Inc. New York N.Y. $25,000,000,000
10/28/2008 Morgan Stanley New York N.Y. $10,000,000,000
10/28/2008 Goldman Sachs Group Inc. New York N.Y. $10,000,000,000
10/28/2008 Bank of New York Mellon Corp. New York N.Y. $3,000,000,000
11/17/2008 Regions Financial Corp. Birmingham Ala. $3,500,000,000
11/17/2008 UCBH Holdings Inc. San Francisco Calif. $298,737,000
11/17/2008 Bank of Commerce Holdings Redding Calif. $17,000,000
11/17/2008 Broadway Financial Corp. Los Angeles Calif. $9,000,000
11/17/2008 SunTrust Banks Inc. Atlanta Ga. $3,500,000,000
11/17/2008 Northern Trust Corp. Chicago Ill. $1,576,000,000
11/17/2008 Provident Bancshares Corp. Baltimore Md. $151,500,000
11/17/2008 U.S. Bancorp Minneapolis Minn. $6,599,000,000
11/17/2008 TCF Financial Corp.2 Wayzata Minn. $361,172,000
11/17/2008 BB&T Corp. Winston-Salem N.C. $3,133,640,000
11/17/2008 1st FS Corp. Hendersonville N.C. $16,369,000
11/17/2008 Valley National Bancorp Wayne N.J. $300,000,000
11/17/2008 KeyCorp Cleveland Ohio $2,500,000,000
11/17/2008 Huntington Bancshares Columbus Ohio $1,398,071,000
11/17/2008 Umpqua Holdings Corp. Portland Ore. $214,181,000
11/17/2008 First Horizon National Corp. Memphis Tenn. $866,540,000
11/17/2008 Comerica Inc. Dallas Texas $2,250,000,000
11/17/2008 Zions Bancorporation Salt Lake City Utah $1,400,000,000
11/17/2008 Capital One Financial Corp. McLean Va. $3,555,199,000
11/17/2008 Washington Federal Inc. Seattle Wash. $200,000,000
11/17/2008 Marshall & Ilsley Corp. Milwaukee Wis. $1,715,000,000
11/21/2008 City National Corporation Beverly Hills Calif. $400,000,000
11/21/2008 Pacific Capital Bancorp Santa Barbara Calif. $180,634,000
11/21/2008 Heritage Commerce Corp. San Jose Calif. $40,000,000
11/21/2008 First PacTrust Bancorp, Inc. Chula Vista Calif. $19,300,000
11/21/2008 Nara Bancorp, Inc. Los Angeles Calif. $67,000,000
11/21/2008 Webster Financial Corporation Waterbury Conn. $400,000,000
11/21/2008 Centerstate Banks of Florida Inc. Davenport Fla. $27,875,000
11/21/2008 Ameris Bancorp Moultrie Ga. $52,000,000
11/21/2008 Taylor Capital Group Rosemont Ill. $104,823,000
11/21/2008 Porter Bancorp Inc. Louisville Ky. $35,000,000
11/21/2008 Boston Private Financial Holdings, Inc. Boston Mass. $154,000,000
11/21/2008 Severn Bancorp, Inc. Annapolis Md. $23,393,000
11/21/2008 Trustmark Corporation Jackson Miss. $215,000,000
11/21/2008 First Niagara Financial Group Lockport N.Y. $184,011,000
11/21/2008 Western Alliance Bancorporation Las Vegas Nev. $140,000,000
11/21/2008 First Community Corporation Lexington S.C. $11,350,000
11/21/2008 HF Financial Corp. Sioux Falls S.D. $25,000,000
11/21/2008 First Community Bankshares Inc. Bluefield Va. $41,500,000
11/21/2008 Banner Corporation Walla Walla Wash. $124,000,000
11/21/2008 Cascade Financial Corporation Everett Wash. $38,970,000
11/21/2008 Columbia Banking System, Inc. Tacoma Wash. $76,898,000
11/21/2008 Heritage Financial Corporation Olympia Wash. $24,000,000
11/21/2008 Associated Banc-Corp Green Bay Wis. $525,000,000
12/5/2008 Superior Bancorp Inc. Birmingham Ala. $69,000,000
12/5/2008 Manhattan Bancorp El Segundo Calif. $1,700,000
12/5/2008 East West Bancorp Pasadena Calif. $306,546,000
12/5/2008 Cathay General Bancorp Los Angeles Calif. $258,000,000
12/5/2008 CVB Financial Corp Ontario Calif. $130,000,000
12/5/2008 Bank of Marin Bancorp Novato Calif. $28,000,0002
12/5/2008 Oak Valley Bancorp Oakdale Calif. $13,500,000
12/5/2008 Coastal Banking Company, Inc. Fernandina Beach Fla. $9,950,000
12/5/2008 TIB Financial Corp Naples Fla. $37,000,000
12/5/2008 FPB Bancorp, Inc. Port St. Lucie Fla. $5,800,000
12/5/2008 United Community Banks, Inc. Blairsville Ga. $180,000,000
12/5/2008 MB Financial Inc. Chicago Ill. $196,000,000
12/5/2008 First Midwest Bancorp, Inc. Itasca Ill. $193,000,000
12/5/2008 Old National Bancorp Evansville Ind. $100,000,0002
12/5/2008 Blue Valley Ban Corp Overland Park Kan. $21,750,000
12/5/2008 Iberiabank Corporation Lafayette La. $90,000,0002
12/5/2008 Central Bancorp, Inc. Somerville Mass. $10,000,000
12/5/2008 Eagle Bancorp, Inc. Bethesda Md. $38,235,000
12/5/2008 Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. Olney Md. $83,094,000
12/5/2008 Old Line Bancshares, Inc. Bowie Md. $7,000,000
12/5/2008 Great Southern Bancorp Springfield Mo. $58,000,000
12/5/2008 Southern Missouri Bancorp, Inc. Poplar Bluff Mo. $9,550,000
12/5/2008 Southern Community Financial Corp. Winston-Salem N.C. $42,750,000
12/5/2008 Bank of North Carolina Thomasville N.C. $31,260,000
12/5/2008 Unity Bancorp, Inc. Clinton N.J. $20,649,000
12/5/2008 State Bancorp, Inc. Jericho N.Y. $36,842,000
12/5/2008 First Defiance Financial Corp. Defiance Ohio $37,000,000
12/5/2008 Central Federal Corporation Fairlawn Ohio $7,225,000
12/5/2008 Southwest Bancorp, Inc. Stillwater Okla. $70,000,000
12/5/2008 Popular, Inc. San Juan Puerto Rico $935,000,000
12/5/2008 South Financial Group, Inc. Greenville S.C. $347,000,000
12/5/2008 First Financial Holdings Inc. Charleston S.C. $65,000,000
12/5/2008 Encore Bancshares Inc. Houston Texas $34,000,000
12/5/2008 Wesbanco Bank Inc. Wheeling W.Va. $75,000,000
12/5/2008 Sterling Financial Corporation Spokane Wash. $303,000,000
12/12/2008 Bank Of the Ozarks Inc. Little Rock Ariz. $75,000,000
12/12/2008 SVB Financial Group Santa Clara Calif. $235,000,000
12/12/2008 Center Financial Corp. Los Angeles Calif. $55,000,000
12/12/2008 Wilshire Bancorp Inc. Los Angeles Calif. $62,158,000
12/12/2008 First Litchfield Financial Corp. Litchfield Conn. $10,000,000
12/12/2008 Wilmington Trust Corp. Wilmington Del. $330,000,000
12/12/2008 The Bancorp Inc. Wilmington Del. $45,220,000
12/12/2008 Indiana Community Bancorp Columbus Ind. $21,500,000
12/12/2008 HopFed Bancorp Hopkinsville Ky. $18,400,000
12/12/2008 LSB Corp. Andover Mass. $15,000,000
12/12/2008 Northeast Bancorp Lewiston Maine $4,227,000
12/12/2008 Citizens Republic Bancorp Inc. Flint Mich. $300,000,000
12/12/2008 Independent Bank Corp. Ionia Mich. $72,000,000
12/12/2008 Capital Bank Corp. Raliegh N.C. $41,279,000
12/12/2008 NewBridge Bancorp Greensboro N.C. $52,372,000
12/12/2008 Citizens South Banking Corp. Gastonia N.C. $20,500,000
12/12/2008 Signature Bank New York N.Y. $120,000,0002
12/12/2008 LNB Bancorp Inc. Lorain Ohio $25,223,000
12/12/2008 Susquehanna Bancshares Inc. Lititz Pa. $300,000,000
12/12/2008 National Penn Bancshares Inc. Boyertown Pa. $150,000,000
12/12/2008 Fidelity Bancorp Inc. Pittsburgh Pa. $7,000,000
12/12/2008 Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc. Nashville Tenn. $95,000,000
12/12/2008 Sterling Bancshares Inc.3 Houston Texas $125,198,000
12/12/2008 TowneBank Portsmouth Va. $76,458,000
12/12/2008 Valley Financial Corp. Roanoke Va. $16,019,000
12/12/2008 Virginia Commerce Bancorp Arlington Va. $71,000,000
12/12/2008 Pacific International Bancorp Seattle Wash. $6,500,000
12/19/2008 BancTrust Financial Group, Inc. Mobile Ala. $50,000,000
12/19/2008 Community West Bancshares Goleta Calif. $15,600,000
12/19/2008 Summit State Bank Santa Rosa Calif. $8,500,000
12/19/2008 Santa Lucia Bancorp Atascadero Calif. $4,000,000
12/19/2008 First California Financial Group, Inc Westlake Village Calif. $25,000,000
12/19/2008 Pacific City Finacial Corporation Los Angeles Calif. $16,200,000
12/19/2008 Exchange Bank Santa Rosa Calif. $43,000,000
12/19/2008 NCAL Bancorp Los Angeles Calif. $10,000,000
12/19/2008 CoBiz Financial Inc. Denver Colo. $64,450,000
12/19/2008 The Connecticut Bank and Trust Company Hartford Conn. $5,448,000
12/19/2008 Seacoast Banking Corporation of Florida Stuart Fla. $50,000,000
12/19/2008 Synovus Financial Corp. Columbus Ga. $967,870,000
12/19/2008 Fidelity Southern Corporation Atlanta Ga. $48,200,000
12/19/2008 Heartland Financial USA, Inc. Dubuque Iowa $81,698,000
12/19/2008 Intermountain Community Bancorp Sandpoint Idaho $27,000,000
12/19/2008 Wintrust Financial Corporation Lake Forest Ill. $250,000,000
12/19/2008 Marquette National Corporation Chicago Ill. $35,500,000
12/19/2008 Bridgeview Bancorp, Inc. Bridgeview Ill. $38,000,000
12/19/2008 Horizon Bancorp Michigan City Ind. $25,000,000
12/19/2008 FFW Corporation Wabash Ind. $7,289,000
12/19/2008 Fidelity Financial Corporation Wichita Kan. $36,282,000
12/19/2008 Citizens First Corporation Bowling Green Ky. $8,779,000
12/19/2008 FCB Bancorp, Inc. Louisville Ky. $9,294,000
12/19/2008 Whitney Holding Corporation New Orleans La. $300,000,000
12/19/2008 Wainwright Bank & Trust Company Boston Mass. $22,000,000
12/19/2008 Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. Pittsfield Mass. $40,000,000
12/19/2008 OneUnited Bank Boston Mass. $12,063,000
12/19/2008 Tri-County Financial Corporation Waldorf Md. $15,540,000
12/19/2008 Patapsco Bancorp, Inc. Dundalk Md. $6,000,000
12/19/2008 Enterprise Financial Services Corp. St. Louis Mo. $35,000,000
12/19/2008 Hawthorn Bancshares, Inc. Lee's Summit Mo. $30,255,000
12/19/2008 Monadnock Bancorp, Inc. Peterborough N.H. $1,834,000
12/19/2008 Flushing Financial Corporation Lake Success N.Y. $70,000,000
12/19/2008 The Elmira Savings Bank, FSB Elmira N.Y. $9,090,000
12/19/2008 Alliance Financial Corporation Syracuse N.Y. $26,918,000
12/19/2008 Mid Penn Bancorp, Inc. Millersburg Pa. $10,000,000
12/19/2008 VIST Financial Corp. Wyomissing Pa. $25,000,000
12/19/2008 AmeriServ Financial, Inc Johnstown Pa. $21,000,000
12/19/2008 Bancorp Rhode Island, Inc. Providence R.I. $30,000,000
12/19/2008 Security Federal Corporation Aiken S.C. $18,000,000
12/19/2008 Tidelands Bancshares, Inc Mt. Pleasant S.C. $14,448,000
12/19/2008 Tennessee Commerce Bancorp, Inc. Franklin Tenn. $30,000,000
12/19/2008 Plains Capital Corporation Dallas Texas $87,631,000
12/19/2008 Patriot Bancshares, Inc. Houston Texas $26,038,000
12/19/2008 Community Bankers Trust Corporation Glen Allen Va. $17,680,000
12/19/2008 Community Financial Corporation Staunton Va. $12,643,000

Enjoy socialism! It's already here..."Whether you like it or not..."

Is That A Large "Bird" On The Side Of Your House?

A city councilman in Utah , Mark Easton, had a beautiful view of the east mountains, until a new neighbor purchased the lot below his house and built a new home.

The new home was 18 inches higher than the ordinances would allow, so Mark Easton, mad about his lost view, went to the city to make sure they enforced the lower roof line ordinance. The new neighbor had to drop the roof line, at great personal expense.

Recently, Mark Easton called the city, and informed them that his new neighbor had installed some vents on the side of his home..

Mark didn't like the look of these vents and asked the city to investigate. When they went to Mark's home to see what the vents looked like, this is what they found...

The City Council said the vents can stay since there are no ordinances referring to shutter design.

A Victory For HSUS

The baby seals of the world, and especially those born in Canada, received a wonderful reprieve from the European Union last week when 550 members of the European Parliament voted to ban the trade of products made from seals throughout the EU member nations.

This will deliver a decisive blow to Canada's seal hunters as Europe is one of the last remaining markets for the products that are made from the seals that they slaughter each year.

The Humane Society of the United States has representatives that travel each year to the ice floes of Canada to report on Canada's annual seal hunt.

Each year, they invite lawmakers from around the world to come and witness the event in the hopes that it will lead to new laws protecting the seals.

This year, one such visitor during the 2006 seal hunt was Swedish Member of the European Parliament Carl Schlyter, who introduced the bill that led to the EU's seal product ban.

Progress Made In Stopping Canada's Seal "Hunt"

Each year, the Humane Society of the United States sends team members to Canada to document that country’s still-legal “hunting” of baby seals on the ice.

HSUS team members brave bitterly cold, dangerous conditions, not to mention the constant threats from the fishermen who turn to butchering baby seals to supplement their income.

This year, the HSUS team made real progress in their efforts to end this gruesome and completely unnecessary slaughter. HSUS has asked people to sign on to a Canadian seafood boycott in the hopes of effecting the market enough that fishermen would abandon the seal “hunt".

Over 600,000 individuals and over 5,000 businesses have pledged to not purchase Canadian seafood until Canada bans the seal “hunt”. The fishing industry is losing money, and prices for seal skins have crashed to $15 (CAD) -- an 86 percent drop from 2006.

Most fishermen aren't bothering to leave home to join the hunt, and tens of thousands of seals have been spared. Also, for the first time in history, Canadians had introduced a bill that would ban the seal slaughter entirely, largely backed by the efforts of HSUS.

Russia has agreed to a ban of killing harp seals less than a year old, effectively ending their “hunt” as the furs of older seals are not a desired commodity. In fact, Yuriy Trutnev, Russia's Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology, called the seal slaughter "bloody," and remarked that the killing of defenseless animals can't be deemed a "hunt."

Vote No On 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, and 1E and Yes on 1F

I urge you to vote NO on 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, and 1E and vote YES on 1F. Here is why…

Before you even consider how you are going to vote on Taxifornia’s Propositions, know that your taxes have already been increased by Taxramento’s politicians without any of them consulting you.

In February 2009, as part of the state’s 2008-09 and 2009-10 budgets, both the legislature and the Taxinator voted into law to raise the Sales & Use Tax by one cent for every dollar. That means for every dollar you spend that is sales-taxable, you are now sending Taxramento another penny. Add up all the dollars you spend in a year, and that is a lot of money.

The new budgets also increased the Vehicle Licensing Fee (VLF) from 0.65% of your car’s value to 1.15% of its value. That means if you paid $65 last year, this year you are going to pay $115. The new budgets also raised the Personal Income Tax (PIT) by 0.25% for every tax bracket. So, if you paid 9% last year, this year you are going to pay 9.25%.

What the very politicians that passed these tax increases are hoping you don't figure out is that Proposition 1A further increases taxes. With the passage of the 2008-09 and 2009-10 budgets, these tax increases will occur for two fiscal years. Proposition 1A extends these tax increases for additional years. Taxramento increased those taxes in the emergency that was created by the current economic conditions, but they cannot extend those increases into future budgets without our approval. That is why we are having the special election tomorrow. They are hoping that in our panic, we will grant these tax increases for budgets that haven’t even been drawn up – extend these tax increases for years in which we do not know if we will be booming or busting.

Taxifornia’s politicians are hoping that you will you get out and vote on their propositions tomorrow. The majority of them want you to vote yes and the minority of them want you to vote no. What none of them want you to do is to actually read the damned things. They read worse than stereo instructions and will lull you to sleep, but I have trudged through them over the course of the past weekend and I am none too pleased.

They are being sold under the guise that passage of these propositions will somehow magically rein in Taxramento’s spending and balance the budget once and for all so that we never have to go through this again. The only way we are never going to have to go through this again is if we fundamentally change our definition of capitalism, our definition of government, and if our politicians go though some miracle make-over. You and I both know that is never going to happen. So, despite how we vote on these propositions, without a fundamental change to how we allow Taxramento to operate, we will find ourselves in this same spot again someday. These propositions do not change the system, they simply put a band-aid on the perpetually-leaking dam.

Make no mistake, my friends…Taxramento has already spoken for you. They have already done what they have done. These propositions are simply our approval of the extension of the taxes they have already levied against us and just pull a smoke-and-mirrors trick on how they are budgeting and spending. The propositions release restrictions on where voter-approved tax revenue is being spent, move some spending limits around, change from where they are borrowing, and change how they are paying the borrowed funds back, but what these propositions do not do is fix an entirely broken system of over-spending which leads to the over-taxation of all of us.

Let’s take a look at Prop 1A – the anchor of all of these propositions. The Yes on 1A folks are going to talk to you about controlled spending, a balanced budget, and above all, spending limitations, but one thing they are never going to mention is that 1A further increases taxes by extending the emergency tax increases by either one or two years. Prop 1A supporters say that they are going to finally be able to put a spending limit in place on the legislature and the governor. Guess what? There are already two major spending limitations on the books, just like this one, and those two are ignored every time a budget passes. Why are Taxramento’s politicians going to magically abide by this, the third spending limit? 1A increases the size of rainy day funds – forcing Taxramento to put aside more emergency money for the future, but we are banking on the fact that once the emergency hits, the politicians are going to be responsible with these rainy day funds.

What the Yes on 1A people are hoping you do not read is that it increases taxes across the board for everyone, regardless of income level. Take out your Voter Guide and read the argument for 1A and read their rebuttal to the argument against 1A and you will see no mention – not a single word – about the fact that the proposition extends those taxes. The Yes on 1A folks don’t want you to know about that part.

Please read directly from the independently-prepared portion of the Official Voter Information Guide: “If Proposition 1A passes, the tax increases included in the February 2009 budget package would be extended for one or two additional years. (The extensions of the tax increases are included in a part of a law that will only go into effect if Proposition 1A passes.) The SUT [Sales & Use Tax] increase of 1 cent would be extended for one year through 2011-12. The VLF [Vehicle Licensing Fee] tax increase would be extended for two years through 2012-13. The PIT [Personal Income Tax] increases would also be extended for two more years, through the 2012 tax year.”

So, what about the other propositions? Proposition 1B makes a change in how we fund education. Right now, thanks to the passage of Proposition 98 in 1990, the Taxifornia state budget has a mandatory percentage-based amount of overall General State Fund spending that must go to K-14 education (yes, 14, which includes community colleges). Taking into account that there may be budget shortfalls from time to time, Proposition 98 allows for the state to under-pay this percentage in times of need with the unpaid portion being due to education when things get better.

Proposition 1B throws this system out and replaces it with a mandatory $9.3 billion annual payment to K-14 education, regardless of how the state is doing financially. This is great if you are a teacher, or if you work for the school district, but really sucks if you are a taxpayer. When the state does not have the money to make those mandatory $9.3 billion payments, where is that money going to come from? Same place it is coming from now – further tax increases. Our current educational financing system is not perfect, but this is not a better alternative. Why are we fighting so hard to preserve an educational system that ranks 48th out of 50 states? Seems to me when your educational systems is nearly the absolute worst in the union, that is the time to make drastic changes, not maintain the status quo.

Proposition 1C is called the “Lottery Modernization Act”. Do you remember when the state government first sold the idea of the California State Lottery? What was the main factor that they were selling it on? That it would benefit our kids and our schools. Proceeds from the California State Lottery are mandated to be put into education. Well, if Proposition 1B passes, then the required $9.3 billion payment, in effect, makes it so that the educational system no longer needs that California State Lottery money, so 1C makes it so that the California State Lottery money no longer goes to the schools. It gets to go into the General Fund to be spent as the Taxramento politicians see fit. That, my friends, is not “modernization”, but in fact, a very major change to the California State Lottery system that has remained unchanged since it went into effect in 1984. Want proof that these politicians have no intention on curbing their spending at all? 1C will make it so they can borrow against future lottery profits and then spend that borrowed money (that the taxpayers are responsible for paying back) however the hell they wish.

How about Proposition 1D? It deals with Proposition 10, which was passed in 1998. Proposition 10 created what we know as the First 5 program for children. You may have seen the television commercials encouraging parents to put their kids in preschool as part of this program. The First 5 program is funded by taxes of tobacco products. Proposition 10 has a number of checks and balances to ensure that this tobacco tax money is actually spent on the First 5 program. If Proposition 1D passes, the restrictions on where this tobacco tax money goes are removed. The money can be used for other children’s programs, but it also may be borrowed by each County’s Controller in a time of need.

Do you see the pattern emerging here? It seems that a good deal of the laws on the books that require tax revenue to be used for the programs that it is collected for will be wiped off the books if these Propositions pass, giving the legislature and the governor free reign to borrow the funds that they want and to spend those funds on whatever they want. The “Yes On…” folks want you to believe that the Taxramento politicians will use this newly-given power to save for a rainy day and to balance the budget, but I just find that very hard to believe.

Proposition 1E is much like Proposition 1D, but instead of freeing up restrictions on First 5 money, it frees up the restrictions on Proposition 63 money. Proposition 63, the Mental Health Services Act, was passed in 2004. This provided state funding for certain new or expanded mental health programs by taxing an additional 1% of the income of the taxpayers who make over $1 million per year. California taxpayers approved this tax increase on this smaller group of taxpayers with the understanding that these funds would only be used for the Mental Health Services Act programs.

If Proposition 1E passes, these funds will no longer be subject to those restrictions and will be re-directed to pay for a federally mandated program (Early and Periodic Screen, Diagnosis, and Treatment, or EPSDT) that requires states to provide a broad range of screening, diagnosis, and medically necessary treatment services, including mental health services, to MediCal beneficiaries under the age of 21. EPSDT has been paid for out of the Taxifornia General Fund, but if 1E passes, EPSDT will be paid for with Proposition 63 funds, even though this was not the original intention of that additional tax. In a way, this one almost makes sense, but I most definitely do not like this pattern of these politicians taking previously-passed propositions and changing the nature of what the voters have approved.

Now for the only Proposition that I think you should get out there and vote yes on – 1F. Proposition 112, passed in 1990, created a California Citizens Compensation Commission. This commission sets the annual salaries, medical insurance, and other benefits of the Taxramento politicians. The commission meets and decides each year if the salaries should be increased, and what they should be increased to.

If Proposition 1F passes, the commission will not be allowed to raise salaries and benefits in a year where the Taxifornia General Fund is expected to end that year in a deficit. This is what the lawmakers have thrown in as their sacrifice to get you to pass all of the other propositions. They are throwing us this bone so that we feel that they are just like us and should not get raises during economic downturns.

The joke is on us, though, because in any given year, the lack of a salary increase will save the taxpayers a whopping $160,000 on average, possibly, even up to $500.000. Can you see how with the 2009-10 California State Budget spending $111,089,000,000 – yes, that is over $111 billion – even the highest savings of half of a million dollars is only 0.000005% of the total budget? That is equivalent to you being $200,000 in debt and the state government saving you $1 to put towards that. If you are still feeling sorry for any of these politicians, let me explain to you that the annual salaries in question range from $160,000 (state legislators) to $212,000 (the Taxinator) per year.

As usual, I have taken the time to read what Taxifornia’s over-sized government and her politicians have placed before me, and as usual, I am pretty pissed off. We need to cut spending, yet all we do is shuffle money around and raise taxes. The taxpayers impose spending limits, yet Taxramento always finds a loop-hole and gets around those spending limits. As with every election, the TV ads and the radio ads and the politicians are talking about the Propositions on the ballot, but they are only telling us a very small part of the story.

If you don’t mind paying ever-increasing taxes to a derelict, over-sized government, then, by all means, vote how you are going to vote…but if you want to send a clear message that you are already paying enough taxes and that you believe that the state should really fix what is wrong with the budget and its over-spending, I urge you to vote NO on 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, and 1E and vote YES on 1F.