Citizens Reducing Debt While Politicians Increase It

It’s a common cliché heard on the campaign trail: politicians routinely saying they trust the intelligence of the American voter.  Whether they believe that or not, it seems the voters have more intelligence than most of those currently in the Administration and Congress!

According to an Associated Press Online release on August 25, 2010, consumers are increasingly understanding the benefits of living within their means, which Congress clearly does not.  Personal finance writer Eileen AJ Connelly reports that consumers, realizing the uncertainty of their economic future, are rushing to pay off personal debt, dropping their credit card debt in the last quarter to the lowest level in eight years.  Some excerpts of the report follow.

“The average combined debt for bank-issued credit cards like those with a MasterCard or Visa logo fell to $4,951 in the three months ended June 30, down more than 13 percent from $5,719 in the same period a year ago, according to TransUnion. The credit reporting agency said it was the first three-month period during which card debt fell below $5,000 since the first quarter of 2002.

“Credit card debt remained the highest in Alaska, but slid 7 percent there to $7,148. A total of 22 states recorded debt higher than the national average.

“Residents of Alabama paid off the most debt, dropping their average balance by 27 percent to $4,753.  More borrowers also made payments on time. The rate of cardholders past due by 90 days or more fell to 0.92 percent in the second quarter, from 1.17 percent last year.

“That’s the first time the delinquency rate has been below 1 percent since the second quarter of 2007, before the recession, said Ezra Becker, director of consulting and strategy in TransUnion’s financial services unit. The rate fluctuates during the year, he said, but the improvement is more evidence that consumers are working to make sure their credit cards remain in good standing.

“Besides paying down debt, consumers are getting fewer new cards. Nationwide, the number of new accounts opened dropped almost 6.5 percent from last year.”

Politicians could learn a lot about governing by simply imitating the old-fashioned, common sense principles their constituents demonstrate daily.  The most basic of these is living within one’s means.  Perhaps then more voters could trust the intelligence of the American politician!  Now that’s CHANGE we could live with!

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