It's the last regular Stanford match-up. After this, you'd better become ACC-ustomed to not seeing these nerds anymore.

You all heard Lincoln Riley's booty call--get your booties to the the Call-iseum today for the game! Even if you are "po," unless you have a fricking wedding to go to or something, take these tickets and put butts in seats:


(Oh, and pay for your own damn parking! What are you--cheap?)

Beat the Trees!

BTW, "what's your deal," Stanford? Oh, I know--30% for seven years! MUWAHAHAHAHA

OK, OK, I'm cheating (because it's not tomorrow yet), but hey, if you're not cheating, you're not trying! (Besides, that damn game goin' be damn early!)

Fight on! Beat the Hype!

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This is all me -- he had this ready Wednesday. Back to back road games and me getting back a day later than planned from ASU led to a time crunch this week. I'm going to make sure these things go up on Wednesday night each week because he does a really good job with them.

13 mins left 4th QT

“PLAY LIKE YOUR FAKE GIRLFRIEND DIED TODAY”

Classic.

Another suit to disqualify Trump under the Constitution’s ‘insurrection’ clause is filed in Michigan​

BY NICHOLAS RICCARDI
Updated 11:48 AM CDT, September 29, 2023

A liberal group on Friday filed a lawsuit in Michigan contending that former president Donald Trump is disqualified from regaining his old job based on a rarely used, post-Civil War provision in the U.S. Constitution.

This is the first time an organization with significant legal resources has sought to block the GOP frontrunner’s campaign in a swing state.

Free Speech For People argued that Trump’s attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss and encouragement of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol violated section three of the 14th Amendment, which holds that anyone who swore an oath to uphold the constitution and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against it is barred from holding office.

The case is the second the organization has filed to block the GOP presidential frontrunner’s bid, following one in Minnesota.

Dozens of cases have been filed nationally but the Free Speech For People cases and one filed in Colorado by another liberal group are the first brought by organizations with significant legal resources.

Trump has dismissed the push to bar him from the ballot as “election interference” and his attorneys argued in the Colorado case that it violates his free speech rights.

Those are seen as most likely to reach the U.S. Supreme Court, which has never ruled on the provision.

Michigan is a particularly significant location for a challenge because it is both a swing state and its Democratic Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson, wrote in The Washington Post earlier this month that she and other top election officers don’t have the ability to bar Trump under the clause.

Section three has only been used a handful of times since the Civil War.

Robert Kennedy Jr to run for president as independent in 2024 – report

Failing to gain an iota of traction in the Democratic primary, America's record holder for apple falling farthest from the tree will exploit his family fortune and name to further a platform of anti-vax and antisemitic conspiracy theorism. Scientists continue to study the geological impact of sustained grave-rolling by so many Kennedys at once.

Jim Jordan takes clash with Georgia prosecutor to a new level​

Fani Willis told Jim Jordan he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. So, the Judiciary Committee chairman sent the prosecutor another angry letter.


Sept. 28, 2023, 8:21 AM CDT
By Steve Benen

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan apparently isn’t quite done sending angry letters to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, though if the Ohio Republican thinks he’s helping his cause, he’s mistaken. The Hill reported:

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) fired back at Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) on Wednesday for her “hostile response” to his request to turn over documents related to her prosecution of former President Trump.

Click to expand...

For those just joining us, let’s revisit our earlier coverage and review how we arrived at this point.

After the Georgia prosecutor indicted Donald Trump and a number of his associates last month, Jordan did what he always does: The Ohio Republican launched an investigation into the investigation.

In fact, the GOP congressman wrote to Willis, directing the local prosecutor to hand over a series of documents and related information by Sept. 7.

It seemed quite possible that the Georgia district attorney might shrug her shoulders and put Jordan’s letter in the circular file, but Willis instead acknowledged the chairman’s deadline with a letter of her own, telling Jordan that his correspondence included “inaccurate information and misleading statements,” as part of an effort the district attorney characterized as improper interference in an ongoing criminal case.

Willis went on to tell the Judiciary Committee chairman, “Your letter makes clear that you lack a basic understanding of the law, its practice and the ethical obligations of attorneys generally and prosecutors specifically.”
Her pushback had the benefit of being true.

At the heart of Jordan’s initiative is a conspiracy theory of sorts: The congressman and his allies apparently believe there are powerful federal officials who are secretly pulling the strings, helping orchestrate prosecutions across multiple jurisdictions. By way of evidence, the far-right chairman has pointed to ... nothing in particular.

But Jordan nevertheless keeps launching investigations, sending letters, making demands, and setting deadlines, hoping that someday, he might uncover imagined proof that almost certainly doesn’t exist.

The trouble is, the prosecutors he’s tried to pressure know they can ignore him. As Jordan really ought to have learned after his foray into a separate case in Manhattan, the House Judiciary Committee doesn’t have jurisdiction to insert itself into criminal prosecutions at the state and local level.

The Judiciary Committee chairman nevertheless continues to believe otherwise, and in his newest letter to Willis, instead of simply giving up on this pointless probe, he gave the Fulton County district attorney a new deadline: Jordan asked that the prosecutor’s office comply by Oct. 11.

If the Ohio congressman is hoping to receive a satisfying response in two weeks, he’ll probably be disappointed.

Trojans 48
Buffs 21

We all were impressed with his magnificent hands and ability to make tough, contested one-handed catches. The problem is that those are throws that you don't want your QB making, especially if other receivers are open.

Has anyone looked to see how consistently open he is?

Myself and Corey Gibson are back with another live stream on the Rivals YouTube channel for USC vs Colorado tomorrow.

We will talk scheme, personnel, tell stories of the recruits when they were in high school and answer any questions you have.

I was on Colorado TE coach - Tim Brewster's staff at Minnesota and Colorado OC Sean Lewis is a good friend of mine, so I'll be able to share some nuggets about them. I don't have as close of relationships on the USC staff, but I scouted a number of the players like Zacharia Branch in high school and will be able to share some stories.

We will likely have a special guest or two hop on the stream from the stadium while on their game day visits as well. Should be a good time!

Leave a question here or join the live stream to comment or ask any questions that pop up during the game.

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My flight was delayed yet again so I got it posted before takeoff!

More to come from Boulder.

It was all mutual respect and reciprocation this week as Deion Sanders and Lincoln Riley complimented each other, and USC's players offered either overt praise or bland comments when asked about the Buffs.

Today's was the Dodgers annual dress up day... check out to the right of this picture... Mark Prior dressed up as Coach Riley... hahaha.. FIFHT ON!!!

Of course criminally incompetent Dave Roberts we there and dressed up as Deion Sanders... ruin gonna ruin I guess


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Fulton County Prosecutors Will Offer Plea Deals to Chesebro and Powell​

CHESE N’ KRAKEN

Justin Rohrlich​

Reporter
Published Sep. 29, 2023 2:48PM EDT

Fulton County Jail​

Prosecutors in Georgia say they plan to extend plea deals to lawyers Ken Chesebro and Sidney Powell, who are accused of trying to help outgoing President Donald Trump illegally cling to power after losing the 2020 election. “We have not, at this point, made an offer,”

Fulton County Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade told Judge Scott McAfee at a Friday court hearing, in response to a question about potential pre-trial settlements. “Is the state in a position to make one in the near future?” McAfee asked. “Judge, I believe that we can,” Wade responded. “We’ll sit down and kind of put some things together, and we’ll reach out to defense counsel individually to extend an offer.”

Chesebro and Powell were temporarily yoked together as one—against both defendants’ wishes—and are set to go to trial next month after invoking their constitutional right to a speedy trial. Experts previously told The Daily Beast that avoiding the October trial would relieve prosecutors from revealing their strategy in court prior to trying Trump and his 16 remaining co-defendants, a date for which has not yet been set.

Nearing retirement, Milley responds to Trump’s radical criticisms​

Donald Trump casually raised the prospect of violence against the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Gen. Mark Milley's response is worth considering.


Sept. 28, 2023, 11:49 AM CDT
By Steve Benen

In recent years, Donald Trump was content to go after Gen. Mark Milley — the man he tapped to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — with juvenile taunts and insults. In 2021, for example, the former president said that he considered Milley a “dumbass.” Earlier this year, Trump told Fox News that the four-star Army general is an “idiot.”

But late last week, the Republican took matters in a radical direction. In a message published to his social media platform, Trump wrote, in reference to Milley, “This guy turned out to be a Woke train wreck who, if the Fake News reporting is correct, was actually dealing with China to give them a heads up on the thinking of the President of the United States.

“This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH! A war between China and the United States could have been the result of this treasonous act. To be continued!!!”

As we’ve discussed, Milley did contact Chinese officials in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack, assuring Beijing that the United States was stable during the presidential transition process. The diplomatic outreach was, as The Washington Post reported, “authorized by Trump administration officials at the time.”

The idea that what transpired was “treasonous” — a word Trump has casually thrown around in recent years without cause — and the Republican’s reference to “DEATH!” was needlessly provocative and potentially dangerous.

As for the retiring general’s reaction, Milley sat down with CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell for a “60 Minutes” interview, and the anchor noted that the former president “suggested you be punished by death.” He responded:

“Look, I’m a soldier. I’ve been faithful and loyal to the Constitution of the United States for 44 and a half years, and my family and I have sacrificed greatly for this country, and my mother and father before them. And, you know, as much as these comments are directed at me, it’s also directed at the institution of the military, and there’s 2.1 million of us in uniform, and the American people can take it to the bank that all of us, every single one of us, from private to general, were loyal to that Constitution and will never turn our back on it, no matter what. No matter what the threats, no matter what the humiliation, no matter what. If we’re willing to die for that document, if we’re willing to deploy to combat, if we’re willing to lose an arm, a leg, an eye to protect and support and defend that document, and protect the American people, then we’re willing to live for it too.”

Click to expand...

The general added that he wouldn’t “comment directly” on Trump’s comments, “but I can tell you that this military, this soldier, me, will never turn our back on that Constitution.”

When O’Donnell asked if there was anything “treasonous” about his outreach to China, Milley went on to say, “Absolutely not. Zero. None.”

Just as notably, the CBS anchor asked the general whether he’s concerned about his safety, given the fact that Trump “seems to be calling for your execution.”

Milley responded, “I’ve got adequate safety precautions. I wish those comments had not been made, but they were, and we’ll take appropriate measures to ensure my safety and the safety of my family.”

All of this struck me as notable for a couple of reasons. The first is that while the retiring general didn’t mention the former president by name, it was hard not to get the impression that he doesn’t think Trump respects the U.S. Constitution the way military personnel do.

The second is that we’ve apparently reached the point in contemporary American politics at which the frontrunner for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination can casually raise the prospect of violence against the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to the point that the nation’s highest-ranking military officer feels the need to “take appropriate measures” to ensure the safety of him and his family.

This, in 2023, is not seen as a disqualifying development for the leading GOP candidate.

After Trump targeted Milley, Biden slams Republicans’ silence​

Donald Trump's offensive against Mark Milley was indefensible. Many GOP presidential candidates and congressional leaders are nevertheless saying nothing.


Sept. 29, 2023, 9:40 AM CDT
By Steve Benen

It’s been a full week since Donald Trump used his social media platform to go after Gen. Mark Milley — the man the former president tapped to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. To hear the Republican tell it, the retiring Army general committed a “treasonous act,” adding that “in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!”
Suggesting he might yet target Milley again in the future, Trump added, “To be continued!!!”

The “act” in question was entirely benign — there was nothing “treasonous” about the general’s post-election communications with Chinese officials — and the former president’s written comments were plainly indefensible. Making matters worse, Milley told CBS’s “60 Minutes” that he’s taking “appropriate measures“ to ensure his and his family’s safety in response to Trump’s radical harangue.

This did not go unnoticed at the White House. President Joe Biden delivered remarks yesterday on threats our democracy is facing, and the Democrat quoted his predecessor. Though Biden conceded that he doesn’t think most Republicans agree with what Trump said about Milley, the president argued that the “silence” from prominent GOP voices has been “deafening.”

“Hardly any Republican called out such heinous statements,” Biden added.

In fairness, a few GOP presidential hopefuls — Trump’s rivals for the party’s 2024 nomination — did comment about his dangerous rhetoric related to Milley. But as was clear from a Politico report on this, their rebukes were part of a larger story.

A trio of GOP presidential candidates bashed former President Donald Trump on Thursday over his comments suggesting that the nation’s top-ranking military officer should be killed.

Click to expand...

Former Vice President Mike Pence, for example, told CNN, “There is no call for that kind of language directed toward someone who’s worn the uniform of the United States and served with such distinction.” Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, meanwhile, said on MSNBC that Trump’s missive was “reprehensible.”

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson added, “To suggest that Gen. Milley should be executed is inexcusable and dangerous. While some will excuse this latest outrage as Trump just being Trump, the fact is that his statement endangers people and is an insult to those who serve in the military.”

But the Politico report went on to note that the other candidates’ campaigns were also contacted for comment, but they didn’t respond.

Similarly, if GOP leaders on Capitol Hill had a problem with Trump apparently suggesting that Milley should be executed, they kept those concerns to themselves.

All of which, of course, helped prove Biden’s point.

“The MAGA extremists across the country have made it clear where they stand,” the incumbent president said. “So, the challenge for the rest of America — for the majority of Americans is to make clear where we stand.”

Even Republicans saw the First Impeachment Hearing as a ‘Disaster’​

Describing their own party's impeachment inquiry hearing, Republicans used phrases such as "unmitigated disaster.” “don’t know what they’re doing at all.”


Sept. 29, 2023, 7:00 AM CDT
By Steve Benen

Partway through the House Republicans’ first impeachment inquiry hearing, the GOP leadership of the House Judiciary Committee issued a statement with curious praise. The Republicans overseeing the proceedings, the committee’s statement argued, “are crushing it at this hearing.”

It’s difficult to say with confidence whether the GOP members actually believed this. Perhaps they were trying to convince themselves that the party wasn’t embarrassing itself on live national television. Perhaps they hoped the public wasn’t watching, and if they simply pretended the proceedings were going well, some would believe them.

Either way, the only thing “crushed” at this hearing were the dreams of Republican crusaders desperate to undermine President Joe Biden. As a New York Times report summarized:

The first hearing in House Republicans’ impeachment inquiry into President Biden featured their star witnesses testifying that they lacked proof that he committed impeachable offenses, multiple procedural skirmishes the G.O.P. majority nearly lost and, at times, nearly a dozen empty Republican seats. What it did not include was any new information about Mr. Biden’s conduct — or any support for Republicans’ accusations that he had entered into corrupt overseas business deals.

Click to expand...

Politico described it as “Comer’s impeachment bellyflop,” referring to Republican Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, who serves as the beleaguered chairman of the House Oversight Committee.

At this point, we could spend several hundred words highlighting every individual error of fact and judgment. I could note the obvious deceptions. I could marvel at the fact that the Republicans’ own witnesses said they didn’t see sufficient evidence to impeach the Democratic president. I could mock GOP members for rejecting Democratic efforts to submit as evidence testimony from one of the Republicans’ other witnesses.

I could also dwell on the fact that the GOP members behind this exercise had plenty of time to prepare for the hearing, which made it that much more humiliating when they appeared unprepared for their own show.

But as notable as those details might be, what struck me as especially interesting was the number of Republicans who realized that their own party’s hearing was a debacle. As a HuffPost report noted:

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) pointed to Republicans “directly” coming to him with concerns after witnessing a “weak” showing during the first GOP-led impeachment inquiry hearing on President Joe Biden. “I know there was a lot of consternation and alarm on the Republican side to see how weak the case was,” Raskin told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Thursday.

Click to expand...

A senior Republican staffer told a CNN reporter that the hearing was “an unmitigated disaster.” Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman, an MSNBC contributor, added that “many” in the GOP leadership agreed that the hearing was a disaster.

A reporter for The Messenger spoke to another House Republican staffer who said, “Comer and staff botched this bad. ... How can you not be better prepared for this?”

If Comer and his colleagues hoped the reactions would be more favorable in conservative media, they quickly learned otherwise. Fox News’ Neil Cavuto questioned why the hearing was even held, conceded that Republicans had nothing new or substantive to offer, and criticized GOP members for failing to bring their “A game.”

Steve Bannon, meanwhile, slammed GOP members for being unprepared, while one of his guests said House Republicans “don’t know what they’re doing at all.”

There was no doubt they had nothing before the hearing; the question was whether they’d be able to do anything worthwhile during the hearing. Instead, Republicans made matters worse — not for Biden, but for themselves.

According to Joel Klatt, USC has the highest QB pressure rate in the country when we don’t blitz (48%). Joel should get on the horn with Grinch and let him know he doesn’t need to keep sending the Mike and Will backers.

House GOP’s OWN impeachment witnesses say there's no evidence that Biden committed a crime


Sept. 28, 2023, 6:30 AM CDT / Updated Sept. 28, 2023, 7:58 PM CDT
By Dareh Gregorian, Garrett Haake, Rebecca Kaplan and Rebecca Shabad

WASHINGTON — The House Oversight Committee on Thursday convened its first hearing in the GOP's impeachment inquiry, presenting a panel of Republican-picked witnesses who said while there is no evidence of a crime by President Joe Biden, more bank records are needed from him and his son Hunter Biden to determine if there might be.

Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said the hearing would focus on whether the president "engaged in impeachable offenses under the U.S. Constitution," and earlier this week said House Republicans would present evidence they say they've uncovered about "Biden’s knowledge of and role in his family’s domestic and international business practices."

Comer seemed to acknowledge at the end of the six-hour-plus hearing that Republicans have not yet done so but said that's because "investigators have been shut down when attempting to explore avenues that to the president," which is why an impeachment inquiry is necessary, "wherever that evidence leads."

Chelsea Stahl / NBC News; Getty Images

He said the panel would be subpoenaing bank records from Hunter Biden and the president's brother James "and their affiliated companies." On Thursday night, the Oversight Committee said Comer issued subpoenas for James Biden, Hunter Biden and his business partner Eric Schwerin, as well as companies associated with them: Owasco P.C., Owasco LLC, Skaneateles, Lion Hall Group, and JBBSR Inc.

Democrats argued that Republicans have no evidence of a crime and are simply trying to impeach Biden as retribution for the House having twice impeached former President Donald Trump. Democrats also ridiculed Republicans for holding the hearing as the government careens toward a shutdown while the GOP argues over funding legislation.

None of the witnesses were "fact witnesses," meaning none were involved in the investigation or the alleged activities the hearing was discussing. Instead, all three were introduced as experts in their respective fields.

The ranking Democrat at the hearing, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, referred to the hearing as a "Seinfeld impeachment — an impeachment hearing about nothing."

Comer said in his opening statement that Biden family members and their associates "raked in over $20 million between 2014 and 2019" from foreign sources. "What were the Bidens selling to make all this money? Joe Biden himself," he said. “This deserves investigation,” he said later.

House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, called it “a tale as old as time. Politician takes action that makes money for his family and then he tries to conceal it.”

One of the panel's expert witnesses, law professor Jonathan Turley, acknowledged that the evidence Republicans had gathered so far, however, doesn't prove their case.



"I do not believe that the current evidence would support articles of impeachment,” he said, but noted that he does believe it warrants an inquiry.

Asked later by Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., where the Republicans' evidence is lacking, Turley said on the issue of influence peddling and whether the president was aware of it and "encouraged it."

Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., mocked Turley's testimony as “political impeachment malpractice”

Some Republicans were also unhappy about how the hearing went. A senior GOP aide said that Comer's strategy of feeding Fox News impeachment stories is not working and that "we are losing the media narrative game to the White House right now."

"Calling witnesses that say the opposite of your narrative on impeachment is equally a bad strategy," the aide said.
Another Republican aide who works for a lawmaker who supports the impeachment inquiry described what he saw of the hearing as “boring” with “no bombshells.”

Raskin said his Republican colleagues were presenting 12,000 pages of bank records that didn't include a "single dime" going to the president.

"If the Republicans had a smoking gun or even a dripping water pistol, they would be presenting it today, but they’ve got nothing on Joe Biden," he said. He also accused them of holding the hearing and shutting down the government at the behest of Trump.

The House Republicans, Raskin said, were acting "like flying monkeys on a mission for the Wicked Witch of the West."

Besides Turley, a law professor at George Washington University who was a witness for Republicans when House Democrats launched their first impeachment inquiry into Trump in 2019, the GOP witnesses who were testifying before the panel are Bruce Dubinsky, a forensic accountant, and Eileen O'Connor, a former assistant attorney general at the Justice Department's tax division.

The Democrats' witness was Michael J. Gerhardt, a law professor at the University of North Carolina who testified during Trump's first impeachment inquiry. Gerhardt was also a joint Democratic-Republican witness in the lead-up to then-President Bill Clinton's impeachment. He criticized the inquiry into Biden as lacking foundation.

The hearing turned ugly at times, with Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., twice calling the president's defenses "bull----."

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., meanwhile, asked Turley about his past support of polygamy and O'Connor about her social media posts, including one that appeared to be promoting a fundraiser for so-called "alternate electors" who've been charged in Michigan.

House Republicans have said they are looking into whether Biden improperly aided his son or profited off his business dealings. They've claimed, without evidence, that Biden engaged in a bribery scheme and that he has been involved in his son's business ventures.

One committee member, Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., said the allegations against the Biden family are serious, but acknowledged more dots need to be connected. "We have all kinds of smoke, maybe no fire, but there’s smoke,” he said.

"We have all kinds of smoke, maybe no fire, but there’s smoke."
REP. GLENN GROTHMAN

Americans Finally Start to Feel the Sting From the Fed’s Rate Hikes​

Those who need to borrow now are getting a lot less for their money​

By Rachel Louise Ensign

| Photographs by Yasmin Yassin for The Wall Street Journal
Updated Sept. 26, 2023 at 12:17 am ET

Rising interest rates are hitting Americans’ finances.

Consumers in the market for loans to buy homes and cars are discovering that, because of the Federal Reserve’s rate increases, their money gets them a lot less than it would have a few years ago. Meanwhile, those with credit cards and other loans that carry rates pegged to broader benchmarks are finding they have gotten much more expensive.

Fed officials signaled last week that they plan to keep interest rates high for quite a while. For families who don’t need to borrow, higher rates might not affect daily life too much. But for those who do, the Fed’s aggressive rate increases are really beginning to sting. “The bite is starting now,” said Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at

Charles Schwab
.


Borrowers shopping for mortgages or auto loans are experiencing sticker shock. New 30-year fixed-rate mortgages today carry rates around 7%, up from 3% two years ago. That increase can mean a home buyer has to pay hundreds of dollars more a month compared with two years ago. Rates on car loans have also shot higher.

Buying a home or car right now is “completely unaffordable for the typical American household because you’re mixing the higher borrowing costs with the high prices,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.

He estimates that the typical American household would need to use 42 weeks of income to buy a new car, as of August, up from 33 weeks three years ago. The National Association of Realtors calculates that the typical American family can’t afford to buy a median-priced home.

Daniel Waddell started looking for a home in St. Paul, Minn., in January. Mortgage rates kept ticking up during his search. He eventually bought a three-bedroom, one-bathroom home this spring after offering over the asking price. His mortgage rate is about 6.5%.

Waddell and his wife, Payton Waddell, are deferring other purchases because of the $2,600 monthly mortgage payment. The 25-year-old consultant would like to replace the car he has been driving since the start of college, but he now plans to put off that purchase as long as he can.

The Fed released its summary of economic projections at the latest FOMC meeting. What does it say about the current state of the economy and what will policy makers do next? Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg News
Even so, Waddell said he is glad they got the house. Otherwise, he and his wife might have given up. “Rates are obscenely high and it doesn’t seem like they’re going down anytime soon,” he said.

The typical consumer’s debt burden remains relatively modest because so many people locked in low rates on mortgages or car loans before the Fed started its rate-rising campaign. Many consumers are also benefiting from earning higher rates on their savings accounts.

But some with lots of credit-card debt are feeling particularly strained. “Consumers are carrying much higher balances than they were two years ago,” said Charlie Wise, head of global research and consulting at

TransUnion
. “There are always people at the margin where any increase in rates is going to hurt them.”


The typical credit card carried a 20.7% interest rate in May, up from 14.6% in February 2022, according to the Fed. Americans’ collective credit-card debt just passed the $1 trillion markfor the first time.

Ryan Gomez started accumulating credit-card debt in 2020 after he lost his job in food production and started community college to become a psychologist. After his rent in Portland, Ore., went up, Gomez used his cards to cover basic expenses and unexpected veterinary bills for his cat. Then rates began rising, sending the interest rate on his primary credit card up to nearly 25%. His minimum monthly payment started going up, and he reached a point where covering that was becoming a struggle.

“The rates are so bad now, you can’t dig out of that hole,” said Gomez, 38. He eventually worked with a nonprofit to enter into a plan to pay off the $17,000 balance at a discount.

Gomez has taken odd jobs to make the monthly $340 payment and delayed purchases such as dish soap. “The only place to cut corners is basic human activities,” he said.


Daniel Waddell says he and his wife might have given up looking if they hadn't found their house in St. Paul, Minn.
Even some well-off customers are getting hit. Rates on securities backed-loans, which are backed by a customer’s investment portfolio, also generally move alongside rate benchmarks. They have risen from about 3% before the Fed raised rates to around 8% now.

Mike Law, 71, wanted to buy a home in Estero, Fla., last fall but didn’t want to deal with the hassle of getting a mortgage. Instead, the certified public accountant took out a roughly $600,000 loan backed by his investment portfolio.

The bank charged him the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, or SOFR, plus 2.40 percentage points. Then SOFR rose, sending his total rate about 2 percentage points higher.

The high rate was a jolt after a decade-plus of ultralow rates. “My psyche just wasn’t used to that,” Law said. He sold off part of his investment portfolio to pay back the securities-backed loan.

“If rates hadn’t continued to go up, I probably wouldn’t have sold as many stocks and bonds as I did,” he said.