How Dodd Frank Adds Another Hole in My Empty Wallet! (No Love Lost to the Left in Congress)

So, you may be seeing a theme in my recent blog posts, which for me is a disappointment because it means that I have run into another road block as I try to direct my life back into a productive and positive place through faith and hard work.

To review the ingredients of obstacles in my life, I picked up a rare and "fun" version of Cancer called (Carcinoid Syndrome) which is nothing less than a party if you enjoy intense pain, nausea, blood pressure fluctuations that rival the NYSE after an Obama speech on a new stimulus package. "In other words," I am pretty ill." Please don't get me wrong, I have really good days that outweigh the bad days by far mostly because of my new born faith.

Add the kindness of Time Warner Cable for terminating my employment because I had to miss some work days to visit the emergency room and wasn't always feeling happy-wonderful now and then while I was at work, TWC'S decision to fight my opportunity to receive a small weekly unemployment check, "They lost the appeal by the way" and my general struggle to find an employee oriented company that can figure out how to use my varied but highly useful skill set and you can see that my hands are full. Honestly, I have my share of hurdles to jump but apparently the fun has only just begun. "How poetic!"

This morning my phone starts yelling at me that I have important emails waiting for my attention. As anyone who is looking for work right now knows, when you hear that alarm you jump with the hope that there is a job opportunity and that its' time to get yourself in the game and sell your ability.
No such luck with this alarm however; this one was to inform me that my checking account was overdrawn. I was dumbfounded as I had not used that account in more than two weeks. So what could have happened?

This was my first encounter with the (Dodd Frank) bill known as the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, "Oops, they did it again!" (If you would like to view a sumuary of Dodd Frank HR 4173, Knock yourself out!)

So what does this have to do with my checking account overdraft you ask? "I heard you asking that... Dodd Frank is a democratic created bill that: Bank of America, the nation’s biggest bank, said on Thursday that it planned to start charging customers a $5 monthly fee when they used their debit cards for purchases. It was just one of several new charges expected to hit consumers as new regulations crimp banks’ profits.

Wells Fargo and Chase are testing $3 monthly debit card fees. Regions Financial based in Birmingham, Ala., plans to start charging a $4 fee next month, while SunTrust, another regional powerhouse, is charging a $5 fee. The round of new charges stems from a rule, which takes effect on Saturday that limits the fees that banks can levy on merchants every time a consumer uses a debit card to make a purchase. The rule, known as the Durbin amendment, after its sponsor Senator Richard J. Durbin, is a crucial part of the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law.

Until now, the fees have been 44 cents a transaction, on average. The Federal Reserve in June agreed to cut the fees to a maximum of about 24 cents. While the fee amounts to pennies per swipe, it rapidly adds up across millions of transactions. The new limit is expected to cost the banks about $6.6 billion in revenue a year, beginning in 2012, according to Javelin Strategy and Research. That comes on top of another loss, of $5.6 billion, from new rules restricting overdraft fees, which went into effect in July.

Now, since Time Warner dropped me at the curb I no longer have direct deposit. The State of Ohio only uses Bank of America for its' unemployment payouts and since Chase Bank required at least a $500. per month direct deposit for free checking, I now have an additional $12 per month fee for the "privilege" of banking with Chase.

Now I can hear many of you saying why not just drop your Chase account? Well, it's easier said than done. I have auto payments set up with that account and its' not so easy to reset all of that.
You may also be thinking that "it's only $12 bucks man, just pay the fee and suck it up." Well, I will. Leave me be. I am, I will. Rude?" This is where you are to be laughing out loud or LOL'ing as we call it.

I hope that my readers will try to understand that I get about $250 each week for unemployment. I have more than $900.00 per month in healthcare and medicine costs. I have a $100 storage room since I lost my apartment and I have a $300.00 car payment. I need a car to work... You don't even have to do the math to see that I cost more each month that I bring in so $12 bucks is a ton of money for me.
Once again, I am just venting, there is nothing I can do but I do hope that my readers will think about these things as they vote in 2012. Every action causes a reaction. The Left loved the Dodd Frank act. It was going to "bring it to the man and take down the evil banks." Sorry again gang! The fees were simply shifted on to the consumer and it is people like me who honestly cannot afford it who are paying the price

I have many left leaning friends who think I am a jerk because I prefer gridlock in Washington. This is just one more example of why I prefer nothing being done over the wrong thing being done. If these yahoos' aren't passing bills, I am not having to pay for them.

We honestly need less government; we need to stop adding foolish laws that just create another opportunity for another loophole. I am not a fan of the GOP and obviously I don't care for the Democratic model which is simply the illusion that big government works. I live as a Libertarian and I hope that over time more people understand that being Libertarian is not about legalizing drugs. It is about legalizing freedom once again. Something that has been lost over the past 60 years.

So Senator Dodd and Congressman Frank, thanks loads for the helping hand there!

Perhaps the next time you decide that you are going to put it to the man? "No pun intended Barney," you will find another man to put it too. My wallet is empty.
I had best end this and get to the bank to see if I can fix this before it gets worse!

To learn more check out this New York Times Article...

Bless You All!