Tag Archives: America

Current Events

Is USAA Too Big?

3 Comments

My unequivocal answer is YES! Next month, I will have been a member of USAA for forty-nine years. USAA has been my only bank, auto and home insurer, my brokerage firm, and until recent years my home loan company since February 1974. I was eagerly looking forward to getting my 50-Year sticker for my car next year, but that will not happen. Why do you ask? Well, bear with me and I will try to explain as briefly as possible. And I ask all those whom I had been responsible for recommending this one-time superb company to you to please read carefully and make your own decision. I am sorry.

As has happened over the years, back in December I had a suspected fraud incident on my rewards credit card, which my bride and I both have a card on that account. First let me explain that we use that card for EVERYTHING, and I do mean everything. Oftentimes I only have a few bucks in my wallet. In fact, I even bought my 2012 Mini Cooper on the card. Anyway, I called USAA and as always, I got a very polite, courteous, and knowledgeable agent who promptly took care of the problem by cancelling my card and issuing another.

I commented about having to notify all the companies that hit that card for monthly debits e.g., utilities, etc. She recommended I get another card and use it for bill paying but put the card in a drawer and not use it to buy anything but continue to use the current card for everyday purchases like gas, groceries, online purchase. That way if a fraud incident happened, I would not have to notify anyone of the card change. I thought WOW, what a great idea. I thanked her profusely. She transferred me to a credit card application agent who, as always, was another very polite, and knowledgeable agent. I explained what I wanted to do, and she agreed stating she does the same thing with two cards. I spent about forty-five minutes having to listen to four disclosures and filling out the application. She put me on hold and submitted it to the Underwriting Department. She came back on and informed me my application was disapproved. WHAT?

She blamed the disapproval on an Experian credit report. I asked for a copy of the letter outlining the refusal, which she forwarded to me. I immediately went to Experian and pulled up my credit report. My credit score was 803, and every comment on every account was favorable. They did mention I had too many inquiries during the last twelve months. I refinanced my house twice during the year to get down to a 1,75%. VA loan. Their last comment was, and I quote, “There are no unfavorable comments on this report”. Was I pissed? You Betcha!

I am an Economist by education and hobby; I understand the banking industry and the FED rules. This disapproval was not a result of a banking industry rule; it was USAA’s. I called USAA asking to speak to a supervisor or manager and was told none were available, but she would make a note and as soon as one became available, I’d get a call, – I never did!  So, as I have done one other time over the years, I wrote the CEO, now Mr. Wayne Peacock, a personal letter knowing full well he would never actually see the letter since he has a department who handles his letters – they are too big for him to be bothered with such trivial matters.

About two weeks later I received an email stating USAA had tried to reach me by telephone but was unable to. I never received a voicemail nor a phone call from them. However, they did provide a link for me to call them back, which I did.  The extension was to the CEO’s grievance department. I was told it was a recorded call. She said she was calling about my problem with a fraud charge on my credit card – she obviously had not understood the reason for the letter; therefore, I had to enlighten her. We spoke for almost an hour, and I got the party line – sorry too many inquiries. I asked if there were any mitigating circumstance considered e.g., longevity with the company, or even some sort of loyalty to a member’s record of NEVER paying a dime in interest charges or late fees. She said no, everyone is treated alike to be “fair.” She understood my frustration, but there was nothing she could do as too much time had passed. My only alternative was to reapply, but there is no way to tell what the result would be.

I asked if the CEO had seen the letter, and she said no. I asked was there any way for her to get him to see it; she said she would try, but there was no guarantee. She did say she would try and contact the underwriting dept and see if there was any way at all for them to relook at it, and she would get right back to me. That was over a week ago and I have not heard from her and won’t.

The fact is USAA has gotten too big. I am simply just another client, one of the masses and my record means nothing to them. Don’t get me wrong, it has nothing to do with my retired rank. Oh yes, they call me Colonel Bathurst when I talk to the nice agents, but that is not the point. I am talking about forty-nine years of an exemplary record.

As I stated in my letter, when I joined USAA, it was for officers only. Then they lowered it to E-7’s and above, which I applauded. Then as I best as I can remember they lowered it to E-4’s and above, Again I applauded that action. Then they lowered the threshold to any Vet with an honorable discharge or a general under honorable conditions. That concerned me! I considered that a mistake. Did they understand who gets a general discharge under honorable conditions? As many of you reading this will surely understand, many of those are not the most favorable vets around. It means they probably had official problems such as a court martial or several Article 15’s, and they just weren’t up to par with their peers. I personally believe that move has caused USAA some problems, which may be why our year-end bonuses are not what they used to be. Granted there were many who were young, wild, and foolish, and may have done something to grant that discharge, but have now grown up and became reliable trustworthy citizens.

One more issue in the letter. My RV was totaled during Ina. My insurer, Nationwide since USAA sends you Progressive because they don’t insure RV’s, paid off the loan. A debit to my checking account was to hit in two days. The loan company, US Bank because USAA’s interest rates are over the top compared to them. I called US Bank asking them to not issue the debit because of the loan being paid off. The agent said she would try but it normally takes two days to stop it, but she would try to expedite it. It was Thursday and the debit was to take place on Monday. She recommended I call my bank and tell them to not accept the debit in case she cannot stop it. I called USAA and was told it takes them three “business days” to execute a stop. I did not know USAA’s computer systems and data updating do not work on weekends. Luckily, US Bank came through and it was not executed. Maybe I will go to US Bank when I leave USAA, they don’t seem to be too big.

Sadly, I am done. I will not get my 50-year sticker. As soon as I get my year-end bonus and my senior bonus in February, I will un-ass USAA and take my business to another financial institution who understands there are exceptions to every rule, and one who recognizes and appreciates longevity and loyalty.

Cavet Emptor,

Jim

PS, Strangely, I have in recent years spoken to several members, even within my own family who also left USAA for a variety of reasons, all of which point to being too big. I do know I can get auto insurance locally for a lot less than USAA even considering their yearly bonuses, but I stayed with them for loyalty reason.

Additionally, in Oct 2017 I posted a letter I had sent to then CEO, Mr. Stuart Parker, about their advertising campaign. And I did get a call, but not from him. You can see my posts should you desire.

Originally posted 2023-01-08 13:05:48.

Current Events

American Citizenship

Video 8 Comments

Listen to this naturalized American citizens’ message to the President.  Sadly, Joe, nor his “Border Czar” Harris,  will never hear this, and even if they were tied to a chair and had this played to them, they would not be able to process it.  But it’s a message that a lot of people should hear and think about. Please listen to him, and be sure to pick up on how long it took him to become a naturalized citizen by doing it legally.  What a tragedy. I personally know one Canadian who came to America with a green card, married a local gal, had children, started his own landscaping business, donated tons to local charity groups, but it still took him eight years to become an American citizen. Yet these bastards streaming across the Border Czar’s border get all the benefits of a naturalized citizen at taxpayers expense and some even want to allow them to vote. And someone commented on one of my recent  posts refuting my belief that we are a third world shithole. I stand by my claim. We are a lawless, segregated, open border, immoral society who cannot conduct a legal election. We have laws, but they are applied discriminately. Excuse me while I go throw up.

Originally posted 2022-09-21 10:51:07.

Current Events

Why Has he Not been Fired?

9 Comments

I have been remiss in posting anything on here for quite some time. I have been in the hospital with some plumbing issues. I reckon that comes about with some of us old codgers from time to time. But, other than feeling a tad weak and lightheaded at times, I believe I am on the mend. 

Anyway, I, along with a hell of a lot of other retired Marines, am wondering what is taking Trump so long to fire the fellow. He should have been the very first service chief to get the finger wave from Trump. In case you have not been privy to it, here is a very well-written piece by Gary Anderson, Col, USMC (Ret)

The Case Against the Marine Corps                                                    Commandant

Marine Corps Commandant Eric Smith should be the next
item on Hegseth’s housekeeping list.

The imminent early retirement of Air Force Chief of Staff General David Allen will leave one more Biden-era leftover military chief to be purged. That is General Eric Smith, the commandant of the Marine Corps. Actually, it is the opinion of many current and former Marines that Smith should have been the first to go.

If forcibly retired, Smith would join Allen, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Q. Brown, former Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lisa Franchetti, and the ex-Commandant of the Coast Guard Linda Fagan as casualties of the rot that permeated the defense establishment during the Biden era. This list does not include the Chief of Staff of the Army, who has so far flown beneath Hegseth’s radar as the Army has made significant innovative inroads on the China front. (RELATED: The Feather Merchants: Senior Leaders Subverted the Marine Corps)

Brown was too woke, and Allen was accused of not doing enough to counter China in the aerospace area. Franchetti and Fagan were seen as DEI hires not qualified for the job. The indictment against Smith has several counts; all more serious than the other four.  (RELATED: Some Generals Should Be Fired. Start With Eric Smith.)

First, he has stubbornly persisted in implementing his predecessor’s poorly conceived and badly executed Force Design strategy which abandoned the Marine Corps’ traditional focus on amphibious warfare and its role as the nation’s world-wide general purpose force in readiness in favor of a China-oriented missile heavy force that duplicates capabilities already exercised by the other services with missiles more capable of accomplishing the mission than what the Corps is buying. (RELATED: Getting the Marine Corps Out of the Chinese Finger Cuffs

Despite mounting evidence that Force Design is logistically unsustainable, is ignored by the Chinese, and is not wanted or needed by the theater commander or by the regional allies, Smith has stubbornly doubled down on it. General David Berger obviously chose Smith over several more competent and qualified general officers because he was a loyal acolyte who had helped Berger circumvent the Marine Corps’ time-tested Combat Development Process (CDP) to implement Berger’s “genius breakthrough.” The CDP was not perfect, but it was designed to prevent really bad ideas, such as Force Design, from becoming reality. (RELATED: The Marine Corps Has Gone Off the Rails)

A second charge is perhaps more serious than the first. In January of this year, General Smith made a false official statement to a group of reporters when he told them that the Marine Corps had never embraced DEI as official policy. (RELATED: Marine Corps Commandant Tells a Whopper)

He did this while his staff was desperately trying to purge its websites of all evidence to the contrary. This either showed poor judgment or abysmal ignorance of the fact that anything that goes out on the Internet stays there forever. Either of which should disqualify him from the office of commandant.

Any public statement by a Marine Corps commandant to the press is, by nature, an official statement. A false official statement is an offense punishable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. If I had been caught making a false official statement while a serving Marine Corps officer, I would have been relieved of my position and subject to an Article 32 hearing (the equivalent of a civilian Grand Jury) and likely hauled before a general court-martial. Smith still sits in the commandant’s chair. Some pigs are more equal than others in Smith’s Marine Corps.

Third, Smith has contributed to the suppression of professional military expression and discussion in the Marine Corps, begun by General Berger, who made it plain that Force Design was a done deal and that honest discussion and criticism were neither wanted nor would be tolerated. On numerous occasions, members of the faculty at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College invited retired senior Marine Corps officers to debate the merits of Force Design. In each case, the sitting president of the Marine Corps University (MCU) cancelled the invitation. In one instance, a former MCU president was told that he lacked the expertise to discuss the topic.

As noted military theorist William Lind has pointed out, a particularly egregious example of the anti-intellectual bent of the Berger/Smith era: Not long ago, a German naval aviator spent some time at the Basic School, the school for all Marine lieutenants.  Because the German officer had a rank above lieutenant, TBS put some lieutenants under him.  He ran his small units German style, according to what maneuver warfare recommends.  The Marine lieutenants loved it.  The German officer was called in by other faculty who said to him, “You are teaching Marines to think.  We don’t want them to think.  We want them just to follow orders.”

Before Berger/Smith, the old trope about Marines being dumb was an urban legend. The senior Marine Corps leadership actively encouraged informed professional debate among Marines at all levels. No more.

The current president of MCU actively encourages spying on officers to uncover thinking that he deems inappropriate.

Come on, President Trump, what is it with this fellow? It seems to be either you like him, or you are simply not paying attention to what he and his predecessor have done to your Corps. Do you realize that you do not have a 911 call left?

Current Events, Recent Posts

Does Watching TV Make You Stupid?

Video 3 Comments

Well, watch the video and you may learn just how stupid you really are. It’s amazing how Americans are duped by watching TV shows and especially the commercials.

Now, I know not how accurate the actual figures are, but they come from the government. Of course, we all know how well we can trust the government, but I suspect the actual figures are close to reality. It will probably surprise some fo you to learn the population breakdown between blacks and Hispanics. However, if you watch the new shows on TV, and especially those horribly biased commercials placed by nationally known companies I’m sure that’s what caused the highly skewed estimates by Americans. Just who are these commercials aimed at, you and me? I doubt it.

Originally posted 2022-04-15 12:45:52.

Current Events

Unintended Consequences

9 Comments

It’s been a long time since I posted anything, and I feel bad about that. There is so much going on in the world today that it’s hard to remain attuned, which I try not to. I am too old to worry about certain things anymore, and you sure can’t rely on anything coming from the mouths of the MSM. And life has been quite busy here at the CP.

Before I post my message, let me wish all my friends a very Happy 4th of July. We, of all people, know what this day means other than a day off from work. Enjoy tomorrow, and please remember its significance. 

Now for the post. All the hype going on with immigration and the rounding up of the thugs and scum that crossed the river illegally has produced some unintended consequences. And I hope none of my readers are guilty of what I intend to describe. We must remember that millions of people came to our shores legally and went about the arduous task of becoming US citizens.

I received an email, as I always do every weekday, from my good friend and roomie aboard the USS Chicago, Doug Horan. He subscribes to the WSJ, which I do not, so he sends me articles that he believes would be of interest to me. Most deal with stocks, as we are both avid stock traders, and we share investment ideas. However, this one was an op-ed by an immigrant and should be read by all Americans, as it presents an opinion from someone with whom I am going to speak. Please stop and read it at:

https://wallstreetjournal-ny.newsmemory.com/?publink=348675c25_134fa73

We have two women who come and clean the house every other week, and they do a fantastic job. Nancy hired them several years ago. Recently, Nancy got into a discussion with the older one, and it proved to be a real eye-opener to both of us. She came to America about eleven years ago on a work VISA. After several years, she started the lengthy process of applying for citizenship and was finally successful. She flies back to Mexico periodically to visit her parents. She had to go back recently due to her dad’s passing, and it was upon her return that Nancy and she spoke about the trip back home and life in the US.

She related some of the horrific experiences she is having now with all the hype about illegal immigration. She recounted one incident as she was driving out of our driveway and a pickup truck drove passed and the driver yelled, “Go back where you came from Spick!” This woman says she has never taken on a penny from our government, no food stamps, welfare assistance, or anything that was available during her early years when she was scrambling to make her way in this new country, working several jobs to simply survive. She learned the language, married, had children who speak English, and is so thankful that they have been able to get a good education.

Yet she now experiences prejudice daily everywhere she goes, as do her children. So much so that she intends to work a few more years and will move back to Mexico. Her oldest son has already moved back, even though a US citizen; he couldn’t handle the prejudice anymore.

My point in all this is simple. The immigration hype has created a world where anyone who looks like they may be from another country is being categorized as an “illegal” and chastised and slandered when, in fact, they are a hard-working US citizen contributing to our society and economy.

We need to be careful of whom we place in that category of “illegal.” They haven’t all come wading across the river. We have become very close to her and consider her a good friend and fellow countrywoman. She would never join a demonstration against what is going on today in the immigration arena; she hates what she sees on TV.  She condemns those who came here illegally and are soaking up everything they can from the government.

She is an American, period. End of discussion!