Maine Liberty Journal » Economics

Better Off Deadbeat: Craig Cunningham Has a Simple Solution for Getting Bill Collectors Off His Back. He Sues Them.

Editor — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:19:32 +0000

Via Dallas News (January 20, 2010):

Unlike his neighbors’ homes, Craig Cunningham’s house in Northeast Dallas looks abandoned. The grass is dried out. The concrete slab under the front door is lopsided and cracked. The green exterior has faded to a toxic-looking shade. Yellow Pages pile up near the front door, and the black mailbox is stuffed full. Maybe the home has been foreclosed on. That wouldn’t be a surprise in this economy.

But no, that’s not the case. Inside, the 29-year-old Cunningham hunkers his 6-foot-2-inch frame on a dumpy couch. His heavy arms extend from his sides, palms up, so two Chihuahuas, Angel and Chuay, can curl under them. Although it’s 10 a.m. on a weekday, he’s wearing slippers.

He leans forward to lift some paperwork out of a plastic tub on the coffee table. The phone rings, and he answers with a soft voice. It’s just a friend, and soon he hangs up. He’s waiting for a particular type of phone call—one from a representative of a debt collection agency or a credit card company, whom he’ll try to ensnare like a Venus fly trap. It’s not unlikely that Cunningham’s next call will be from a bill collector, since he’s between jobs—except for being in the Army Reserve—and owes $100,000 in debts.

While most Americans with unpaid bills dread the collector’s call, Cunningham sees them as lucrative opportunities. Many collection and credit card companies, intentionally or not, violate little-known consumer rights laws, and Cunningham’s favorite pastime is catching them doing so and then suing them. In fact, it’s a profitable side job.

Jim Cramer: conspiracy theorist?

Editor — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:49:36 +0000

“You know what, the Bavarian Illuminati, the Trilateral Commission, Goldman Sachs, & The Queen of England are not all bad!”

Tax refugees staging escape from New York

Editor — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:35:31 +0000

Atlas appears to be shrugging.

Via New York Post (10/27/2009):

New Yorkers are fleeing the state and city in alarming numbers — and costing a fortune in lost tax dollars, a new study shows.

More than 1.5 million state residents left for other parts of the United States from 2000 to 2008, according to the report from the Empire Center for New York State Policy. It was the biggest out-of-state migration in the country.

The vast majority of the migrants, 1.1 million, were former residents of New York City — meaning one out of seven city taxpayers moved out.

New maximum wage law

Editor — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 15:21:35 +0000

If Obama really imposes a $500,000 cap on executive compensation at firms that receive federal bailout money (stolen from you and I), will these executives choose to move down the ladder where they could potentially earn more?

Would this leave the top jobs open only to lesser qualified people who were not able to compete for higher paying jobs further down the corporate ladder?

Is down the new up in 2009 America?

Breaking from the herd to smalltown Maine

Editor — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:28:13 +0000

With the economy taking a nose dive, this seems like a smart time to explore do-it-yourself options: things we could make, raise, or grow less expensively than we can buy them. We thought it might be instructive, even entertaining, to spend a few days on a farm during fall harvest.

So we were delighted to discover Three Pines Bed & Breakfast and Farm. The off-the-grid solar home on 40 acres was recently named by the state a leader in environmentally responsible tourism – the perfect place, we thought, for recession-conscious ecotravel.

AmEx falls as economy chokes growth

Editor — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:00:18 +0000

MarketWatch:

The company said that even its most creditworthy, long-standing customers felt the effects of the economic slowdown currently sweeping the U.S.

Without giving specifics, AmEx said it plans to cut staff and reduce other costs, noting that the resulting charges will hit results in the second half of 2008.

“With bad debt occurring even in the superprime card segment, AmEx’s earnings clearly show that the credit crisis is going upscale, which does not bode well for the U.S. economy,” Red Gillen, senior analyst at consulting firm Celent, commented via email.

Still buying into Bush and the neocon blowhards (Hannity, Rush, etc.) who insist the economy is not in “recession”?

Local Farmers Flourishing Despite Economy

Editor — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:22:42 +0000

WCSH:

With high prices, salmonella scares and other worries, more and more people are looking for food grown close to home. For Maine’s small farmers, the growing interest in local food could mean real growth for their business.

This is a great example of what Lew talks about in his essay today.

What is the government doing about the “salmonella scare”? Still investigating.

Welcome to the Frozen Economy

Editor — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:20:04 +0000

Business Week:

Not since the Depression have financial difficulties so immobilized spending and credit. Listen to the talk at a local diner in Maine.

Jim Cramer: wrong as usual

Editor — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:09:51 +0000

Cramer (5:47): “I’ve always favored higher taxes for the rich, including myself”.

Mathews: Where will the money come from to bail out Fannie and Freddie?

Cramer (6:36) “It’s called the printing press. … We have no choice, we gotta start printing left and right.”

Mathews: “am I talking to Robert Mugave here?”

So, Jim, how will high taxes and runaway inflation “save the economy”?

Inflation tax

Editor — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:28:58 +0000

As the dollar continues to depreciate, thanks to reckless policy by the Fed and government at all levels, you’ll likely be paying more for natural gas very soon.