What don't they get?

I just was catching up on some of the news of the last week and discovered that all those bailed out financial/investment corporations are still giving excessive bonuses to their executives that have failed in keeping the companies solvent. And Citibank, that credit card company you love to hate, is going to buy a new $42 million corporate jet.

How many people did they kick out of their homes for this? And how many Citibank Credit Card holders are now paying 26% interest and $35 late fees? Or better yet, how much of my taxpayer money is funding this joy ride?

This new toy of the CEO's carries only 12 passengers and a crew. Twelve! And just where do they travel on this gold plated luxury ride? Isn't this the day of the Internet? Conference calls? Live video streaming that allows you to hold a meeting with nobody leaving their conference rooms?

And shouldn't Citibank and all these "on the brink of failing" companies be cutting back on expenses and frills and bonuses like us middle class (rapidly becoming lower class) members?

I am sorry you managed your companies so very poorly but in true capitalism you should be allowed to fail. I say take the remaining TARP funds and open a government bank to provide loans to people getting foreclosed on or in bankruptcy themselves. No more for banks and investment companies. Zero. Zip. Nada.

They just don't get it. Literally!

Write your congressmen and President Obama Today.

Citibank Bailout like Electing Mafia Don President?

I am not a fan of credit card companies. And frankly one of those I dislike the most is Citibank. And we are rescuing these robber barons?

I had been playing credit card roulette before my head injury. That is where you roll over your balance to the lowest interest rate whenever an offer shows up in your mail box. I had even developed a spread sheet to keep track of when the "introduction rate" would go up.

I had excellent credit and balance limits I figured I would never max out. I could have bought a Hummer and a vacation home with credit cards and not come close. Then the accident that altered my life. When I got conscious I realized my credit card companies were tripling my interest rate and charging me $25 to $35 late fees. I wrote all of them and explained my head injury and I would soon be back on top of things. They doubled my interest rate again.

Taking Oprah's advice I called them all and asked if they could lower my rate for six months to allow me to get a handle on things. Now mind you at that time I was not late on a single card. But two or three things had begun to transpired in the credit card business: make up for the low rates by changing high penalties for a single minute late, and shorten the day between mailing the statement and when it is due.

This last little trick since I live in a rural area and only get mail three days a week was deadly. I frequently got statements after the due date. So I switched to on line billing and payments. It was Citibank that developed this little ploy that you could not pay on line without a penalty within three days of the due date; they needed processing time. Or you could avoid the $30 penalty by paying them $10 for fast processing. Mind you I sat there one day with two windows open - one to their website and one to my bank and watched the money vanish from my account the minute I authorized payment.

Listening to my friend last night they evidently have not gotten better. Citibank just raised her interest from 10 to 24 percent because she called and asked about an auto loan. That is all it takes. Just have someone run a credit check on you. I give prospective renters the option to get a credit report for me to save them the predatory practices of credit card companies.

Some leaders of the congress have been trying to get a consumer bill of rights to restrict the activities of the credit card companies after Bush deregulated all banks. I say if we are going to give Citibank money they have to clean up their act. If they are going to stick to their same game plan I say let them fail.