Join the Military, eliminate your Credit...

[Foamy4President]

...Card Debt, Republicans say YES!? Republicans are posing a contract with various credit card companies, where if you join the military, your credit card debt will decrease as you serve in the military. I dont know if this is in addition to the already absurdly high signing bonuses, and paid college tuition.The problem here, is that even tho we have a volunteer army, we are luring low income, uneducated, and potentially now heavily in debt people. In other words, sending people to war, that the republicans dont really want in society anyway, which is why death tolls mean nothing to bush. You never hear of a rich kid joining the army, but you do see an awful lot of commercials geared towards african american and southern people . This is not a mistake, it is designed to lure a target group of americans to join the military, and republicans, especially bush doesnt care if they live or die.Thoughts on the Debtors Army?

[St. Bastard]

I have no problem with helping someone clear Credit Card Debt, but you're right, the INTENTION of this is bad.Is this the fiscal responsibility that conservatives tout?http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/5593/hiskid2dm3.jpg

[Kenny]

Well, the thing is, no matter who those commercials are geared towards, it IS a VOLUNTEER army. If you're in your mid 20s and see an XBox ad geared towards you, are you obligated to by the game? No. Its still the person's choice.

[ivyalmighty]

Great answer Kenny.

Actually, the military already offers a way to create good credit for yourself -- or screw it up royally. Military members are entitled to a credit card called the Military Star Card. Your line of credit increases as your government income increases, and as you make payments responsibly. The APR is well below "civilian" credit cards, even if it increases because you are irresponsible with the payments. So it gives soldiers, Marines and sailors a way to learn about credit without completely effing themselves if they don't handle it well in the beginning. Also, as you pay responsibly and manage the line of credit made available, your APR continues to decrease. So, your line of credit goes up as your years of service and rank go up, and your APR goes down as long as you manage it well. That sounds like a heck of a lot better deal than the "civilian" world would offer an 18-20yo college student. As I recall, I got a SunTrust Mastercard when I was 18 for $1500, and after missing one payment, my rate went up to 26%. It took me five years to pay it off. Had I been in the military and gotten a Star Card, that never would have been an issue.

Additionally, many many of our military members require even the lowest-level Secret clearance in order to do their jobs. If they have poor credit, they are not issued a clearance because they are at risk for bribery for sensitive information and if your credit score declines once you have received the clearance, you may have to be moved to another billet. Again, the military is giving an incentive for keeping your credit tight. And, you're generally given counseling and a chance to improve your credit before you lose your clearance.

Your argument almost implies that certain socioeconomic classes might be less able to discern the risks and benefits of joining the military. Because they're "dumber"??

Finally, most of the kids I went to school with that now have outrageous debt are UPPER middle class kids, whose parents gave them that "live now, pay later" mentality. The lower class kids are the ones who understood they had to get their butts to work right away instead of racking up credit card, cell phone and department store debt while they got the full "college experience."

The paid college tuition is so that they will be employable in the civilian world once they get out of the military. Would you rather the military release thousands of unemployable kids every year, so you can pay their unemployment wages?