I recently had the opportunity to view “Maxed Out,” a feature-length documentary directed by James Scurlock.

The movie is one-sided, in that it gives scant recognition that some debtors have brought their financial problems crashing down upon themselves with no one else to blame.  On the other hand, this movie presents a point of view that is not generally considered by the media.  Not all debtors are irresponsible.  There are many debtors who are generally innocent, who got tripped into debt by sophisticated and despicable measures used by disreputable creditors, with Congress turning the blind eye. 

On the issue of irresponsible creditors, Exhibit A, featured in the movie, was a severely disabled woman who lived in a nursing home.  She had no income, but was offered $30,000 in credit through the mail.

Here’s what else I learned from Scurlock’s movie:

1. Credit card companies make 4 billion offers of credit cards every year.  Fees for these cards have risen 160% over the past five years.  The average household now bears over $9,000 in credit card debt, costing the average household $1300 in interest every year.  One analysis of people going through bankruptcy showed that for each dollar in principle borrowed, the average person going through bankruptcy owed two dollars in interest and fees.

2. What is overall problem?  According to Elizabeth Warren (a professor at Harvard Law School and a recognized expert on the issue of consumer debt) we are in great danger of turning our nation into a two-tiered …