Holy Crap!

So, I forgot to call and get my name removed from the database for unsolicited credit offers the last time I got one, and I just got another one. Standard pre-approved, your credit is not perfect but this could be the card for you, blah blah blah. Most of the time I would have just thrown this away, but I was curious about the terms and conditions, what with all the credit consumer bill of rights hooplah that the credit companies are flipping out about. So I opened up the little booklet they sent about the card, this card marketed to a person with a current credit score of "fair" and a spotty history of on-time payments. I wish I were talking to you in person so I could make you guess what the APR was on this card. I think you couldn't guess. It's just so despicable, you wouldn't dare guess it.

59.9%!!!

HOLY CRAP. I can't even believe my eyes. I'm flabbergasted that this is legal. Even pay-day loan/check cashing scam-a-thons aren't that high. It's seriously fucking mind-boggling. Criminals. A bunch of criminals that all of us are forced to do business with because the damn FICO thugs have taken over our financial lives in the last two decades. How is this not loan-sharking? How is this not organized crime?

Oh...right, campaign contributions. It is organized crime.

Edit: In case any of you shared Jim's question, this is from the attorney general of Missouri's website: "Many consumers are suprised to find there is no limit on credit card interest rates (APR) under federal law. Those limits are set by state law, and card issuers are governed by the laws of the state they're based in."