We paid the demon, and after 22thou and 14 cards and a credit counseling service who assisted us, made a vow never to pay interest again. We are teaching our children the dangers of credit, unlike our parents who did not teach us. We learned the hard way.

We were poor college students who fell into the trap. We were made to believe we could handle the debt, and were sucked in with all of the credit offers, low introductory rates and approvals which bombarded our mailbox and college campuses.

Everything lizbeth and Red said above about OUR OWN responsibilty is very true (and well covered in the show I referenced above.)

But the second half of what both lizbeth and Red and now MamaJean have said is also very true, between the lack of regulation and the now deceptive tactics of the credit card companies, things only got further out of hand where even folks who were not trying to live outside their own means (credit was the only way I was able to put gas in my tank over the past 8 years or pay for the ever increasing price of BART Train tickets that would get me to work,)have been getting further sc@#$d.

I see that telling you all the snippit of the story out of context (namely the demon part) has put us on a different track from my question, which is fine if that's what we want to discuss.

But, let me try to put it this way...
Forget who is a demon and who is not for just a wee second and play the hypothetical game with me because I'm geniunely trying to understand this...trying to play the thought experiment in my head but I don't know enough so I thought I'd ask you all.

What if the credit-card-debt-havin' citizens of the United States of America just stopped paying their monthly credit card bill or bills for just a few months....what would happen to the credit card system, companies, customers....?

Well for that you need to go have a word with the Socialists running California and the Federal Government. I feel your pain bro. Gas and train tickets and a lot of other things cost twice what they should because corrupt politicians need your money to payoff the unions and special interests that got them elected.

If not one paid, they would do their damndest to ruin our credit through their grossly unregulated credit reporting system, so it is a kind of extortion they have going there.

Or they could re-institute debtors' prisons.

We have one credit card through a credit union rather than a bank and aren't horribly in debt. Our daughter had to learn the hard way, however, that you can't make just the minimum payment without having your````````` payments go up because of the interest charged on the entire unpaid balance.

That's anecdotal, but I think it's true for a lot of young people.

If everyone with credit card debt simply stopped making any payments for, say, 3-4 months:

1 As Red said, their credit rating would be shot.

2 They'd accrue interest on their unpaid balance that could lead to bankruptcy.

3 If they brought, for example, a class-action suit against the credit card companies, they'd lose since they've signed a legal contract. IMO bringing suit against the credit card companies would result only in states' and/or the Federal government forcing control and regulation onto the cc companies. That, to me, would be fought tooth and nail by all sorts of people and wouldn't benefit the people who withheld their payments in any way.

In the long run, though, without regulation of both elements of the demon, nothing would change.

Let's say, for example, a government imposed a limit on lending through a credit card. "Yes Sir, we'll issue you a credit card--but it'll have a limit of $200/mo. based on your combined income and combined debt. We know that's all you can afford to pay off. Our interest rates will be the same as a bank's interest rates, plus a little bit more, because it's a short term loan." How many people do you think would sign up for that sort of 'credit card?' How many credit card companies would issue that kind of credit card?

This goes against the very fiber of US entrepreneurship and the very fiber of the Republican party that wants less government intrusion and less regulation of the free market system.

I'm not really familiar with the kind of magic you and Red perform, but if I were to go to one of your shows where you left me with this kind of question, my answer would be as outlined above.

In short, don't, as a little guy, buy stock in a credit card company, because credit card companies will always screw the little guy. The little guy, you, will then screw little guys like you in order to get a .02% profit for yourselves while the company gets a hell of a lot more in 'operating expenses;' i.e., paying off its execs, lawyers and lobbyists.

Liz mentioned "credit rating". Man's economic social standing is partly controlled by the credit card/banking system elite. The person with the higher rating has not used much credit. He or she simply pays a few bills on time. The minute a person with a high rating incurs more debt, regardless whether he is making on time payments - his credit rating goes down.

In this sad economy, I have known people, with great credit to suddenly have to use their cards in an emergency to pay a mortgage payment, car payment, etc. The cycle continues for several months until they are overwhelmed with debt. Good people that at one time paid off their balances every month are now credit liabilities. Those with once spotless credit are faced with not only a bad rating, but also can't obtain relief for their predicament.

This folks his how we are controlled. Frankly, I'm quit disappointed by our politicians - especially Obama. Certainly they must know the reason many can't purchase a new car or appliance is banks will not loosen up that silly rating rule!