McCain's Skyhigh credit card rate

[Joanne98]

The interest rate that Sen. John McCain, and his wife, Cindy, pay on their joint Chase credit card is staggering: 25.99 percent.

Dan Ray, in this post on CreditCards.com's Taking Charge blog, Picturelooked at annual financial disclosure forms of presidential candidates McCain and Barack Obama (posted on OpenSecrets.org). Ray notes that McCain and his wife owe between $10,001 and $15,000 on a joint Chase credit card. The "eye-popping" 25.99 percent rate is about 10 percentage points above the average credit card rates at the end of last year, he writes. Ray adds:

That's not the kind of interest rate that someone with good credit gets; it's usually the rate of someone who has defaulted on credit card payments -- either to Chase or someone else. ...
Based on the common monthly minimum payment formula of interest plus fees plus 1 percent of the balance, McCain's monthly minimum payment on a $10,001 debt at 25.99 percent would be $314.50. If he started making that payment in January 2008, and he kept making minimum payments, it would take him 406 months to pay it off, at which point he would have paid $21,670 in interest. He'd also be 104 years old.

Since the disclosure forms were for 2007, it's possible McCain has paid off his credit card debt and paid no finance charges. Even so, he should do what consumer advocates advise: call up Chase and ask the bank to lower his interest rate.

As for Obama, Ray writes that the Illinois senator had no reportable liabilities (required to be reported at $10,000). Obama reported book royalties of $4.1 million in 2007, and has socked away money toward his retirement and into his daughters' 529 savings plans for college.

There's been mounting pressure from consumer advocates, members of Congress and federal regulators to curb abusive credit card practices, including a proposal for a credit card bill of rights and limits on practices such as universal default.

http://www.politicalforum.com/elections-campaigns/39676-mccains-skyhigh-credit-card-rate.html

[dkf]

1. Looks like Cindy McCain isn't a very good business manager.

I'm thinking John McCain knows how to balance a checkbook and his own personal finances as well as he knows how to use a computer.

[starroute]

2. Probably McCain wasn't even aware of it

Any more than he was aware of his unpaid real estate taxes, or how to pump gas or use a computer, or any of the many things that he pays other people to do for him.

[eppur_se_muova]

3. "things that he pays other people to do for him..." Piss boy! Where's the piss boy?

[jaksavage]

4. I had a rich friend

She bought everything in quantity, skiis. bikes, clothing cars, etc.
Also let her accounts slide into overdue cause she just couldn't be bothered to think about them. Then every 3 months or so she would finally send in a check to cover it all.
Granny gave her $100,000 dollars in stocks in 1967. She was ten. It was worth 5 million in 1999.
At least she stopped drinking and coking .
She was also sexually assaulted as a teen. By her dad.