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Government Intervention – FAIL – A Personal Story

By: Josh LeGuern (Diary)  |  April 21st, 2011 at 08:25 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Despite my political philosophy, I have not been the most responsible person when it comes to money – I am 24 years old, and unfortunately I didn’t really understand the way credit or money works, so I have some rebuilding to do when it comes to my credit and a lot of student loans to pay off.

Needless to say, it’s nearly impossible for me to get a credit card, which I am perfectly fine with. I  have made a decision that I will not live on credit, If I use credit cards, I will be sure to have the money to pay them off at the end of the month and I will resist using them unless it’s an emergency. It’s awful I’ve I didn’t use my money the right way, but in some ways I’m very thankful that I have learned the lessons that I did.

So with that in mind, I was thrilled to find out that my bank – Chase – offered a Debit card that allowed you to accumulate airline miles from United Airlines. This was great for me – I couldn’t get a credit card, and frankly I didn’t want to, but Chase made it possible for me to still collect airline miles through my debit card linked to my checking account so that I could go and see my family in New York at a discounted rate through the year.

Well, I got a letter from Chase yesterday informing me that because of the Durbin Amendment, I would no longer receive airline miles on my debit card.

The Durbin Amendment caps the amount of profit banks can make from debit card transactions because Sen. Durbin and his liberal supporters couldn’t stand the fact the banks made “excessive” profits on debit card transactions.  You see if a bank can set charges, it makes money, and it can create rewards programs for using debit cards. The bank pays out the rewards but at the end of the day it more than makes it back by charging a minimal fee (the article I read said Chase charged 1.3% of the total transaction.) if the government can
cap their profits on this, why should they offer rewards?

So, thanks Sen. Durbin, I am now unable to take advantage of getting discounted flights to see my family in New York on a less than $40,000 salary in Southern California.

Government Intervention – FAILED.

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  • justsayitlikeitis

    We can’t blame others for our plot in life, that is a victim mentality of the left. You need to take responsibility for your own financial circumstances. Does the intervention suck? Perhaps, but there have been lots of intervention throughout history that successful entrepreneurs have overcome. I feel like you are saying that because you couldn’t get something for free, albeit from a private entity, you feel cheated. There is nothing that is for free and expecting that is playing right into the left’s mindset.

    • http://slcliberty.blogivists.com randy streu

      Man, so many of us have been doing it so wrong!

      His point, “Justsay,” was not that he feels “cheated.” It was that Government interfered where it didn’t NEED to interfere, and in so doing actually took a decent benefit AWAY from the people they say they’re helping.

    • Josh LeGuern

      Sorry if I offended your sensibilities Justsay, I’m really not trying to complain. I never expected to earn airline miles on my debit card, I always thought that was reserved for credit card users and I am really grateful to Chase that they gave us that opportunity. I also realize why they have to take them away – they cannot afford it.

      I don’t blame Chase, I don’t blame anyone really. All I was trying to do is point out that intervening on behalf of “the little guy” they’re actually keeping banks for doing really cool things like Chase did for me.

  • steve010

    It takes alot of courage for a relatively young man to write on this blog. And it was probably one of those evil banks that sucked you into a “student credit card” when you opened a checking account and you partied a little too much, something none of us did when we were in college, and you failed to pay them back when they wanted it. Of course, not like Citibank or BAC who needed 125 billion of all of our money just to stay in business when they made a few bad decisions. But that was systemic, you on the other hand are just a prole.

    • Josh LeGuern

      I don’t really blame banks for the financical situation I’m in, no one held a gun to my head, and I took the loans.

      I will say that it is absolutely insane to allow an 18 year old to sign for as much debt as I did, especially when there are no guarantees in life.

      The cool thing is I am not letting it hold me back. I have had it in my heart to start a small business and that is what I am doing. I hope I can write a post about my American success story! Right now, it’s a little tough, but I believe in America!