New Credit Age

Once our new president stepped into office he began his effort to increase the age limit for credit card owners. The reason for this was that too many young people were getting into extreme debt. Obama hopes that the increase in the age limit will put a dent in the nations debt problems. Credit card companies were setting up stands on college campuses and convincing students to open up their own credit. They were even offering free t-shirts with their college names on them with the purpose of luring the students in. As of February 22nd, you must be 21(was 18) in order to have a credit card without a cosigner that is also 21. I strongly agree with the change. I'm not saying that an 18 is not responsible enough to have a credit card, I just believe that it is wrong for credit unions to be offering credit to students who's primary income is their parents. There have been too many stories about kids burying themselves in debt and in some cases, killing themselves because they feel that there is no way out. By age 21, most people are near done with school and are starting their careers, this is a good time to start your credit because you need money for starting different parts of career and your life. Now what are some reasons why teenagers should be allowed credit? They need to build a credit history so they can apply for loans such as a car loan. Also, with a decent credit score, it shows that the person is responsible and trustworthy. This could be very helpful with getting a job in the future, but what if the person has not gained the responsibility to build a good credit score and starts to go downhill.



Youtube Video- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKkv2aEPOiM

Cap and Trade Enviromental Legislature.

The 1,200 page Cap and Trade bill, was passed on June 26, 2009 and hasn't stopped causing controversy since. However, before I discuss the controversy and the arguments of both sides we need to understand, what, exactly, is Cap and Trade? The purpose of the bill is to steadily reduce economic pollution in a cost effective way. Sounds like a good idea so far, so lets break it down. The cap part of the cap and trade is a limit on the amount of green house gasses a large scale emitter or company can emit. The business must have a permit for every ton of pollutants it emits. Over time the limits, or caps, these permits set become stricter and stricter. Reducing pollutants until the ultimate level is met. Only certain number of permits will be issued. Similar systems have worked in the past, the Clean Air Act of 1990 is a good example, it lowered sulfur emissions that cause acid rain and met its goal for a lower cost then anyone predicted.

Now for the trade half of the bill. Quite simply any company who emits less then their permits allow them can sell the extra permits to less efficient companies. Ideally this creates a system that guarantees an overall reduction while rewarding the more efficient companies and meeting the cap at the lowest possible cost. The government profits from this by auctioning off these permits to create a large and reliable revenue stream.

Your probably wondering, if the system is that good then why is it so controversial? Well The Barr Code said it better then I could have so let me try and summarize. Basically the controversy is based on several things.

1. The polluters can go over the permits limit if they buy two billion carbon offsets. These offsets can be purchased from within America, or other places in the world.

2. Utility companies would be forced to purchase more and more of their energy from renewable resources. They may do this by forcing their customers, families and companies alike, to reduce their energy usage by changing building codes in order to use less energy, change lighting systems employed in homes and outdoor areas, and buy more expensive “energy-efficient” appliances.

3. The system failed in Europe.

4. The cost is expected to be in the Trillions of dollars.

That's barely scratching the surface but I believe you get the idea. If regulated properly and generally accepted and adhered to the Cap and Trade system would be an environmental and economical god-send. Unfortunately things this big rarely work in an ideal manner, especially when politics get involved.