Vast majority of Republicans support Bernie's and AOC's 15% cap on credit card interest

ArmenianJohn said:

The vast majority of Republicans support Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders' plan to cap credit-card interest rates at 15%

Read it and weep, lol

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I support caps on interest rates but it isn't going to have the effect they're trying to convince their supporters it will. If interest rates are capped it will simply cut off credit to millions who are now paying higher rates. There is a benefit to that in that they won't be subject to predatory lending, but they won't have access to credit at the capped rate.

HTacianas said:

I support caps on interest rates but it isn't going to have the effect they're trying to convince their supporters it will. If interest rates are capped it will simply cut off credit to millions who are now paying higher rates. There is a benefit to that in that they won't be subject to predatory lending, but they won't have access to credit at the capped rate.

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I think 15 percent is still within the predatory range. And it is perhaps a kindness to those who pay the higher rate to have their access to credit cut off. Predatory lending sucks the life-blood out of an individual.

The loan sharks will be thrilled to get the short term loan sector back. Personally I’m not a fan of giving legitimate business to violent criminals.

Desk trauma said:

The loan sharks will be thrilled to get the short term loan sector back. Personally I’m not a fan of giving legitimate business to violent criminals.

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Of course there is still the option of actually enforcing the laws against violent criminals.

Personally I see little difference between legalized criminal behavior of wealthy people and corporations and the illegal criminal behavior of the crooks.

HTacianas said:

I support caps on interest rates but it isn't going to have the effect they're trying to convince their supporters it will. If interest rates are capped it will simply cut off credit to millions who are now paying higher rates. There is a benefit to that in that they won't be subject to predatory lending, but they won't have access to credit at the capped rate.

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With the bottom 30% living in debt ($0.00 “wealth”), this liquidity-crunch would be the final straw for many families.

zephcom said:

Of course there is still the option of actually enforcing the laws against violent criminals.

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Prohibition works so well against economics, just look at the drug war going for strength to strength with illegal drugs nearly unattainable.

Personally I see little difference between legalized criminal behavior of wealthy people and corporations and the illegal criminal behavior of the crooks.

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How often do credit card companies break the bones of those late on their payments? How often do they use their customers debits to compel them into other criminal acts?

How on Earth is it a "plan". 15 % cap if I'm elected. If it fails blame the Republicans for voting against it.

Desk trauma said:

The loan sharks will be thrilled to get the short term loan sector back. Personally I’m not a fan of giving legitimate business to violent criminals.

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How is banks laundering the money of Saudi Arabian Sheikhs, South American Drug Cartels, Corporations, mortgage companies and above all politicians. Not violence.

Besides as an Atheist, by definition you have no soul. So a feeding frenzy by loan sharks is all to be desired, in the name of the free market. Where are your Libertarian principles?

The problem is that while the great majority of Republicans may support this proposal, they are not the congressmen and senators who take their instructions primarily from moneyed interests.

HTacianas said:

I support caps on interest rates but it isn't going to have the effect they're trying to convince their supporters it will. If interest rates are capped it will simply cut off credit to millions who are now paying higher rates. There is a benefit to that in that they won't be subject to predatory lending, but they won't have access to credit at the capped rate.

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Why wouldn’t the banks want the 15% from ppl with not so great credit? It would still more than cover their risk. Just keep credit limits for those folks low.

Sparagmos said:

Why wouldn’t the banks want the 15% from ppl with not so great credit? It would still more than cover their risk. Just keep credit limits for those folks low.

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Credit card companies already do similar things. But for a lot of people no one is going to take that risk at 15 percent.

It's been known since the 1960s that lack of available legitimate forms of credit drives the loan sharking industry. High interest forms of legal credit drove them out of business. Cutting off high interest forms of credit will revive it.

But in any event, capping credit card rates is not going to benefit anyone except creditworthy people. It's not going to help the people they are making the promise to.

HTacianas said:

Credit card companies already do similar things. But for a lot of people no one is going to take that risk at 15 percent.

It's been known since the 1960s that lack of available legitimate forms of credit drives the loan sharking industry. High interest forms of legal credit drove them out of business. Cutting off high interest forms of credit will revive it.

But in any event, capping credit card rates is not going to benefit anyone except creditworthy people. It's not going to help the people they are making the promise to.

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I think the banks charge exorbitant interest rates because they can. I’m open to be proven wrong, but I think they would still make a profit - just a smaller one - off of the higher risk folks at a 15% rate and a low credit limit. When I had bad (no) credit, the big banks were offering me a 24% interest rate but my credit union offered me a 16% interest rate.

NM

HTacianas said:

I support caps on interest rates but it isn't going to have the effect they're trying to convince their supporters it will. If interest rates are capped it will simply cut off credit to millions who are now paying higher rates. There is a benefit to that in that they won't be subject to predatory lending, but they won't have access to credit at the capped rate.

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So goes the plausible theory.... But, I've learned by experience theories about economic behavior don't always work out, no matter how perfect they seem. For instance, one theory most people knew of was the theory that endless big deficit spending would cause high inflation. Well....so much for that theory. It's not entirely false, but merely other factors were more powerful and overwhelmed the effect. For 3 years, 2009 to 2011, the deficits as a % of GDP were: 9.8%, 8.6% and 8.3%. What happened with inflation then? And that was with "quantitative easing", meaning the Fed bought U.S. bonds with money out of thin air, popularly called "printing". Inflation? Kaput.
Is the U.S. Budget Deficit Really That Bad?

Perfect economic theories -- a crap shoot. It's not that they are entirely wrong, but that they are often just one of many different powerful factors, often more than 5.

ArmenianJohn said:

So you must be a huge supporter of legalizing non-prescription sale of Crystal Meth, heroin, crack, and other hard drugs so that the violent criminals don't get that business.

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Yes. I support legalization. The only reason we have the horrors of the drug cartels and narco regimes is modern Prohibition.

RichardY said:

Besides as an Atheist, by definition you have no soul. So a feeding frenzy by loan sharks is all to be desired, in the name of the free market. Where are your Libertarian principles?

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By definition, atheists don't believe in any gods. That's about all you can tell about us. We have a wide range of political and social beliefs.

ArmenianJohn said:

Yeah, nobody would have addictions to crystal meth, heroin, cocaine, crack, or any other drugs if they could just buy them out of a vending machine or at 7-11. People would miraculously be able to buy and use them without any problems for themselves or for society.

Of course that's how it is in libertarian fantasy land. We all know that in the real world there's an actual good and real reason drugs are restricted to requiring a prescription.

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Well, with nearly a century of prohibition (of one drug or another), under our belts we can safely say that criminalizing drug use doesn’t work and in practice, ensnares more minorities (who have similar drug use rates as whites).

By making the “problem” of drug use a health issue, then treatment is much more probable as the stigma of being found to be engaging in criminal behavior can be a deterrent to treatment.