Well, for starters, I didn't used to feel sympathy for them, but then my best friend, one of the smartest people I know confided in me that she was $50,000 in debt to credit card companies.  I couldn't believe it!  Her interest rate for one of the companies was 21%!!!!

It made me do some thinking (and also some credit counseling for my dear friend).  I noticed that my son, who was 12 at the time, was getting offers of 0% interest for THREE MONTHS! with VISA or MASTERCARDS.  This wasn't a fluke, because they came weekly.

One month I bought a washer and dryer, and a new stove, plus all my usual groceries, gas, etc.  I had a HUGE bill, and I had the money to pay it off, but this time I looked at what they required for a minimum payment.  For my $5,000 balance, VISA insisted that I pay them at least -- wait for it --  $32.00.

Credit card companies aren't naive, but many of the people who use them are.  I consider their practices to be predatory, and I think they fully intend to suck people in and keep piling on their debt as they raise their interest rates to apalling amounts.

I know we all should be informed consumers, and it is up to us to manage our own spending.  I don't think that people who get in over their heads have put enough thought into being responsible.  If they need more than they can afford at the moment, it is much smarter to get a short-term loan with a defined interest rate, pay it off, and move on.

But the credit card companies should be more responsible as well.  The minimum payment shoud be set so that the debtor could reasonably pay off the balance in a defined amount of time.  That alone would set off alarm bells for those whose balance is getting up into the 6 figures and they feel ok because after all, they always pay the minimum.

To me, the practices that these companies use is the moral equivalent of the tobacco companies putting in additives to make people addicted to their products.

All that said, I don't disagree with the part of this bankruptcty bill that, after means testing, requires those with higher incomes to pay back what they owe.  I just think the userers who abetted the situation in the first place should also be held accountable.  They are a big part of the problem.

PS - My friend is 11 months away from being debt-free!

Jan Knaus