EDITORIALS / OPINION

Go straight to your favorite columnist

- Arkadi Kuhlmann

That "Free" Bank Account Could Be Costing You

- Alan Caruba

Russian Pride, Russian Power

RANTS

the georgetowner

August 2008

I’m sitting on a bus heading to Rosslyn, reading the display ads above. One started out “Last week I was trampled by hogs....” Turns out a man, working for Smithfield Foods in Tar Heel, NC, was bodily injured at the plant after being run over by the porkers, and the company refused to pay his medical bills, even though he remains on the disabled list to this day.

Well, far be it for our City leaders to let that happen. Last month,  the DC City Council introduced a resolution, encouraging all supermarkets and vendors in the District of Columbia to refrain from stocking Smithfield meat products in their stores. Actor Danny Glover has recorded an ad urging consumers not to buy Smithfield products and several local actors have lent support as well. Why not Bowser, Evans Graham and Schwartz doing spot commercials?

The truth of the matter is, the Company in Tar Heel, NC has been found liable by the National Labor Relations Board and in 2006 the Federal Court of Appeals for physical assault, threatening bodily harm and causing false arrest during an election process in 1997. But do we have to spend time passing resolutions about everything that ails this country, this world?

“I approve this message...” Senator John McCain, having nothing else to offer, has now decided to go on the attack, in spite of the fact that McCain had promised not to do just that. His ads and comments have questioned Obama’s patriotism, have blamed him for gasoline prices, and have accused him of being nothing more than a celebrity in a shameless ad that linked him to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.

While this points to a certain bankruptcy of ideas on the part of McCain, it might also remind you of McCain’s silence when the GOP swift boaters made their attacks on John Kerry. Not exactly a profile in political courage, standing silent while a fellow war veteran was being unfairly assaulted.

As for those ads, scurrilous as they are, they’re not swift boat, or Rush Limbaugh speeches, or  surrogates. At the end of each ad  you can hear loud and clear: “My name is John McCain and I approved this message.” You bet.

Thanks for nothing. In a stress-ridden urban environment like the Nation’s Capital, the Supreme Court should have first and foremost interpreted the Constitution for the greater good and safety of American lives. The best balance between real citizen rights and genuine public safety in a gun-riddled society is made when a strict ban enables us to randomly walk our streets and campuses without taking a bullet.

It is our strong belief that within a capital city with numerous levels of security concerns, only trained police and security professionals should own guns. Any District resident that wants to take a stroll a on warm day or night deserves as much assurance against being shot as a public official or Supreme Court justice walking to their government office. Individuals with inflated perceptions of danger or personal rights have no justifiable right to have a gun. The recent Supreme Court reversal of the District’s gun laws have just given the gun-toting thugs the freedom to brandish a weapon.

Thanks for nothing boys....

Russian Pride, Russian Power

By Alan Caruba

August 2008

“Under Vladimir Putin, Russia has taken a giant step backwards into its Soviet past, and nowhere is this more evident than in the realm of energy politics. Modern Russian politics and energy sources, first oil and then both oil and gas, have been inextricably connected in a way unmatched by any other major power in the history of the world.”

That’s how Michael J. Economides and Donna Marie D’Aleo open their book, “From Soviet to Putin and Back: The Dominance of Energy in Today’s Russia.”

Central to the Russian psyche is its preference for strong leadership and, after what the Russians considered to have been the embarrassment of Gorbachev and Yeltzin, it was Putin who tapped into this centuries old desire for a Tsar. Secondary to that was the massive feeling of wounded pride when the old Soviet Union collapsed. Imagine being raised to believe that Communism was a superior economic and social system, only to discover that it was no match for the capitalism of the West?

The Soviet Union fell because, in the end, it was heavily, if not entirely, dependent on the sale of that nation’s vast oil and gas reserves. The fall in the price per barrel did in the Soviet Union and you can thank Ronald Reagan for that because it was he who hatched the plot with the King of Saudi Arabia to make it happen. Cheap oil thanks to Saudi production in the 1980s kept the price low. Soviet revenues declined.

Pride and the price of oil are surely part of the reason Russian troops are in Georgia today. The Russians want Georgia back under their control and are not unmindful that control of the pipeline that runs through Georgia would increase the power they already hold over Europe as its chief supplier of oil and gas.

Americans are awakening these days to some rude lessons about energy. If, for example, Congress refuses for some three decades to permit drilling where billions of barrels of American oil exists and refuses to permit exploration for more oil off the continental shelf, you end up paying up to $4.00 for a gallon of gasoline because you’re importing 60% or more of what you need from foreign sources.

Not all the corn grown in America could ever replace the amount of gasoline we require for a nation that virtually runs on the wheels of trucks and whose business is conducted by people accustomed to climbing on and off jet airliners. Not all the wind turbines or solar panels will ever provide the electricity we get from “dirty” coal or the 20 percent we get from “clean” nuclear power.

“The search for, and control of energy resources, have been central to major world conflicts, including both World Wars and other global conflicts and civil wars,” the book’s authors remind us.

The Russians understand that, even if Americans do not. War weary after five years in Iraq, a nation that sits atop the second largest reserves of oil in the Middle East, too many Americans are still to eager to castigate President Bush for ridding that region of the single most destabilizing force in modern times, Saddam Hussein. In the process, the projection of U.S. power has accelerated the degradation of the non-state menace of al Qaeda.

My guess—and that’s all it is—is that Europe and the U.S. will cede Georgia to Russia because there is no compelling reason to go to war over it. The failure to incorporate Georgia into NATO was, in retrospect, poor judgment. One wonders how fast the Ukraine’s application will be processed. The European Union is hardly a military power. The Russians sit on the United Nations Security Council and are not likely to welcome anything more than a weak protest.

The world has returned to the bad old days of the Cold War where two great powers competed, the United States and Russia. The Russians are pumping their own oil and gas reserves, earning handsome revenues in the global marketplace.

Meanwhile, back in the United States, the two Democrat leaders in Congress are more concerned about “saving the planet” from a non-existent global warming than in protecting our national interests. The Democrat candidate for President would be more at home in the Russian Duma discussing the redistribution of wealth and the creation of social programs than in defending the republic.

Alan Caruba writes a weekly column posted on the Internet site of The National Anxiety Center, www.anxietycenter.com

That "Free" Bank Account Could Be Costing You

By Arkadi Kuhlmann

August 2008

For today's banking customers, a free toaster oven is no longer enough.

With so many banks to choose from, customers expect everything be free. That's why, every day, we're bombarded with ads for "free" banking accounts that promise no minimums and no restrictions.

But buyer beware. Buried in the fine print of most bank offers is a litany of fees and charges that can make that "free" account awfully expensive. These hidden charges make banks big bucks. In 2006, non-interest income for banks and thrifts was 27 percent of their total income, up from 24 percent in 2000.

Fees have fueled much of that increase. Since 2000, for instance, the average stopped payment fee has increased by 17 percent. Today, it runs about $25.

ATM fees now average $1.64, according to Bankrate.com. So if your bank charges you to use another bank's cash machine, you'll get socked twice -- totaling $3.28, on average. On a $40 withdrawal, that amounts to a fee of 8.2 percent!

Overdraft fees have proven especially profitable. The average overdraft fee now stands at $29, and in 2006, banks took in $17.5 billion in these charges.

What does this mean for the ordinary consumer? An honest mistake can cost a lot of money.

Imagine that you write and mail-in checks for all your monthly bills on Monday. A week later, the cable, phone, and electric companies all cash your checks as planned -- but so does the local Girl Scout who sold you those Thin Mints three months ago.

Your account is accidentally overdrawn. You're now facing an overdraft fee plus a late payment charge from your utilities provider. That's a lot of cash.

Some banks offer consumer-friendly policies, of course. But many of them keep consumers in the dark as a matter of policy, content to rely on murky fees to insulate their bottom line. These banks hope consumers won't notice when they're hit with an annual ATM fee, an annual debit card fee, and a monthly maintenance fee.

In a recent study from the Government Accountability Office, researchers were unable to obtain a comprehensive list of fees at 22 percent of the branches they surveyed. That lack of transparency is troubling.

Some fees are reasonable. A nominal late payment fee, for instance, is needed to ensure that folks stick to the predetermined payment schedule. Unfortunately, many banks have gone beyond what's reasonable. Too many have fees that accrue regardless of account activity, like monthly maintenance fees, checking account fees, and annual fees. Customers get charged simply for existing.

So what's a consumer to do? Shop around.

In lieu of overdraft fees, for instance, many banks have consumer-friendly offerings like automatic transfers from savings to checking in the event of an overdraft. Others offer an overdraft line of credit at a competitive interest rate. With this system, if your checking account goes negative, you'll automatically borrow the cash you need at a reasonable cost.

There are also banks that don't charge you to use another bank's ATM. Considering that it's your own money, you shouldn't have to navigate a minefield to avoid getting socked.

A high interest rate is also important. Most brick-and-mortar banks continue to pay less than half a percent of interest on checking and savings accounts. This is well under the rate of inflation. Many internet banks, however, offer savings and checking accounts with generous rates of return.

Consumers should also pay close attention to their account contracts. Fees should be reasonably priced, clearly defined, and transparent. Fine print and reams of pages are signs that you're probably better off banking somewhere else.

The truth is that full-service checking and savings accounts can be had for free. You just have to look for them.

Arkadi Kuhlmann is President and CEO of ING DIRECT USA.