Hurricane Katrina Benefits Credit Card Companies
Apart from reconstruction, the business sector that will benefit the most from Hurricane Katrina's devastation is the credit card industry. With no home, no job, no cash, no credentials to access banked savings, and bearing the full weight of trauma caused by Katrina, refugees have no choice but to "max out" their credit cards despite having absolutely no means to repay. And credit card companies must be salivating at the thought of it all.
As an example, the two families of refugees I have chosen to sponsor directly (two adult women, and eight children aged 2-13), fled New Orleans in one car with no money, and only one credit card with a $1000 limit. If you had nowhere to stay, no income, your children were starving, and all you had was a credit card, what would you do?
Since "credit" does not even exist (it is actually debt), the massive use of credit cards by Katrina refugees has effectively created millions of dollars that did not previously exist, and the credit card companies get every penny of it plus interest in one form or another--real payment, tax breaks for write-offs, eventual aquisition of refugees' remaining property in bankrupty proceedings, government bailouts, etc.
The Washington Post reports that U.S. corporations are providing record aid to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, and notes with some cynacism that this aid represents an unprecedented opportunity for positive public relations for industries with a bad image. For example, Wal-Mart, which is in dire need of an image overhaul, has pledged $15 million dollars to "jump start" Katrina relief efforts.
And what have the financial services corporations done? Here is what the Washington Post reported:
CitiGroup, Inc.: "up to $3 million"
JP Morgan Chase & Co.: "up to $3 million"
Merril Lynch & Co.: $1.5 million
T. Rowe Price Associates Foundation: $250,000
For a total of "up to" $7.75 million dollars from four of the wealthiest corporations in the United States of America, while Wal-Mart alone has promised twice that amount.
Even the nation's oil companies, which suffered their own losses from Hurricane Katrina, have pledged a combined total of more than $15 million dollars in aid. Yet CitiGroup, which stands to benefit enormously from the aftermath of Katrina (see post below), has offered only "up to" a whopping $3 million.
Look at those donation numbers above again, and compare the financial service industry's generosity to Hurricane Katrina victims with the generosity they showed their own executives in 2004:
CitiGroup, Inc. CEO Charles Prince received $19,922,941 in compensation in 2004 alone.
JP Morgan Chase & Co. CEO William B. Harrison recieved $16,084,055 in compensation in 2004 alone.
Merril Lynch CEO E. Stanley O'Neal received $32,134,673 in compensation in 2004 alone.
Which only proves once again what debtors prisoners already knew all along: the wardens of the American Debtors Prison don't care whether you and your family live or die, as long as they can make money from it either way.
All the best,
Paul
As an example, the two families of refugees I have chosen to sponsor directly (two adult women, and eight children aged 2-13), fled New Orleans in one car with no money, and only one credit card with a $1000 limit. If you had nowhere to stay, no income, your children were starving, and all you had was a credit card, what would you do?
Since "credit" does not even exist (it is actually debt), the massive use of credit cards by Katrina refugees has effectively created millions of dollars that did not previously exist, and the credit card companies get every penny of it plus interest in one form or another--real payment, tax breaks for write-offs, eventual aquisition of refugees' remaining property in bankrupty proceedings, government bailouts, etc.
The Washington Post reports that U.S. corporations are providing record aid to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, and notes with some cynacism that this aid represents an unprecedented opportunity for positive public relations for industries with a bad image. For example, Wal-Mart, which is in dire need of an image overhaul, has pledged $15 million dollars to "jump start" Katrina relief efforts.
And what have the financial services corporations done? Here is what the Washington Post reported:
CitiGroup, Inc.: "up to $3 million"
JP Morgan Chase & Co.: "up to $3 million"
Merril Lynch & Co.: $1.5 million
T. Rowe Price Associates Foundation: $250,000
For a total of "up to" $7.75 million dollars from four of the wealthiest corporations in the United States of America, while Wal-Mart alone has promised twice that amount.
Even the nation's oil companies, which suffered their own losses from Hurricane Katrina, have pledged a combined total of more than $15 million dollars in aid. Yet CitiGroup, which stands to benefit enormously from the aftermath of Katrina (see post below), has offered only "up to" a whopping $3 million.
Look at those donation numbers above again, and compare the financial service industry's generosity to Hurricane Katrina victims with the generosity they showed their own executives in 2004:
CitiGroup, Inc. CEO Charles Prince received $19,922,941 in compensation in 2004 alone.
JP Morgan Chase & Co. CEO William B. Harrison recieved $16,084,055 in compensation in 2004 alone.
Merril Lynch CEO E. Stanley O'Neal received $32,134,673 in compensation in 2004 alone.
Which only proves once again what debtors prisoners already knew all along: the wardens of the American Debtors Prison don't care whether you and your family live or die, as long as they can make money from it either way.
All the best,
Paul
posted by Paul at 12:43 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home