Overdraft fees and Main Street
Long ago, when I was about 12 years old, my parents and some of their friends were talking about the cost of something the other couple wanted. My parents wanted to buy something too, but they didn’t have the money either. Back in the day, credit card use was very limited and only used for emergencies. It was still very much cash or a check that wouldn’t bounce. That being said, people saved for their purchases or did without.
I too wanted something, and it was to participate in the conversation of adults. As I sat there looking for an opening to jump into the conversation, it presented itself when it looked like neither couple could figure out how to finance the purchases. Not knowing you had to have money in the bank to write a check, I piped up and said, that’s okay, my mom can just write a check. Needless to say, I shrunk back down in my seat as the hilarity of my comment registered with the adults.
That was funny at the time because I was completely ignorant of how banking and finance work and my comment was harmless. It can take a long time to learn the ropes on money handling and some folks never learn. Our Congress and the Biden Administration seem to have never learned or have lost their understanding. In its simplest terms, it’s just money in and money out and money in must be greater than money out. If you write checks that you cannot cover, you get charged an overdraft fee.
Each time the Fed and our government print money it devalues the value of the dollar. It now takes $1.19 cents to buy the same thing that three years ago would have cost $1.00. This 19% increase is commonly known as inflation, or, as I call it, BGCs, “Bad Government Checks.” Washington is writing bad checks everywhere from covering the cost of NATO, Ukraine, the United Nations, illegal immigrants, and so on. Rand Paul has his annual report on needled government spending, it is truly shocking and not very funny at all.
Overdraft fees also come in the form of high interest rates. It slays me that the government asks the Fed to print money to which they comply, and the spending continues unabated. When the Fed finally realizes the spending is causing inflation, they raise interest rates. Great, 19% compounded inflation and high interest rates. It’s the old one two on the jaw of the American people.
The chickens are now coming home to roost for the administration, young families unable to make ends meet, much less afford to purchase a home, are going to hammer the administration in November. Republicans would get the same if they were in the White House. Rahm Emanuel was right — never let a crisis go to waste. Every conservative and every so-called Republican should be driving this point home to the voters, particularly the independent voter.
Democrat policies always have and always will stomp all over Main Street. I am a small business owner, and my products are now a luxury item and people aren’t buying because of inflation and high interest rates. Homeowner’s spending is now directed at making ends meet by using credit cards, tapping their 401Ks and their savings. Lack of sales and operating capital has caused us to sideline our business, not knowing if we’ll ever resurrect it.
I only see Kevin O’Leary out there raising the alarm about small business’s struggles, and he is a Canadian. He is begging for some relief for the small business of this nation. Owning a small business isn’t for the faint of heart and he knows how hard small business owners work to make ends meet. Sadly, many will not make it to see to the end of the year and many have already closed shop.
As for us, at least right now, we must take a breather. So, I have gone back to work in the private sector. I am writing this as I am sitting in a hotel room far from home away from the family and wondering why this must be.
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