Using the $45B figure for credit card fees and the 2007 census data from govt, I calculate that, per capita, banks made about $150 each this year, or about $300 per wage earner/worker in the labor force. What did I get for my $300?

-I do not have to stand in line at banks to get my cash out to go shopping. That adds up to many hours per year of my time saved.

-I do not have to carry large amounts of cash and risk getting robbed or losing it when i go to make a major purchase. Peace of mind.

-I can order things on the phone and over the internet using a card, shopping for the best prices not available in my high-rent NY neighborhood.

-I can go on vacation in foreign countries and instantly get cash equivalents in their currency at an ATM, saving major hassles of paperwork and risk carrying currency and exchanging it.

The list of advantages to using plastic goes on and on.

Considering the low annual cost ($300), compared to real taxes paid to govt, which are orders of magnitude higher, I am happy to pay it for the convenience it brings to my life. But what conveniences, in comparison, do I get for my >$100,000 paid to govt in taxes annually?

I would rather have bankers making money off me in exchange for services I really want and value, than having Nancy Pelosi and her buddies getting rich from my tax dollars providing govt “services” I really don’t want.

You’d make Orwell proud.

health care bills are a leading cause of bankruptcy

I hope you’re not relying on the Warren study for that factoid. It has two glaring oversights that render it worthless.

You’re SILLY!

Do you know the details of your own plan?
Can they recind you, or drop you or choose not to renew your plan if you get sick. Is there a yearly cap they will pay for your rare disease when you get it?

What’s so bad about an individual controlling a lot of money? That money doesn’t disappear. There are only a few things someone can do with money: consume it, save it, invest it, give it away. Those options are the same for a billionaire as they are for the rest of us. And no matter what the billionaire does with the money, everyone else benefits in one way or another.

Physician and psychologist! How do you find the time?

Michael R. Bloomberg Mayor, New York $4.8 billion
Winthrop Rockefeller Lt. Governor, Arkansas 1.2 billion
B. Thomas Golisano Gubernatorial candidate, New York 1.1 billion
John Kerry Senator, Massachusetts 550 million
Tony Sanchez Gubernatorial candidate, Texas 500 million
Amo Houghton Representative, New York 475 million
Jon S. Corzine Senator, New Jersey 300 million
Herb Kohl Senator, Wisconsin 250 million
Jay Rockefeller Senator, West Virginia 200 million
Mark R. Warner Governor, Virginia 200 million

Forbes List Richest Politicians:
http://www.forbes.com/2002/10/28/richpoliticianslide.html?thisSpeed=20000

Or is it really just the latest in a multitude of “crises” manufactured by the political elites and spewed by a sycophantic media to justify yet another power and money grab for themselves and their favored friends at the expense of our money and liberty?

I rather suspect it’s the later. Call me silly.

No… you need to understand you pay taxes to Citibank on are regular basis weather you like it or not. You may not be a full-fledged serf but you are a mini-serf. Me too and I don’t like it. I’m not one to defend it as some are around here.

Me personally…. I voted to freeze our plenty-good-enough wages for the next several years so we could add more docs and nurses to provide better care. I’d much rather have another partner to share the work load and help improve my quality of care and job satisfaction than a salary increase at this point. But there are some fricking paper pushing asswipes out there that think they deserve another $20 million bonus for doing nothing of value.