Americans Smothering in High Interest Credit Card Debt by Greg Pesetsky

With a full-swing global financial crisis lurking in the background, many Americans are simply finding themselves smothering in high interest credit card debt. For many borrowers, what may have begun as a convenient means to pay for everyday essentials or an expedient method for making major purchases has spiraled into a huge mountain of nearly insurmountable credit card debt. To make matters worse, credit card debt is among the most expensive types of debt that can be incurred - with interest rates sometimes reaching as much as 19.99% or higher.

No Rich Uncle Sam to Bail Out Main Street

The biggest losers of the current recession and financial crisis are not the big corporations on Wall Street (the federal government is standing guard like a rich uncle with a fat wallet, ready to bail them out of their troubles). The segment of America that is hurting the most and bearing the brunt of the storm is the American people who are left swimming in high interest credit card debt, many of which are unable to meet the minimum monthly payments due on a pocket full of maxed out credit cards. With company after company falling like a house of cards or being forced to outsource their work overseas in order to stay afloat, millions of credit card carrying Americans that were employed last year are now struggling to make ends meet while faced with huge obligations to their credit card issuers. In the last week of March, 2009, a record 669,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits for the first time. These are people that are finding it difficult just to put food on the table while the majority has a huge credit card debt hanging over their worried heads.

Americans Are Slaves to the Credit Card Grind

How did America become so desperately enslaved to the huge banks that issue credit cards? As a whole, the American people are a trusting breed. For the most part, we don't feel like anyone is trying to take us "for a ride" and we take most things at face value. Unfortunately, the success of the credit card industry has been due largely in part to its willingness to ride on the coattails of unsuspecting Americans who don't bother to read the fine print that accompanies the credit cards in their wallet - also known as the terms and conditions. If ignorance is bliss like our grandmothers always told us, the American people have been completely elated for the past decade, racking up credit card debt that they cannot afford, blindly agreeing to whatever is thrown at them in their willful pursuit to buy more, have more, do more.

Jobless Americans Cannot Pay Their Credit Card Debts

Upon closer examination, it is very surprising to learn what we are actually agreeing to when we accept a credit card offer. No credit card company is going to spell out the truth about what we are signing on for in boldface type or in highlighted, easy to read and understand terms. On the surface, most credit card offers are appealing. Zero percent interest. No annual fee. Well-received freebies like airline miles that add up fast. Once the complicated legalese of the contract with most credit cards is translated, however, one learns that the zero percent interest goes up to 15.99% after the first six months, and any late payment will cause the credit card to be assessed at the default rate, which is usually set at nearly twenty percent. That's in addition to automatically assessing late penalties and fees on the entire balance owed. With a historic number of Americans jobless, a historic number of credit cards are now in default and are accumulating interest, late penalties and fees in a never-ending cycle.

More Americans File Bankruptcy Due to Credit Card Debt

Although a credit card is one of the essential keys to building the type of good credit that can lay a foundation for obtaining needed loans and even mortgages, a few financial missteps by the cardholder can have a drastic impact on one's overall credit score and borrowing reputation with potential lenders. Out of hand credit card debt has been the root cause of many Americans filing for bankruptcy protection. And while the average Joe in America may have not only the worries of being able to afford his rent or mortgage while feeding his children or paying for medical expenses, aggressive credit card companies may harass the cardholder day and night in attempts to collect, adding to the already stressful situation that many folks have found themselves in due to job loss or reduction in the number of hours worked. And unlike the fat cats on Wall Street, John and Jane Doe won't be receiving a bailout in the foreseeable future.