Don't forgive credit card debt

We're familiar with the chicken-and-egg arguments over who is responsible for Americans spending more than they earn. One side blames credit card companies for papering the landscape with offers for plastic and easy credit. The other side says that, regardless of the offers, people have no one but themselves to blame if they charge up more than they can pay.

Both arguments have merit. The combination of easy credit and irresponsibility have put the nation in a mess that totals about $900 billion in unsecured credit card debt. Many people possess multiple cards they wave many times a day like magic wands.

But all sides ought to see the peril of banks suddenly forgiving much of this debt.

Some analysts say credit card debt will be the next domino to fall in the economic collapse. Banks now report losing billions from delinquent cards. That is why large banks and consumer advocates are joining forces to ask Congress to ease the rules governing credit card write-offs.

Specifically, they want to be able to forgive up to 40 percent of the credit card debts of worst offenders, then work out a long-term payment schedule for the rest of it. Currently, the government won't allow banks to reduce the principal owed on a card, nor will it allow long repayment schedules.

The nation seems to be in a forgiving mood these days, with the government bailing out banks and negotiating to bail out automakers. Never mind that the banks and automakers may have made poor decisions to get into trouble in the first place.

It's hard to say these large institutions deserve a rescue but not the little guy who bought a plasma TV he can't afford. Except, of course, for a little thing known as moral hazard.

Parents generally understand you can't rescue a delinquent child, let that child go without any real consequences, and then expect that child to act differently in the future. Businesses have no incentive to sharpen their competitive skills if they know the government will save them. Likewise, consumers who lust for the latest gadgets won't fear to pull out plastic if they know their banks will forgive their excesses.

And, of course, people who have acted responsibly all along will be the real victims. People who went bankrupt before the new rules took effect will complain about fairness. And the economy will continue to sag.

Americans have been sailing blithely along on the bright red rivers of debt for too long now. But that distant sound they once took for the din of merchants peddling shiny new wares is actually an approaching waterfall. Snatching them away at the last minute would only delay a much larger drop off the end eventually.