Montana

Montana Viewpoint: Money for nothing

Published

3 months ago

December 2, 2025

Jim Elliott

Just before the official days of excessive purchasing named Black Friday, and Cyber Monday which follow immediately on the heels of the National Day of Gluttony, Turkey Thursday, I received a new credit card.

Just for giggles, I thought I’d read the fine print. The rate of interest would be 14.99 percent. “Didn’t Jesus throw the money lenders out of the Temple?” I thought. The late fee would be 29.99 percent and would apply to future purchasers at the discretion of the bank. I then thought of a friendly fellow I knew who was originally from Chicago. “What did you do there?” I asked him once. He smiled, and said, “I was in collections.” I wondered if he had worked for a bank or some other organization.

Where did these high credit card rates come from? Long ago there were state laws that prohibited usury, which is the charging of excessive interest on loans. When did that all change?

In the United State that date would be February 6, 1980, when a bill to abolish the South Dakota usury laws passed that state’s legislature. In the 1970s inflation was running at about 20 percent and to tame the trend, Paul Volker, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank had allowed the rate at which the Fed loaned money to banks to rise to 20 percent. In South Dakota and elsewhere in the 1970s farmers were having a very hard time of it for many reasons and needed to borrow money from banks just to survive. But South Dakota banks were not about to lend out money at the legal maximum rate of 12 percent when they had to pay 20 percent interest just to borrow the money from the Federal Reserve.

In a related issue, in 1978 Marquette Bank of Minneapolis was having their credit card business undermined by First National Bank of Omaha, which was issuing credit cards to Minnesota residents at 18 percent interest which was the top usury rate in Nebraska but with no annual fee. Marquette was issuing credit cards at the 12 percent maximum interest rate imposed by Minnesota, but they did charge an annual fee. They were losing business to the Nebraska bank. Marquette went to court, arguing that Nebraska banks could not charge a rate of interest in Minnesota that was higher than Minnesota banks could charge in their own state. Marquette lost. In a unanimous opinion the Supreme Court ruled that the usury law of the issuing state held, no matter where the cardholder lived.

In a second related issue, Citibank of New York was bound to the New York usury law of 13 percent and was losing money. After the Marquette decision, Citibank began looking for a new state to do its credit card business in. Under federal banking law a bank could not move to a state without an invitation to relocate, which was conveniently provided by (usury free) South Dakota on the last day of its legislative session in 1980. Citibank relocated its credit card operations to Sioux Falls, S.D. as soon as it could, bringing with it 500 new jobs, a new building, and as a special gift to its cardholders, a higher interest rate.

That’s the history of the beginning of high rates. The morality of charging high rates on loans goes back at least—as I have said—to Jesus throwing the money lenders out of the Temple when he said, “It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.” (Matthew 21:13 KJV).

People who loan money will tell you that the rate they charge reflects the risk they take that the loan won’t be repaid. The higher the risk, the higher the interest charged. It used to be that bankers didn’t like to take risks. They loaned money, sure. They made money on the interest charged, sure. But they also wanted the borrower to have a solid reason for borrowing money and to be successful in the business the customer was borrowing the money for. If it was a mortgage, they wanted you to be able to afford the loan. They did not loan money for toys or vacations. They looked out for themselves by looking out for their customers.

Now, it seems, all they want to do is make money off their customers, and the faster the better. Bankers used to educate their customers because success was a two-way street. Today, people are drowning in credit card debt, and nobody seems to care. Well, someone might, but it’s not the banks.

Have fun, but don’t go broke doing it.

Montana Viewpoint has appeared in weekly and online newspapers across Montana for over 30 years. Jim Elliott served sixteen years in the Montana Legislature as a state representative and state senator. He lives on his ranch in Trout Creek.

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Montana

Evacuation orders issued as 5,000-acre wildfire burns near Roundup, Montana

Published

5 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Evacuation orders issued as 5,000-acre wildfire burns near Roundup, Montana

ROUNDUP, Mont. —
The Rehder Creek Fire is burning 16 miles southeast of Roundup has grown to about 5,000 acres, prompting evacuation orders for residents in the Bruner Mountain Area/Subdivision.

The fire started Feb. 26, the cause is unknown and containment was at 0%.

Evacuation orders are in effect for all residents in the Bruner Mountain Area/Subdivision. The Musselshell County Sheriff’s Office is coordinating the evacuation orders, and 911 reverse calls have been sent out to advise people in the area.

A shelter is opening at the Roundup Community Center. Residents were told to contact Musselshell County DES for further information.

Firefighter and public safety remain the top priority. The public is asked to avoid the Fattig Creek and Rehder Road area so emergency personnel can safely and effectively perform their work.

Fire resources assigned to the incident include 40 total personnel, 11 engines, one Type 2 helicopter, three tenders and two dozers.

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Montana

February 26 recap: Missoula and Western Montana news you may have missed today

Published

17 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

February 26 recap: Missoula and Western Montana news you may have missed today

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Escobar, Jayapal, Members of Congress Call on Camp East Montana to be Shut Down – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Escobar, Jayapal, Members of Congress Call on Camp East Montana to be Shut Down – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) – joined by Representative Pramila Jayapal, the Ranking Member of the Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee, and 22 other Members of Congress – sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons calling for the immediate closure of Camp East Montana in El Paso. They cite urgent humanitarian concerns following multiple deaths in custody, documented unsafe conditions, and serious deficiencies in medical care.

This marks the fourth letter Congresswoman Escobar has sent to DHS and ICE leadership. The previous three letters have gone unanswered.

The letter can be found in its entirety below and here.

“Secretary Noem and Acting Director Lyons:

We are urgently calling on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS or the Department) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to shut down Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas.

Camp East Montana has been operational for six months, and at least three people have died at the site since December 2025: Francisco Gaspar-Andres, Geraldo Lunas Campos, and Victor Manuel Diaz. The El Paso County Medical Examiner has officially ruled Lunas Campos’ death a homicide, citing “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression.”

Camp East Montana was constructed in a matter of weeks and opened before construction was complete and it does not have enough federal staff on-site to provide adequate oversight. Over the last several months, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, in whose district this facility is located, has sent multiple letters to DHS and ICE regarding concerns about the conditions at Camp East Montana, and has received no responses.

According to detainees, there have been constant and consistent problems at the facility since it opened, beginning with the facility’s poor construction and poor ambient temperature control. Upon opening, the drinking water at Camp East Montana tasted foul and made some detainees sick. Detainees continue to be served inadequate meals, including food that is rotten or frozen; last fall, the facility was also consistently failing to make dietary accommodations for detainees. Detainees have shared that they have sporadic access to outside spaces and recreational areas, and that their dormitory pods are cleaned only once every eight days, despite pods housing up to 72 people at a time. Laundry services are not consistent, and people are washing their clothes in the facility showers. Additionally, the facility experiences flooding and sewage backups when it rains, leading to stagnant water.

One of the biggest concerns with the Camp East Montana facility is the inadequate medical care being provided to detainees. Our offices have heard that only the most ill detainees are referred to the medical unit and that there are inconsistencies as to how soon after arriving detainees are able to undergo initial medical screenings. Detainees with chronic health issues who rely on regimented medications for their health have had difficulty accessing necessary medications, including blood pressure medication and insulin.

At least one of the deaths that occurred in ICE custody, the death of Francisco Gaspar-Andres, appears to partially be the result of poor medical care by staff at the facility. According to ICE’s own account, Gaspar-Andres sought medical attention from facility staff for increasingly serious symptoms, but was only transferred to an area hospital once his condition had severely deteriorated.

In addition to our concerns about poor medical care, we are also aware that detainees have experienced irregular access to their legal counsel, including instances of detainees having only two minutes allotted per phone call every 8 days, which is contrary to ICE’s Detention Standards on access to counsel, and that the belatedly created law library lacks adequate resources for the amount of people currently held at the facility. In January 2026, ICE announced the on-site death of Geraldo Lunas Campos “after experiencing medical distress.” ICE opened an investigation into the death, but did not provide a cause of death. However, The Washington Post later reported that another man detained at Camp East Montana had witnessed guards choking Lunas Campos when he refused to enter a segregated housing unit. Weeks later, the El Paso County Medical Examiner ruled that Lunas Campos had experienced “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression” and ruled his death a homicide.

Lunas Campos is the first detainee to die at Camp East Montana as a result of a use-of-force incident, but we are strongly concerned that he will not be the last if ICE is allowed to continue operating Camp East Montana.

ICE was given $45 billion in taxpayer dollars in the reconciliation bill, $1.2 billion of which were awarded to Acquisition Logistics, LLC, a company with no previous experience managing immigration detention facilities, to build and oversee Camp East Montana. However, in the wake of three deaths in custody so far, continued concerns about conditions at the facility, and ICE’s apparent disinterest in responding to oversight letters from Congress, we do not believe Camp East Montana is being run professionally or responsibly.

Camp East Montana must be shut down. For the safety of everyone at the facility, for an end to abuses to detainees, and for fiscal responsibility to the American people, the site cannot continue to operate. We are calling on DHS and ICE to move to immediately close operations at Camp East Montana.

We look forward to hearing from the Department promptly on this matter.

The other co-signers include Representatives Yassamin Ansari, Nanette Barragán, Yvette Clarke, Lloyd Doggett, Maxwell Frost, Jesús “Chuy” García, Sylvia Garcia, Daniel Goldman, Jimmy Gomez, Henry Johnson, Stephen Lynch, Seth Moulton, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Delia Ramirez, Andrea Salinas, Janice Schakowsky, Darren Soto, Rashida Tlaib, Paul Tonko, Lauren Underwood, Gabe Vasquez, and Nydia Velázquez.

Issues: Immigration

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