Posted on 11/14/2012 5:55:12 AM PST by ksen
From the top of their website:
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A bailout of the people by the people
Rolling Jubilee is a Strike Debt project that buys debt for pennies on the dollar, but instead of collecting it, abolishes it. Together we can liberate debtors at random through a campaign of mutual support, good will, and collective refusal. Debt resistance is just the beginning. Join us as we imagine and create a new world based on the common good, not Wall Street profits.
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I can hardly believe I am saying this....but OWS is finally doing something that I don’t think I object to.
If they want to raise funds, buy debt for pennies on the dollar and forgive it, that is totally up to them. Could even be constructive in some cases.
Beware ... there's still no free lunch.
I'm a bit dubious of the banks selling you your own bad debt ... they wouldn't like the precedent.
Nice PR move. Actually I like this idea. They should match donors to debtors. Get a picture for your fridge.
I'm not doing your homework for you.
No it's not. Again, I refer you back to the biblical Jubilee holiday. I guess god didn't understand economics enough to know he couldn't help everybody.
Anyone who has their debnt cancelled by OWS must, by law, report that as income in the year that the forgiveness occurs and pay income tax on it. I wonder if OWS will report them to the IRS to collect the bounty?
In a free market it is self limiting. If OWS starts buying up a significant part of the bad debt out there, banks will realize that the debt isn't all that bad and start offering it for $0.20, $0.30 or even $0.50 on the dollar instead of just pennies. And that would go up to $1.10 on the dollar if the government gets involved.
So this is just another way to break down the financial stabilty of the country. Tie up property with dead sales which do not generate payment of taxes. Part of the Alinsky/Soros manipulation to breaking house market.
I'm torn about the message here, I'm not in for anymore bailouts - personal or corporate. But... I personally know 2 families who have never walked away from an obligation but are really struggling right now. Both families have 50 ish parents with kids in HS or college and are fighting job lay off and business slow downs. One couple has sold their extra car and the husband is using what used to be their knock around old car because he has been out of work for over a year, just occasionally doing some odd jobs. The other couple has cut their 50 yr family business to bare bones staff and then some only part time. I don't think either can hold out much longer and they may lose everything. These people have never been any burden to the rest of us, but have now used their savings to keep things going. If I knew money I donated would help people like this and not some idiot who never had any intentions of paying his debts, no problem. Much better it be done by voluntary donations than through government fiat.
“Frankly, I doubt they are gonna get much support from the liberal side. Libs would rather pass a law that makes debt simply “disappear.” Damn the consequences.”
The idea of the libs is to make you an indentured servant to them, to their will. Make you wholly owned and reliant on them. Anything associated with a free and independent individual is counter to their objective.
wat?
You are correct, of course, about debt forgiveness as income for tax purposes. I’d recommend that, rather than forgive the debt, the buyers of the note modify the terms to say, 100 years to pay at $10 per month, or similar terms. I’m no accountant or tax lawyer, but that would seem to work. Or, the debt buyer could simply not enforce the loan rather than actively forgiving it.
Right. We tend to forget that the single biggest cause of personal bankruptcy is unexpected medical expenses — not too many credit cards or too much house or expensive trucks and cars.
A family is going along fine, paying all their expenses, paying off the credit card every month and then whammo, the kid gets leukemia or the breadwinner wakes up in intensive care with tens of thousands in debt to the hospital and doctors that the family DID NOT BORROW. And if the breadwinner’s out of commission, the debt gets more than 60 days old and starts racking up interest and the family can’t work out a payment plan because the family no longer has any income.
I agree, this is a OWS PR move. But if they help even two families with problem debt, it’s a mitzfah.
About 30 years ago I would see Pat Robertson come on The 700 Club and call for an International Year of Jubilee.
At the time I thought he had blown all the fuses in his brain and gone stark-raving mad.
Nowadays it does not sound so crazy anymore.
People are yearning to be free from debts that frankly will never be repaid. No doubt a major factor in driving many to vote for Obama (misguided though that may be)
Probably true about Obama voters (well, some).
But we should not forget those families in our neighborhoods that are being crushed by debt they didn’t borrow or ask for. Some families just get a grand piano of obligation dropped on them for no reason anybody knows except God.
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