90 Day Interest Free Loan Buzz

There was a blip on the radio while on my way to a customer this morning, something about the government meddling with the way 90 day interest free loans would be “changed”. Now I’ll admit up front I only caught a small part of what was announced; however, what I heard gave me reason to be concerned.

Many folks, myself included, purchase medium to large ticket items like refrigerators or furniture type items on a 90 day interest free loan or some other specified length of time where if the total amount of the purchase price is paid up in full within the time frame of the agreement then no interest is added to the original price of the item. If this concept is alien to you then you probably don’t have the discipline necessary to purchase medium to large ticket items and you should continue to rent your appliances and/or furniture on a monthly basis.

The news item lasted only half a minute or so; but I’m sure I heard them say a new rule, something the government had put into play, a new rule would make it impossible for the seller to tack interest onto a 90 day interest free loan even when the amount had not been paid off in the agreed time frame. Excuse me for bringing up a stupid issue; but isn’t that the same as saying all loans are now interest free?

I’ve referenced "the rule of law", a basic principle of government before, apparently the folks in Washington have no problem ignoring the “rule of law” , a foundation upon which we depend for almost any aspect of life here in our country. Borrowing from the article I linked with just now, “In the most basic sense, the rule of law is a system that attempts to protect the rights of citizens from arbitrary and abusive use of government power.”

Someone like Sen. Ted “Chapaquitic” Kennedy or is that Sir Edward Kennedy now, is out there telling me to sit down and shut up. Better yet, some pompous Hollywood celebrity like Alec Baldwin or Sean Penn is running to a microphone explaining how I need to shut up, “Our man won, it’s our turn to run the country!”

“Rule of Law, we don’t need no stinkin’ rule of law!” I wonder how many times that movie line has been played with to make a point, lots of times is my guess.

I tried to find a reference to this “new rule”, some news story in print to explain the particulars as might pertain to 90 day interest free loans; nothing, nada and zip. There were lots of company listings for loans on my Google search; but no news of a change in the basic way financial agreements had been altered by our government in such a way as to destroy any incentive to draw in buyers via 90 day no interest loans.

Okay, some smart person who knows where to look; leave a word or two in the comment section to either dispel the rumor I may have started or point the way to a fact based informative story. I found pages and pages of articles to explain Michelle Obama’s hair style or fashion statements; why nothing on a real news item? The clock is ticking…

Maybe this is part of the home mortgage mess , that new legislation where bankruptcy judges will be given power, power they were never intended to have nor should they have, power to mandate lending institutions to reduce interest rates and/or the amount of principle owed in order to facilitate home ownership to the undeserving among us.

As a locksmith, I’m waiting for something new to come down the pike, government mandates to remove locking devices, free of charge no doubt, such as door knobs and deadbolts from homes in low or middle income neighborhoods to keep the homeless sheltered by making use of previously foreclosed houses, those structures which should be used for "the greater good". The mandates will be part of yet another Obama administration initiative, let’s call it “One for all and all for one”, ( hey, that’s no worse than some of the names being tossed around on other initiatives), just another feel good policy which sprang from his well fertilized mind in a vision while taking a dump on the constitution during his morning constitutional.

As far fetched as this might sound, nothing and I mean nothing coming out of Washington would surprise me now. Heaven help us, the lunatic asylum is being run by the inmates.