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Demos, a non-partisan public policy research and advocacy organization, publishes studies and reports on various economic and political topics. Their Economic Opportunity Program addresses the widespread economic insecurity and declining opportunity that characterizes American society today. For instance, they've published a report highlighting the inequities of the credit card industry entitled, "Who Pays? The Winners and Losers of Credit Card Deregulation:

It has been nearly two decades since the credit card industry was deregulated with the promise of bringing greater competition and lower prices to consumers. In addition, technological advancements in underwriting, commonly referred to as risk-based pricing, have widened the market for credit cards to lower- and moderate-income consumers.

The result: In 2004, 35 percent of households with incomes below $10,000 had credit cards, while more than half of households with incomes between $10,000 and $24,999 had credit cards.

While much is made of this democratization of credit, there is less public awareness and consumer knowledge about how the cost of credit varies across different segments of the population. Last year alone, households received nearly 8 billion credit card solicitations in their mailboxes.

There is growing sentiment that this country has morphed into an owner-slave model, whereby citizens are urged to acquire debt as soon as possible in order to create a "credit history." It's been one big scam that hasn't been copied anywhere else in the world. Graduating from college with over $100,000 in debt? Amassing credit card debt that takes three lifetimes to pay off? It's pretty clear that the shackles of debt have made us all slaves to Corporate America and the credit card companies.

Indeed, the research provided by Demos very clearly reveals that that "four groups--low-income individuals, African Americans, Latinos and single females--bear the brunt of the cost of credit card deregulation through excessive fees and high interest rates."

It's time to break those chains that bind us and tell the credit card companies to back off! Check out the Action Page at CreditCardReform.org

Finally, a great article detailing the nefarious business practices in the credit card industry can be found at ConsumerAffairs.com.

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