Fleeced

Twenty or thirty years ago the states had usury laws.   The laws prohibited charging interest at an unfair rate.  Loan sharks charged 20 or 30 percent, but that was illegal.   Then the credit card companies took their case to the Supreme Court and the ruling stripped the states of all there power in regards to usury.  This gave the credit card companies the right to charge usurious rates to borrowers.  The majority of people can only pay the minimum due to the interest charges being so high.  Penalties are imposed without regard to payment history or outstanding balance.

Unions are supposed to work for the people they represent, but a bigger lie doesn’t exist.

The unions collect funds from each worker directly from their paychecks.  The money is then used to lobby the government for what the union wants, not what is the best for the members.  The teachers are a good example.   Unions do not want tests to prove the efficiency of the pupils or the teachers.  Teachers are making little more money per year today then they were ten years ago.  It is important to our education system that we reward good teachers and retire or fire those who hurt our children with misinformation or laziness.

Government is by far the worst.  The members of Congress are supposed to work for us, the people.   They only think of their political careers and making a name for themselves.    They accept gifts from lobbyists and pass laws that help foreign counties instead of our own.   The most outrageous practice is to pass a law, budget or anything else without taking the time to read it in detail.  This is the only way to know what the long tern affects or consequences will be.       

Fleeced was written before the downturn in the economy.  It was also before the election and all the bailouts.    Predictions made in the book have come true.  Reading the book last summer I was hoping that the predictions would be wrong and our country would not be turned upside down.   In our daily lives we know we cannot spend more then we earn or have saved.   Our government has not learned that lesson.   Maybe they will read this book and turn over a new leaf.