By Odysseas Papadimitriou, CEO of CardHub.com, an online marketplace for credit card offers – today’s guest writer.

I’ve been working in the credit card industry for almost a decade, and at this point I consider myself to be something of a subject matter expert. However, on a recent trip to London, I was humbled to discover some gaps in my basic knowledge of how to best use credit cards when traveling abroad.

During my stay in London, I used my credit card to make most of my purchases. Credit cards offer some of the best exchange rates and the convenience of not having to carry around large amounts of cash. I was also sure to use a no foreign fee credit card, so I knew I was getting a good deal. This was all well and good, until I came back home and received my credit card bill.

It was almost 10 percent more than the charges I thought I had made on my trip. When I examined my bill and receipts side by side, I discovered that I had been charged an extra fee for currency conversion on many of my purchases. My advice to you: never accept a merchant’s offer to convert your credit card transactions from the local currency into U.S. dollars. I accepted this offer many times while I was in London because an amount in dollars means more to me than the same amount in British pounds. What I didn’t know was that this is a consumer trap called Dynamic Currency Conversion.

Merchants use Dynamic Currency Conversion to charge travelers exorbitant conversion rates as high as 7 percent and pocket the difference as a fee. It gets by you because, if you’re like me, you’re not doing the math on the spot to see if the currency conversion is in line with the official exchange rate. If a merchant offers to make this conversion for you, save yourself some money and respectfully decline.

A secondary lesson that came from this trip, which I also learned the hard way, is that if you want to use your credit card in Europe, you need to carry your passport with you at all times. Most countries in Western Europe, have switched to chip-and-pin technology for their credit cards. These cards are much more sophisticated than the magnetic stripe cards we have in the U.S. and offer more security.

Therefore, if you want to use the magnetic stripe cards, merchants expect that you have your passport with you as an added measure of security. This came as a surprise to me, given that in the United States they don’t even bother to verify your signature. Merchants will and have to accept your U.S. credit card, but if you don’t have your passport to identify yourself, you can pretty much forget about making the purchase.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe that credit cards are one of the most effective ways to make purchases while traveling abroad. They offer favorable exchange rates, the security of not carrying around large amounts of cash, and the convenience of always having enough money and not being stuck with left over foreign currency. In order to make the most out of your credit card, my advice is to do the following: carry your passport with you at all times, decline any merchant’s currency conversion offer, and compare credit card applications for the best no foreign transaction fee credit card before you leave. If you do all of these things, there is no better way to make purchases overseas.

Tags: Bob Brooks, CardHub.com, credit card, currency, Europe, travelling

1. Commit to daily surrender and living a Matthew 6:24 life.

Surrender and commitment are at the foundation of a life of prudent stewardship. Why a Matthew 6:24 life? You can only be the prudent steward that God wants when you place God as the number one priority. Christ is very direct by saying that you can only have one priority in your life. It will be either money or God. He knew that the prioritization of money would be a struggle.

2. Get your debt under control and paid off once and for all.

This is crucial to your journey on the road of prudent stewardship. God wants us to be truly committed and FREE to follow His Will for our life. Debt robs us of that freedom. The obligation to pay back that debt places a limitation on our freedom. Debt can occupy our mind through stress and worry. It can restrict our freedom to give because of making those monthly payments. Debt is a reminder of our past. Without debt, you have complete freedom to go and do what God instructs.

3. Know where the money is going.

Tracking your spending is key when it comes to being a prudent steward. Each month you have a limited amount of resources that will get you through the month. It is almost impossible to tithe, to give, or to save, without knowing your obligations. Plus without a good handle on your spending you risk putting yourself in a “too much month and not enough money situation.” It is at that point that debt is created. If you don’t have the money, it goes on the credit card. Finally, if you really want to know what you value the most, look at your credit card and bank statement. Our values tend to follow our spending.

4. Take only prudent risk.

Taking risk is always a part of any prudent steward’s life. It is smart to use risk to your advantage. However, it is only smart when you are taking a prudent risk. A prudent risk is not a gamble. It is a well thought out calculated decision. A risk is investing into something that you don’t understand in the hopes that it will grow your money. A prudent risk is investing into something that you understand and arecomfortable with the pros and the cons. Most of the time we only understand the pros. With every risk you take, there is a probability of a reward. A prudent risk is one where there is a higher probability that you will be rewarded. Remember the decisions to take risk affect God’s money.

5. Pray before making any decisions when it comes to money.

If you never want to make big mistakes with money, pray about every decision that you make and don’t move forward unless you receive only the peace that God can give. Really, we just make things so hard by not including God in the process. It only makes sense to include God…after all, it is His resources. We are only instructed to be prudent stewards over it. Wouldn’t you be more confident in your decision making ability having the King of Kings directing your decision making?

Tags: Bob Brooks, peace, prudent, stewardship, tithing

Are we heading towards a double dip recession? Take a look at the numbers:

May new home sales plunged -32%.

Mortgage delinquencies are up 36% since last year

The Baltic Dry Index has dropped -40% since May 26, 2010. This index is considered a leading indicator of the future growth of the economy.

Manufacturing index plunged in May
May housing starts fell -10%
May retail sales post biggest decline since September 2009
May existing home sales fell unexpectedly?

Pile on top of those statistics the fact we have a major landscape change occurring in the Gulf of Mexico that will negatively affect the economy and that region as well as continued climbing unemployment and a decline in consumer spending, I just don’t think that a double dip recession is avoidable.

John Mauldin pointed out in his excellent weekly writing Frontline Thoughts that the index of weekly leading economic numbers has turned negative. There was a -23% decline. Then he showed this chart of what this type of drop has signaled in the past.

For all of those in the financial services community wanting you to drink “the everything is OK” Kool-aid, they are going to have a tough time spinning out from underneath these deteriorating numbers.

In addition these numbers are showing a renewed decline in real estate. As I have stated before, it will be tough to turn the Titanic around without a recovering real estate market.

This is Evidence that Economic Numbers could be Rigged

Either these numbers are rigged or their methodology is flawed or they were able to actually hand pick and find a few thousand happy people. Now with all of the above bad news that is coming up along with high unemployment and a stock market that has been in the tank since April…The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index jumped to its highest level in 2 years. Are you kidding me? If you believe that you might also believe that British Petroleum has the problem in the Gulf under control. Really, there is no way that could be accurate.

On Friday the ever so important unemployment numbers are coming out. That should give us an interesting piece of the puzzle. I just wonder how many jobs the Government will create out of thin air this time?

Tags: Bob Brooks, double dip recession, economy, John Mauldin, real estate, unemployment numbers

We all know that Greece is a financial train wreck. Now, other European countries who are bordering on that same track are taking measures to start to fix their debt problems. This week, Britain announced the biggest spending cuts in decades. The British budget aims to sharply reduce record public debt. Shoppers will pay higher sales taxes, wealthy people will be hit for higher capital gains taxes and banks will be charged a new levy on profits, a move already approved by France and Germany. Even Queen Elizabeth II accepted a freeze in her support from taxpayers.

So if you are the leader of the country, what steps do you take to get yourself out of a financial crisis? Well, if you are the President of the United States you have this false sense of reality that you can spend your way out of the problem. The thought is you have the Government spend more and more money to stimulate the economy to make it grow. Of course, it is too bad that has proven not to work time and time again.

There are really two solutions to a debt problem. You either elect to attempt to grow your way out of it through government spending or you cut expenses. Of course, you can only imagine our politicians’ response to these drastic measures in Europe. They only understand irresponsible spending.

President Obama warned European leaders not to be too hasty in cutting spending due to what it could do to the global economy. What President Obama seems to fail to understand about Europe is that you cannot spend what you cannot print. They don’t have the money tree where they can print money at will. With all due respect to Mr. Obama, these countries are broke and have no other choice but to cut spending. It is that simple.

Yet, Mr. Obama wants the rest of the world to just model our financial irresponsibility instead of taking the right actions and cutting spending and expenses. After all, if everyone would just keep spending money and creating debt, the party can continue and the inevitable remain in the future. Financial RESPONSIBILITY would be the worst of all directions for the global debt party.

The harsh reality that we will one day face is that you don’t fix a problem by creating more of it.

How about those Washington politicians taking a good hard look at Europe. After all, Europe is modeling our future.

Tags: Bob Brooks, Britain, debt crisis, Europe, global economy, Obama, politicians, spending

Cardhub.com recently released a report rating the top 10 credit card companies and how well they communicate to cardmembers regarding penalty rates. The bottom line is that credit card companies are still trying to vaguely communicate and using the new rules to engage in “gotcha” rate practices.

Cardhub.com rated the card companies poor, fair, good, and excellent in the following 4 categories.

1) Clarity on Penalty APR Triggers
2) Clarity on Portion of Balance Affected
3) Clarity on How to Get Back to Regular Rate
4) Clarity on APR Changes During First 12 months

From top to bottom here were the rankings:

Excellent – Bank of America (I would have never guessed that one), USAA, and US Bank

Poor – Citi was the worst. The next lowest rated card was American Express (actually that did surprise me).

Wells Fargo scored good all across the board. The rest of the companies (HSBC, Discover, Chase, and Capital One ended up being a combination of poor, fair, and good.

Now the Federal Reserve would initiate guidance to the credit card companies by giving them a sample statement as to how to communicate to cardholders. Cardhub.com rated them as well – The Federal Reserve received 3 fair ratings and 1 poor ratings. You have to love the fact that the Federal Reserve who writes the rules cannot even give a good example of how to carry out those rules.

To see the study, click here

Tags: American Express, Bank of America, Bob Brooks, Citi, Credit Card Companies, Federal Reserve, ratings

If you watch Fox News or any of the cable channels, you have probably seen the G. Gordon Liddy commercial for gold. In the commercial, he basically declares that the value of the dollar is about to implode and big time inflation is on the way. It is enough to make anyone think twice about the safety of their money. Their slogan is “Secure your retirement with gold.” Although a nice marketing slogan, here are ten things G. Gordon Liddy is not telling you about gold:

(1) Gold doesn’t produce anything.

(2) Gold doesn’t produce earnings.

(3) Gold is a speculative investment that can decline in great percentages and go up in large percentages

(4) In my opinion, gold is not a true safe haven. A safe haven is where you park your money so that you don’t lose it. You can lose a lot of money investing in gold.

(5) If you purchase gold for your overall investment portfolio, I would not follow the advice of the commercials and put everything in gold. Be smart and practice proper diversification procedures.

(6) The other side of the inflation argument is deflation and gold does not do well in deflationary times. All signs are pointing to deflation rather than inflation.

(7) You cannot take gold to the grocery store and buy something with it – it is not a currency and political agenda in my opinion would prevent us from ever going back to the gold standard.

(8) Gold is sold and pays big commissions to those who sell it. As a reult, you could need to earn as much as 36% just to get your original investment back.

(9) If you are going to put gold in to your portfolio, consider something like a GOLD ETF or Gold Stock or mutual fund. For the most part although not guaranteed, they do move with the price of gold.

(10) If you are going to buy physical gold, buy it from someone that you have checked out thoroughly and be careful buying it from some company advertizing on television.

Tags: Bob Brooks, deflation, G. Gorden Liddy, gold, inflation, investments

There is no question that the system is broken. Just look at all of the corruption and the power grab at any cost and you can see the problem. Politicians for the most part spend all of their waking moments making sure that they get re-elected and taking care of those who fund their campaign. Very little of substance actually gets done for the voters.

We all act shocked at the conduct coming out of Washington. At the same time, do we really have the right to be shocked? We are the ones who elect the corruption. We are the ones who vote into office politicians that have questionable backgrounds.

Take Alvin Greene for example. Here is a guy that is reported to never have campaigned, has no job, and gets elected as a Democratic nominee in South Carolina. He also has a felony porn charge. OK, let’s not convict the guy without a fair trial. At the same time, do you think that it is smart to vote for a guy that has put himself in a position to have such an acquisition attached to his name? Maybe you might want to see that little potential integrity problem play out before granting him the ability to influence laws. I don’t know – seems to make sense to me.

Then there is my favorite piece of work politician – Attorney General Richard Blumenthal who is running for a Senate seat in Connecticut. He flat out lied that he served in Vietnam and admitted his “little” mistake. The amazing thing is that he still is in the race. Yes, there are people who will still vote for someone who has shown a very low level of integrity by flat out lying.

Yes, the problem is the voter. If a politician shows any signs that he or she will get elected at any cost and put ethics and integrity as an after thought, then they should also be an after thought. Hmmmmm…if that were the case, then I guess we would be replacing the vast majority of Congress.

Tags: Alvin Greene, Congress, politicians, Richard Blumenthal, Senate, voters

I am on the Obama e-mail mailing list to see exactly what occurs through this medium of communication. At the end of the day, it just seems like one big ongoing campaign contribution push for money. Let’s take a look:

Bob — (hey nice intro – Barack knows my name)

On Thursday, the Senate passed historic Wall Street reform. This movement proved again that the strongest special interests, who for so long have called the shots in Washington, can be beat. (Let me get this right – Obama, who is all about special interest, lost something?)

When opponents in Congress tried to block the legislation altogether, you stood up — and they backed down. When the lobbyists pushed for loopholes and exemptions just before a final vote, you did not relent — and we fought them off. (Who stood up? This wasn’t health care tea party stuff)

Your support brought us to this day — and, because of that, we’re poised to implement sensible reforms that will provide a stronger foundation for economic growth. (read: you got me elected and now I continue to enact socialistic reforms)

Now, the House and Senate must iron out their differences before I can sign it into law. But the financial industry will not give up. They have already spent more than $1 million per member of Congress, lobbying on this issue. And in the coming days, they will go all in. This is their last shot to stall, weaken, or kill reform, and they are not accustomed to losing. (He should know – he has benefited greatly from the financial support of this very group he is trying to “reform.”)

But this movement has you — and together, we have beaten the special interests before.
(once again, is he losing something? After all, he is special interest.)

Please donate $5 or more today to help Organizing for America continue to mobilize thousands — to counter the special interests’ attacks and get strong Wall Street reform to my desk.

(or said another way – Please donate $5 to Organizing for America, my campaign re-election organization, so that I can be re-elected)

He has used these e-mails to raise money for all types of things to fund agendas for the White House. Since when does the President of the United States raise money for anything that is White House, office of the President related? He doesn’t – This is nothing more than trying to get people to contribute to his war chest for when he runs again. Boy these politicians will do anything.

Tags: Bob Brooks, campaign, legislation, Obama, politicians, special interests

I received this PR piece and thought I would pass it on.

Income-Based Repayment Helps Make Student Loan Payments Manageable for Struggling Borrowers, Changes Coming July 1

A major new federal student loan repayment option, Income-Based Repayment (IBR), became available for the first time last July. While the program has provided relief for thousands of federal student loan borrowers, hundreds of thousands more could get significant and much-needed reductions in their monthly student loan payments by applying for IBR.

Amanda in Massachusetts reduced the monthly payments on her graduate school loan from $700 to $240 a month, and predicts that in eight years she will be debt-free. Joy is a teacher’s assistant in California who is studying to become a marriage and family therapist. IBR will allow her to complete a mandatory 3,000 hour internship upon graduation and still make her loan payments. Valisha is a single mom in Los Angeles who borrowed to get a bachelor’s degree in business management. IBR lowered her monthly payment from $400 a month to $125.

“With so many people struggling financially, Income-Based Repayment can be a godsend if you know it’s there,” said Lauren Asher, president of the nonprofit Institute for College Access & Success, which runs the Project on Student Debt. “IBR caps your student loan payments so they won’t break the bank. Our web site, www.IBRInfo.org, has consumer-friendly information about the program, including a calculator to estimate your IBR eligibility and payment.”

IBR is a federal student loan repayment option that caps monthly payments based on your income and family size, and forgives any principal and interest remaining after 25 years of payments. For example, a single person earning $30,000 a year with $30,000 in debt could cut his or her standard monthly payment in half with IBR. All federal loans made to students can be covered by this program, regardless of when they were taken out, from which lender, or whether they were for graduate or undergraduate study. Borrowers can contact their lenders directly to apply for IBR, or visit www.IBRinfo.org to learn more.

Starting on July 1, 2010, there will be some important and helpful changes to the program, including:

1. When married couples both have federal student loans, they will no longer face higher IBR payments than their unmarried peers. For married borrowers who file their taxes jointly, lenders will factor in the couple’s total federal student loan debt, as well as their total income, to calculate payments. Originally, IBR did not recognize that joint income has to cover both spouses’ IBR payments, resulting in payment requirements up to twice what two equivalent single people would have to pay.

2. IBR eligibility will be based on either the balance when the loan first entered repayment or on the current loan amount, whichever is greater. This will allow borrowers whose loan balances have increased (often due to accrued interest during periods of deferment or forbearance) to qualify based on what they actually owe.

“I hope more people realize that IBR can help lighten their load.” said Asher, “The new improvements for married borrowers and borrowers with debt that’s grown since they graduated will make IBR even more helpful in these tough times.”

Tags: Bob Brooks, graduate school, IBR, student loans

Was last night’s Presidential address intended to be about the problem and the solutions to the Gulf crisis or maybe a campaign speech for the climate legislation AKA cap and trade?

Well, just like the score of last night’s Lakers and Celtics game, it wasn’t even close. After mentioning the problems in the Gulf, it was full speed ahead in an attempt to rally support for one of the worst pieces of legislation on his agenda while a natural disaster is brewing in the Gulf.

It just goes to show you that we don’t have a problem solver or leader in the White House. We have a politician first and foremost. I know…big surprise. However, that was even a low point for him to so boldly exploit a situation for his own purposes so openly.

Let’s take a look at what Obama the leader said and what Obama the politician meant.

We will fight this spill for as long as it takes. We will do whatever is necessary.

Read: I know that I waited 40 days to take action. However, I should get some credit for my photo opps and eating seafood in the Gulf. After all, as my good old buddy Rohm Emmanuel said, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.”

Tomorrow I will meet with the Chairman of BP and inform him that he is to set aside whatever resources needed to take are of those who have lost.

Read: Actually, I have no way of making BP pay anything.

This fund will not be funded by BP. To ensure that all funds are paid in a fair and timely matter, the account will be administered by an independent third party.

Read: An independent party that I put together and control.

I have issued a 6 month moratorium on deep water drilling. I know that this creates difficulty for those who work on those rigs.

Read: My apologies to the rig workers who will lose their jobs. However, this whole drilling thing interferes with my agenda.

Although I expect the commission to be through with their work a quickly as possible, I expect them to be thorough.

Read: My moratorium on drilling will probably take years because I expect them to be thorough.

A larger lesson is that no matter how much regulation there is, drilling for oil is risky. After all, oil is a finite resource.

Read: My official lead in to promoting my climate (cap and trade) legislation.

For decades, we have known that the days of cheap drilling for oil was numbered. For decades, we have failed to respond to this challenge.

Read: So now is the time to pass my legislation to correct a global warming problem that really isn’t there.

Today we see the Gulf and the reality of our dependence on oil. We cannot assign our children to this future.

Read: Hang on… I cannot stop laughing at the reference of being concerned about the future of our children. We can leave our future with trillions of dollars of debt and that is OK.

What is unfolding on our coast is a reminder that we must embrace clean energy future is now. Now is the moment to unleash a mission to control our own destiny.

Read: Urgency people –I only have until November to pass this legislation.

Last year the House of Representatives acted on this legislation by passing this energy and climate bill.

Read: A reminder that I am one step ahead of you already.

What sees us through is our strength and our unyielding faith of something better if we take the courage to reach for it. Tonight we pray for that courage, we pray for the people in the Gulf, and we pray that a hand might guide us through the storm to a brighter day.

Read: Please pray for my climate legislation first. Oh yes, please pray for those people in the Gulf who I will exploit their unfortunate situation for my purposes…and may that Hand, whoever’s Hand you want it to be, guide us through the storm.

This is a true representation of his intentions when the President of the US requests that we pray for his agenda first before the people who he represents in the Gulf. Whose hand does he really want to guide? Personally, I pray for God’s hand to solve this situation.

Tags: Bob Brooks, BP, Gulf crisis, Obama, socialism

Honestly, I am an optimist. I hope that this Gulf Oil Crisis gets resolved. I pray for a miracle to happen. At the same time, what I cannot share is Obama’s unrealistic optimism.

From a news source:

In a newly optimistic tone, President Barack Obama promised Monday that “things are going to return to normal” along the stricken Gulf Coast and the region’s fouled waters will be in better shape than before the catastrophic BP oil spill.

He declared Gulf seafood safe to eat and said his administration was redoubling inspections and monitoring to make sure it stays that way.

And he added…

I also declare that we will have world peace next week, having child will go to college for free, and I will lower your taxes.

OK, maybe I made that part up.

Mr. Obama and British Petroleum, respectively can we stop the spin and damage control and call this thing for what it is – It is a natural disaster of epic proportions! He is right about one thing. Things will not be the same before the oil spill. I doubt that they will ever be the same. Of course, this is the same President who confidently mortgages our future and spends trillions of dollars as if this will not create an irreversible problem in the future.

So, Mr. Obama, I love the optimism. However, let’s keep it in the realm of believability.

Tags: Bob Brooks, British Petroleum, Gulf, Obama, oil spill, optimism

Anytime I start worrying about anything, I turn to this short piece written by Dr. James Dennison. For an excellent daily read, go to www.godissues.org. I hope that this is beneficial for you as it has been for me

The first step to living in the now is wanting to. So, why should we live in the present? For three reasons. First, worry over the future is pointless. A survey regarding worry revealed these facts: 40 percent of things most people worry about never happen; 30 percent of what we worry about has already happened and cannot be changed; 22 percent of what we worry about regards problems which are beyond our control; only eight percent of what we worry about are situations over which we have any influence.

Mickey Rivers, former New York Yankees outfielder, was right: “Ain’t no sense worry about things you got control over, ’cause if you got control over them, ain’t no sense worrying. And there ain’t no sense worrying about things you got no control over, ’cause if you got no control over them, ain’t no sense worrying about them.” Any questions?

A wise man once said, “The biggest troubles you have got to face are those that never come.” It has been observed that the bridges we cross before we come to them are almost always over rivers that aren’t there.

Winston Churchill once quoted a man on his deathbed who said that he had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which never happened. Don’t live in tomorrow, for such anxiety is pointless.

Second, refuse to worry about the future, because tomorrow doesn’t exist. The Greeks pictured history as a line, and made five-year plans. The Jews knew better. They saw time as a dot, the here and now. “Yesterday” is gone, and “tomorrow” doesn’t exist. It’s just a word with no substance. We live in the past and the future; they lived in the present.

Take Paul’s experience on his second missionary journey. He thought he was to turn back East when God called him West. The result was his ministry in Macedonia and Europe, and the movement of the gospel to the Western Hemisphere. The apostle had no idea this was his future; he was simply staying faithful in the present.

Third, choose to live in the now, because it’s the only way to know God. He is the great I Am, not the I Was or the I Will Be. He cannot help you with the future, for it doesn’t exist. If you want to know God, you must live in today, for this is the only day which is. God does not live in our guilt over the past or fear about the future, but in our present faith and trust. We’ll continue in the morning.

Copyright © 2006. GodIssues.org. All rights reserved.

Tags: Bob Brooks, faith, worry

I went to check my Wells Fargo account and noticed a link concerning the debt card overdraft feature. It read “Avoid having your Debit Card Declined.” Now that is going to lure most people in, considering no one wants the embarrassment of having their debit card declined. Once you click through you see this:

Wells Fargo may, at its discretion, approve (“authorize”) your ATM and everyday (one-time) debit card transactions even if you do not have sufficient funds in your checking account at the time of the transaction.

What is changing?

Beginning August 13, 2010 for existing accounts (or beginning July 1, 2010 for new accounts), we will decline these transactions if funds are not available in your checking account or in the account(s) you may have linked for Overdraft Protection.

If you would like to continue to have your transactions approved at our discretion as they are today, consider adding the Debit Card Overdraft Service2 to your checking account, which may help you to avoid declines.

The new laws are forcing them to make you opt in to this horrible program rather letting the bank sign you up. My favorite part is that Wells Fargo “may, at its discretion. approve” a debit card transaction when there is not enough money in the account. Discretion?? For everyone one of those they approve, they make $35. Really, do you think that they are not going to take advantage of making the fee?

Then there are the benefits they claim and the costs of this service.

Benefits:
- Increased convenience. Your purchase may be approved when you have insufficient funds in your checking account. Yes, that is really doing the consumer a favor!
- Added flexibility. You may be allowed to continue with a purchase and then deposit funds to cover the transaction later that same business day (or on Monday for weekend transactions). What is the likelihood?
- A “back-up” plan. Your transactions may be approved at our discretion, which is important if you don’t have an alternative form of payment to complete your purchase. – A back-up plan is not spending money that you don’t have!

Cost:
- There is no fee to add the Debit Card Overdraft Service to your account and no fee if you never use the service. Of course not – why would they charge for something that is going to make them money anyway?
- There is no fee if you accidentally overdraw your account during the day and you make a sufficient deposit or transfer before the posted cut-off time on the same business day. – Once again, what is likelihood?

If an ATM or everyday debit card transaction overdraws your account, you will pay an overdraft fee of up to $35 per item. See below for important details and disclosures. – BINGO – Benefit Bank Disadvantage Consumer

The politicians act as if they are passing regulations that will protect you. How about not allowing the banks to offer this type of program at all?

Tags: banks, Bob Brooks, debit cards, overdraft fees, Wells Fargo

Obama sent out another one of his e-mails to list with a little additional damage control. This is what he said in his e-mail:

That is why, from the beginning, we have worked to deploy every tool at our disposal to respond to this crisis. Today, there are more than 20,000 people working around the clock to contain and clean up this spill. I have authorized 17,500 National Guard troops to participate in the response. More than 1,900 vessels are aiding in the containment and cleanup effort. We have convened hundreds of top scientists and engineers from around the world. This is the largest response to an environmental disaster of this kind in the history of our country.

How about a fact check on that one. Facts are irrelevant when it comes to damage control. However, nice attempt at massaging reality and shifting the blame.

The Washington Examiner editorial page had about the best summary of Obama’s actions following the explosion.

Documents obtained by the Center for Public Integrity make clear that the White House was told by the Coast Guard within 24 hours of the April 20 explosion on BP’s Deepwater Horizon platform that the equivalent of 8,000 barrels a day could escape into the ocean. Within three days, Obama and his senior aides were warned that the spill could exceed the in environmental damage caused by the Exxon Valdez wreck in 1989.

Despite these warnings, over the next two months Obama attended Democratic fundraisers, played golf, hosted basketball and football teams at the White House and delivered commencement speeches. Two weeks passed before he could be bothered to go to Louisiana. On April 29, Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindahl declared a state of emergency as the oil spill covered 600 square miles and was only 16 miles from the coast. Jindahl begged federal officials for permission to build a massive network of sand berms to contain damage to beaches. Washington responded a month later but permission was only granted to build 2 percent of the berms requested.

The bottom line – it appears that either Obama is completely incompetent and just couldn’t see what a crisis this as going to be or he was calculated because he never intended to do anything about the oil spill. He is a pretty smart guy. You can decide. Either way, it is disturbing. I don’t know about you. I am getting so tired of the ugly art of political demagoguery (from the Washington Examiner)

Tags: Bob Brooks, Gulf, National Guard, Obama, oil spill, Washington Examiner

A friend of mine sent this in an e-mail to me and I had to pass this on.

– If you ever feel a little bit stupid, just dig this up and read it again; you’ll begin to think you’re a genius.
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(On September 17, 1994, Alabama’s Heather Whitestone was selected as Miss America 1995.)
Question: If you could live forever, would you and why?
Answer: “I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever,”
–Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss USA contest.
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“Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can’t help but cry. I mean I’d love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff.”
–Mariah Carey
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“Smoking kills. If you’re killed, you’ve lost a very important part of your life,”
– Brooke Shields, during an interview to become spokesperson for federal anti-smoking campaign
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“I’ve never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body,”
–Winston Bennett, University of Kentucky basketball forward.
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“Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country,”
–Mayor Marion Barry, Washington , DC . ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

“That lowdown scoundrel deserves to be kicked to death by a jackass, and I’m just the one to do it,”
–A congressional candidate in Texas .
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“Half this game is ninety percent mental.”
–Philadelphia Phillies manager, Danny Ozark
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“It isn’t pollution that’s harming the environment. It’s the impurities in our air and water that are doing it.”
–Al Gore, Vice President
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“I love California. I practically grew up in Phoenix.”
– Dan Quayle
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“We’ve got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?”
–Lee Iacocca
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“The word “genius” isn’t applicable in football. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein.”
–Joe Theisman, NFL football quarterback & sports analyst.
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“We don’t necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude certain types of people.”
– Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC Instructor.
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“Your food stamps will be stopped effective March 1992 because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances.”
–Department of Social Services, Greenville , South Carolina
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“Traditionally, most of Australia ’s imports come from overseas.”
–Keppel Enderbery
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“If somebody has a bad heart, they can plug this jack in at night as they go to bed and it will monitor their heart throughout the night. And the next morning, when they wake up dead, there’ll be a record.”
– Mark S. Fowler, FCC Chairman

Tags: Bob Brooks