13 Comments
Jan 22·edited Jan 22Liked by The Opinionated Ogre

Around 2006, pre-ACA, I tried to get private insurance when I was an independent contractor, before I knew I was eligible for VA care. Have a tattoo? No insurance for you, or maybe they gave you a (ETA fake) pre-existing condition of hepatitis so your claim could be denied for any liver-related issue. Mental health diagnosis? Same. Ever had a cold? Well, that lung problem can't be covered. It's a pre-existing condition. Such BS. If they would cover you, the premiums were through the roof. I don't want to go back to those days.

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I never had to deal with any of that nightmare but I know it existed. I'm amazed at how many people flat out deny it happened.

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Jan 21Liked by The Opinionated Ogre

There’s been a lot of “glass half full/half empty” analysis about Iowa. Not sure which outcome is which. I lean towards the “shows weakness of TFG” interpretation, myself. As others have pointed out, TFG’s support has not grown at all since ‘16, he still seems to have a ceiling at 43%-47%. Too close for me, but I still think Biden will prevail. (Cassandra over here reminds me that my predictions aren’t always dependable.) 🤔😉😊

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I mean, yeah, he's the clear front runner for the GOP but he's weak as shit past that.

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Aw, I dunno, Justin. On the one hand, pay an overdraft fee, on the other, bounce a check? Bit of a Sophie’s choice, there… 🤔😉😊

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But for a debt card transaction? Where the bank can just decline it instead of charging $25?

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Jan 21·edited Jan 22Liked by The Opinionated Ogre

The difference, though, is with a credit or debit card transaction, you know it’s happened on the spot, and you have the chance to come up with some alternative method of payment.

When you bounce a check, however, you don’t find out for a couple of days, and then you have to scramble to send the recipient a new check, as well as disrupting your own bookkeeping. And somehow, it’s more embarrassing, and inconvenient, to bounce a check (IMO).

(Or wait, maybe I missed something? You can get hit with an overdraft fee when you use a debit card? I don’t use them often. I would think in that case the bank would just decline the transaction, like with a credit card.)

Sure, $25 is way too much, but I think I would pay a reasonable overdraft fee, rather than have the check returned. But, y’know, YMMV.

Incidentally, there are a couple of banking institutions that will allow you one or two overdrafts in a month without a fee. 🤔😉😊

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"I would think in that case the bank would just decline the transaction, like with a credit card" They do not. That's why I specifically mentioned it. They could absolutely do that but they make literally billions from it so why would they ever stop unless made to?

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Jan 22Liked by The Opinionated Ogre

I was not aware of that. To quote noted sage Emily Litella, “Well, that’s very different.”🤔😉😊

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Jan 22Liked by The Opinionated Ogre

The banking institutions will also post the transactions out of order to get as much overdraft money as possible. Say your big utility bill goes out at midnight on January 15 after you made a bunch of small transactions on the evening of the 14th; got gas, stopped at the grocery store, whatever. They'll deduct the big amount first, empty your account, and then get multiple $25 fees. We got hit with $400 in fees IN ONE DAY because of that BS, and that was at a credit union where they're supposed to be all about the member/owner.

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I KNOW!!! They did that to us once at BoA but I didn't want to get into all of that in the article. Fucking rat bastards!

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D'oh! I thought I was replying to Jeff's comment. We bitched about it so they reversed some, but not all, and then told us we could set up low-balance alerts to help prevent it in the future. 🙄

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Now imagine how many people didn't complain and the bank just kept stealing their money. Fucking thieves, the lot of them. Eat the rich.

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