They never give us a break

[MOP]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/13/unemployment.fees/index.html

This is some poor, kick them while they are down!

[Ghost]

I agree that it sucks. Though, in a way, though I suppose in one way it's like any other rip-off on which one might spend his money (including unemployment benefits). Nothing stops anyone from buying a lottery ticket with unemployment benefits, but it is still a rip off.

The difference being that the fees are exhorbitant, and they are attached to an offering from the government program, which is truly sick. They ought to simply stick to checks.

I suspect something I've long anticpated may be coming very soon, if it isn't underway already: a large-scale rejection of all these card fees. People will pay attention and manage their transactions to avoid such fees, and return to the world of cash and checks. Frequently cash. And businesses besides gas stations will spring up with 2-price structures for cash and credit.

And one step beyond that, I expect we'll see a huge rise in barter. To the point where our sick government will step in and make it illegal (or enforce it being illegal, to the extent it already is), or find ways to impose taxes on barter.