by Deb Cupples | Less than a year ago, big financial firms -- and the executives who ran them into the ground while pocketing huge sums of shareholder dollars -- got bailed out by us taxpayers, despite the fact that millions of taxpayers found the bailout downright outrageous.
Now, it seems, a bit of that tax money may come back to us hardworking taxpayers in the form of consumer creditors' making deals with credit-card holders. The New York Times reports:
"The banks were bailed out last fall, the automobile companies last winter. For Edward McClelland, a writer in Chicago, deliverance finally arrived a few days ago.
"Mr. McClelland’s credit card company was calling yet again, wondering when it could expect the next installment on his delinquent account. He proposed paying half of his $5,486 balance and calling the matter even.
"It’s a deal, the account representative immediately said, not even bothering to check with a supervisor.
"As they confront unprecedented numbers of troubled customers, credit card companies are increasingly doing something they have historically scorned: settling delinquent accounts for substantially less than the amount owed.
Again, our nation threw accountability and responsibility out the window with respect to our "top" financial firms and the top executives who skated out of those firms with millions while driving said firms (and our nation's economy) into a ditch.
That said, I think it's perfectly fair and appropriate that some small-time debtors reap benefits from our nation's recent anti-accountability frenzy: sauce for the goose, and all that.
Other Buck Naked Politics Posts:
* Finally, a Plan for Better Financial-System Regulation?
* Save Jobs by Cutting Executive Pay
* Real Bonuses Based on Fake Profits
* Wall Street "Wizard's" Magic Turns out to be Fraud
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