Washington Mutual charges credit card interest before the due date

Yesterday, I called Washington Mutual to cancel my credit card. I wanted to pay the $16.98 owed on the card by June 17 and then close the account. Well, it's not that easy.

The rep said I had to pay $20.00 because I may owe more than my account shows and if $20 is too much, they will reimburse me with a check. I asked her why I had to pay more than the amount on my last bill when I had not used the card since my last bill. Without getting a straight answer, I pressed her and learned that the company charges interest by day and that the contract I signed consented to interest starting after the due date. "Well it's not after the due date, so why should I have to pay interest." She said I "may" have to pay interest as it can accrue before the due date of the bill! This really lit me up. Do your credit cards charge interest before the due date?

What's more, if I paid on the phone, she'd couldn't close the account until the payment posted. Then she told me it would cost over $14 to pay on the phone! So I had to create a username and password to access my account online. After paying it, I have to call back after the payment posts to have the account closed. After I set up the password, the password would not work. I got frustrated and quit, hoping it would work after a few hours to let it filter through the system. I am having to go through 3-4 steps to pay and close my account.

If I just pay the $16.98 and WaMu charges interest on that, then I could owe $2 or so on my next bill. Then if I pay that $2, there will already have been interest charged on that balance, and I'd owe $0.23 or so. This would go on ad infinitum until I acquiesced and paid more than I owe. At that point, WaMu has my money and will reimburse me in 3 months! If I don't like that, I can call after I cancel the card and ask for an expedited reimbursement.

I know credit card companies do all kinds of stuff like this, but this is the first time I have heard of charging interest before the due date. That forces you to over pay your balance and then rely upon the company to issue you a check. You also have to remember they were supposed to issue a check and follow up with them 3 months later if they don't send it. Such bullshit!

What I have been doing is just going online a couple of times a month and paying off my balance. That way, interest does not accrue during the month before my due date. i also have one card I keep long term with a high credit line (to improve my credit) and I switch from card to card as I get 0% offers in the mail. Usually I can get a 0% card for 12 months. If I forget to pay a bill on time, I can usually call Chase and ask them to wave the late fee. They will do this twice.

Keep extra vigilant of the credit card companies, and don't use Washington Mutual.

"A Real Man on the Moon Plan"

Bill Richardson just released this video on his energy plan. Read the previous entry about Gov. Richardson as well.

50% decrease in all US oil demand in 10 years.

Yeah, Bill. That's what I'm talking about! Finally someone speaking the truth.

Consider Bill Richardson

If you have not given Bill Richardson your attention yet, now is the time to give him a look. Jay Leno introduced him on the Tonight Show recently,

He spent 14 years in Congress, was the US Ambassador to the UN, served as the US Secretary of Energy, has negotiated with the harshest dictators around the world, is the current Governor of New Mexico and a four–time Nobel Peace Prize nominee... please welcome Democratic candidate for President, Gov. Bill Richardson!

WOW! By most metrics, he is the most qualified of all the presidential candidates. Take a look at this popular video.

Energy
Energy is one of the most important issues facing our country, and it will only get more dire of the next 4-8 years. While I am enamored with Obama, Richardson is not only more qualified, his energy policies are better.

No one in the presidential race can compete with Richardson's experience as the former Secretary of Energy. In New Mexico, he has lead the state to become "the Clean Energy State" and recently signed a law "requiring state utilities to quadruple their use of renewable energy." While Bush refuses to sign the Kyoto Treaty, N. Mexico is "on track to exceed Kyoto in the coming years."

While Richardson's record is strong, I am even more inspired by his vision for our energy future. He says, "Our goal should be bold—to reduce oil imports by 40% AND replace one quarter of liquid fuels with bio-fuels by 2025, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2050."

He calls for "a national renewable portfolio standard of 30% by 2020 that will rise to 50% by 2040."

By comparison, Obama calls for "all transportation fuels sold in the U.S. [to] contain 5 percent less carbon by 2015 and 10 percent less carbon by 2020. Obama is aware of our dangerous dependence on oil, but his goals are far from "bold."

The Governor knows the energy companies and understand that they must be part of the solution. He proposes establishing "a North American Energy Council—both to assure that we are efficiently developing and transporting energy in the North American market and to leverage our combined market power."

When addressing Oil and Gas executives, he states

Government’s role – indeed its obligation-- is to provide a clear vision, strategic investment in technology development, incentives to move forward – and most importantly, legal and regulatory certainty.

You are responsible for managing incredible risk and high-dollar portfolios – you have every right to know the federal “rules of the road” as you make key investments in our energy future.

Government investment in new technologies can serve as a sparkplug for energy “invention” but it is the role of the investment community to transform those inventions to marketplace “innovations” -- and the role of the business community to move innovations from the business plan stage to true technology diffusion.

Only when government and industry work together as partners can we successfully link together all these pieces of the energy innovation chain -- pushing the nation beyond the tired divisions of “good jobs OR the environment” and moving to “even better jobs AND a clean environment.

Other bold energy comments by Richardson:

1. Our ability to drain the swamps of terrorism depends in part on our political will to change how we produce, distribute and consume energy.
2. A significant portion of the $450 billion petrodollars we export each year is most certainly funneled to fund our Jihadist enemies
3. We should not lose sight of the following: Forty-five percent of the world’s proved gas reserves are in just two countries – Russia and Iran.

Diplomacy
As humbly as possible Richardson explains his diplomacy experience. "I was often asked [by President Clinton] to negotiate directly with tough characters like Fidel Castro, North Korean generals, Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan, and Saddam Hussein. Those face-to-face talks often meant the difference between the wrongful imprisonment of American servicemen and citizens–and freedom." Oh, add to this his experience as US Ambassador to the UN. He knows how to talk with friends and enemies.

No other candidate has anywhere close to Richardson's experience. "In recognition of his efforts around the world, Bill has been nominated four times for the Nobel Peace Prize. Each nomination has focused on his international peace mediation, hostage rescue and his commitment to justice." His recent negotiations with North Korea have rekindled the stalled nuclear non-proliferation talks with that regime.

Governor Richardson may not have the hype that Obama and Clinton do, but he is a proven energy expert, diplomat, and executive. Take the time to consider Bill Richardson for President. www.RichardsonForPresident.com

Global Climate Change Summit 2007

You may have heard about the Global Climate Change Summit where local government leaders from over 30 large cities worldwide are meeting to discuss climate change. The summit is sponsored by C40 Cities and the Clinton Foundation among others.

This morning, I jumped to the sight after hearing about it on NPR and wondering if Charlotte representatives were attending. They aren't.

Los Angeles, U.S.– Renewable Energy Credits
I did find a list of exciting initiatives in the attending cities that can easily be replicated in the U.S. The first is the renewable energy option LA offers consumers on their electric bills. Citizens can pay an additional 20% per kilowatt to use electricity generated from renewable energy rather than fossil fuels. For a bill of $58, this would mean a $3.30 additional charge–a small fee with historic implications. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) gives each participant 2 compact florescent light bulbs (CFL). Using just 2 CFLs
saves approximately $1.39 a month in energy usage. That leaves the net cost of using green power at $1.91. $1.91 a month for using renewable energy! Every city in the US should offer this green option.

Woking, United Kingdom – De-Regulated Energy Generation
For a post fossil fuels world, we should de-centralize energy generation so that U.S. energy is created by tens of thousands of small energy generating stations rather than large power plants. Solar pannels on top of my house would constitute one such energy generating station. In the second case study, Woking, UK has created 18 small-scale renewable energy "plants," which create 524.42 kWp of photovoltaic capacity. These sites have reduced CO2 emissions by 82% and energy consumption by 52%. Moreover, Woking have saved 5.4 million pounds (English money) up to 2005. This project foreshadows a revolutionary change in energy distribution and offers a model other cities can mimic now.

Melbourne, Australia
There are many more case studies on the site, but I have to mention the solar energy project in Melbourne. The roof of Queen Victoria Market supports the largest urban solar installation in the Southern Hemisphere. With more than 1,300 photovoltaic panels, which will last for at least 30 years, the QVM will save 369 tons of greenhouse gas a year. That is equivalent to energy usage of 46 houses or 82 cars a year. While this is a small dent, I think solar energy is the real future of renewable energy.

To start, there is unlimited solar energy. The main problems with solar are our ability to capture and store the energy with sufficient efficiency and to sell panels at an affordable price. In the early days of cars, on one would have thought 45 mpg was possible. Over time, technology improved. Solar energy is not a single source solution, but putting research money and government subsidies into solar energy, just as we have put hundreds of billions of dollars in to the car industry and wars to secure oil, will drastically increase our ability to use solar energy.

Consumers take out loans for cars and spend thousands of dollars a year for gas and maintenance. Electric cars require no gas and very little maintenance (because they have few moving parts), so we can all transfer that savings into home solar panels or paying more or green tags or Renewable Energy Credits on our electric bills. Remember that your electric car can be "fueled" by energy from solar panels. Technology alone will not save us from our dependence on fossil fuels, but a Manhattan Project or Man on the Moon initiative for Green Energy is long overdue.

I hope you will take a couple of minutes to click through the Global Climate Change Summit website. It will connect you with the current green movement and give you a glimpse into your renewable future.

Iraqi leaders take two-month vacation

Can you believe the gall of Iraqi leaders to take a two-month vacation in the middle of a civil war and escalating voilence?

Meanwhile, US troupes and Iraqi civilians continue to die as both countries wait for Iraq's sectarian leaders to resolve power sharing issues. We all know political agreements, not military power, are the only method of stabilizing Iraqi, yet the leaders who would make those decisions are on vacation.

So American families have Bush telling us to give his "surge" (which is more like a tide pool ripple) a chance, while Iraqi leaders take a break. We are supposed to wait until September––when the US Congress reconvenes and Petraeus will have time to evaluate the surge––and then decide how the US change in strategy is going?

I can understand that government official need rest just like other workers, but when you are the only ones who can stabilize your country, the middle of civil war is not the time to take a nap.