MovieChat Forums > Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders (2006) Discussion > How is this all Bush's fault???

How is this all Bush's fault???

posted 16 years ago by JoferJeff
11 replies | jump to latest

As I watched this movie, (And let me add that I like the movie.) I noticed alot of footage of the president. It kinda sends the message that George Bush is personally responsible for these people charging all their bills and not paying them. Guess what? If you cant afford something, save up and buy it or dont buy it at all. As a self described poor person, I go without all the time. I do get credit card offers that give you $300 credit with $175 in fees on your first statement. I throw them away. Even poor people know a bad deal when they see one.

[–] [email protected] 16 years ago

Uh, did you really watch the movie? Since predatory lending fees used to be controled by government and now the restraints are gone, it looks like government had a hand in creating this problem of excessive credit fees and the effects on college students, etc. What has Bush done to tighten up on banks so they don't prey on those with the least capacity to repay? Since the republicans had complete and utter control for 7 years, what did they do? Nothing and in fact they made it worse.

[–] Jonas-14 16 years ago

If the banks don't lend to the poor, the Democrats will accuse them of discrimination, racism, and redlining, so they can't win, can they? If you look back, you will find that indeed they did - and the banks lent money - of course at higher rates than to those with good credit - and of course the short-sighted poor only cared about what the monthly payment would be now, not what it would be later, what the fees were, the interest rate, whether it was neg am or not, etc.

No idea what "predatory lending fees" are - if you mean usury laws, there are numerous federal and state laws governing this in place - they were there before, during, and will be there after Pres. Bush. PS: Congress makes federal law, not the president.

And one day, Republians may have complete and utter control, and that will be a good thing, but they haven't for any recent 7-year period.

[–] ThinkTwice516 16 years ago

How is this all Bush's fault? Its not, but the following actions don't qualify Dubya as a friend of the poor or middle class -

Signing the 2005 Bankruptcy bill (and plenty of Republican and Democratic Congressmen and Senators for presenting this peice of crap to him in the first place) . . . Cutting social services . . . Doubling the U.S. deficit in 8 years, so that more and more of our tax money goes to service interest on Treasury Bills and Bonds.

And honestly, what do you do when what you want is prescription drugs? or food? or car repairs so that you don't get fired? or a host of other expenses that are necessary?

Its easy to blame people in debt for getting there in the first place. And a lot of times its their own fault. However, the two leading causes of bankruptcy are 1) a lay-off and 2) a medical emergency (often coupled with a lay-off). Also, what about people whose spouse runs up debt in both their names and now they are responsible for paying off debt that they had nothing to do with?

Good for you that you are responsible. More people should be. But many many people in financial difficulties are not irresponsible (noone would call a laid-off auto worker (or any other dying american industry) or someone who got cancer - "irresponsible."

It is too easy to blame the generic irresponsible american consumer, who goes out and partys while the rest of us stay home and cut coupons, but that is simply not the reality for the majority of americans that are deeply in debt.

There is not one simple answer to this enormous problem and there is not one simple cure. But in my educated estimation, George Bush has done more to contribute to the problem than to cure it. And the same goes for the rest of the greedy S.O.B.'s in Congress that care more about campaign contributions than helping their constiutents.

[–] waynebigguns 16 years ago

That's right. Sometimes it's their own fault, and sometimes it's not even that. But the question is, what kind of society do we want? Do we want a society where the rich are free to prey on the poor "because it's their own fault", where it's each for his own and if you make a mistake in your life then tough luck? Or do we want a society where we take care of eachother, where we even take care of those who've made a mistake, where we make it possible for those in debt to get a second change to a decent life?

[–] jtpaladin 16 years ago

This film did a pretty good job of exposing the abuses of the credit reporting companies and how govt. has screwed Americans by changing the bankruptcy laws. Let me correct some things that the film failed to show.

The bankruptcy bill was a "bi-partisan" bill where both Republicans and Democrats joined together to rape the American public. The film only shows a few Demos contesting the bill but that's not how the vote came together. In fact, if the Democrat's wanted to stop this bankruptcy bill in the Senate, they could have done so with a filibuster. Very easy. But the Demos wanted this bill as well. Sad.

Further, the bankruptcy laws are now more difficult to understand whereas before you could do all the work yourself. This was what the lawyers wanted.

Also, this idea that there was a "Social Security" fund with money in it that was drained by Reagan and Bush is a lie. No such fund exists or existed. The money goes into general revenues. The govt. just issues IOU's.

Otherwise the film does a good job with the topic.

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America put the "fun" back into "Fundamentalism".

[–] FrankoFerko 16 years ago

First off, you have got the lobbyists steamrolling this monstrosity through both chambers of Congress. They should have been skinned alive way back in Neanderthal times...

The lawyers -- well, most lobbyists ARE lawyers, plus they had a vested interest to make bankruptcy filing a lot more complex then it needs to be. Way back in Elizabethan times, William Shakespeare argued loudly to kill all the lawyers -- what are we waiting for, guys and gals!?

Members of the Infamous United States Congress, a.k.a. "House of Bastards!?" Just how low can you go, when 85% of all Americans think that you people stink!?? And yes, definitely on both sides of the isle.

And Bungling Bush? I guess he was too busy being a good "Oil President" and a good "Terror War President" to pay much attention to what America's little people want and need.

Hitory will judge them all, surely, but we may have to mete out punishment to these unconscionable charlatans ourselves.

[–] lanative 16 years ago

Think of America as a company (which in essence, it is) and Bush as CEO (aka President). When you take over a company (America) that has a cash surplus, and then slowly burn through the cash surplus to the point of a major deficit, your shareholders (aka Americans) will hold you accountable. Whether or not Bush made the decisions isn't the point; as President, he's accountable for it (unless of course you're in the top 2%).

[–] jnatch 16 years ago

watch again, pay closer attention

[–] Polaris_DiB 16 years ago

It's not, nor did the documentary claim it was. You have to understand that any documentary made about a social/political issue is going to use what contemporary references it has, and as of 2006, Bush was the president--ergo, it's easier to show him making mistakes than others, because everyone is more aware of them. This is true on just about any documentary across the board, though it is worth bearing in mind that Bush's poor speech-making skills tends to make him a very easy scapegoat for just about anything.

--PolarisDiB

My mind is dilapidated with my thoughts.

My friends say I think too much.

[–] lazarillo 16 years ago

I don't know that it is specifically Bush's fault since there are certainly many Democrats who are just as beholden to the credit card companies. It certainly is largely the fault of the US government, which has mostly been in Republican hands the last eight years.

How come you and I don't make high interest loans to poor people who can't afford to pay them back? Well, first because we're not in the mafia (at least, I'm not), so we can't bust their kneecaps. Second though, we don't have laws on our side that will allow us to charge exorbitant "penalties" that often far exceed the principle, laws that will allow us to shred their credit for a lifetime, or even laws that will allow us to garnish their wages or take money right out of their bank accounts. But since the credit card companies HAVE these laws on their side, thanks to the government, why the hell would they not make these highly profitable loans? What if they only had the power, like you and me, to charge interest and make harassing phone calls? Well, just like you and me they wouldn't have much incentive to make these predatory loans.

Credit card companies are WORSE than loan sharks because while loan sharking is against the law, "credit card sharking" is fully supported BY THE LAW thanks to our wonderful elected officials. Yes, it's a tragedy that so many people in America are dumb enough to sign up for the credit card scams. But it's an even bigger tragedy that many of these same dumb people keep sending back the same poiliticians (mostly, but not all, Republican) who are giving it to them between the cheeks.

[–] Arvin-G-Borkar 8 years ago

Did you not see him sign the Bankruptcy Bill?

Fun Fact: He also had someone working under him who allowed exploitation of the WHO to not provide a standard for sugar consumption in the U.S. This is the reason why obesity rates were also skyrocketing into the 2000s.

THERE IS NOTHING TO FEAR. COLLEGE FOOTBALL IS HERE!!!