I thought getting donation requests from the Mitt Romney campaign in the mail was bad enough. A letter promising $1,000 USD made me rolled my eyes. After filing for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy to wipe out my credit card debt last year, these types of letters and credit card offers flooded my mailbox. The credit card industry wants my business again because they know I can’t file bankruptcy for ten years. Before I fed the letter to the shredder, I glanced at the small print to see what the catch was. The typical APR was 36% or so. The 299% APR made my eyes bulged out.

Plain Green, LLC is a tribal lending entity wholly owned by the Chippewa Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation, Montana, a sovereign nation located within the United States of America, and is operating with the Tribe’s Reservation. Maximum loan amount for initial loan is $1,000. Refer to Loan Cost & Terms for additional details. Complete disclosures of APR, fees and payment terms are provided within the Loan Agreement. The Annual Percentage Rate (APR) for an example loan of $1,000 is 299.17% with 24 bi-weekly payments of $124.16; pricing in effect as June 11, 2012. See plaingreenloans.com for more information.

That can’t be legal, I thought. A quick internet search confirmed that high APRs are legal for short term loans, especially payday loans in some states that have no APR cap. However, since this particular offer is from Plain Green, there is concern that the online payday lenders and Indian tribes are using tribal sovereignty to evade consumer protection laws to make money off of those who can least afford it. The entire financial industry is in the business of fleecing suckers (i.e., taxpayers), its perfectly legal as the political system is bought and owned by Wall Street, and Congressional leaders often engaged in inside trading to benefit themselves.

Three months after I filed for bankruptcy I got a secured credit card, where I put up a small deposit and paid a yearly fee for a small credit line to help rebuild my credit. My reoccurring expenses are charged to this credit card that I paid off in full each month. I applied for another credit card with a much bigger credit line to purchase an Apple iPad 2 earlier this year. I should have the balance paid off by the end of summer. Ironically, these two credit cards—both have a 23% APR—are from the same companies that I previously had accounts with before I filed for bankruptcy.

If I get another donation request from the Mitt Romney campaign again, I’ll give them the address for Plain Green. Perhaps the the online payday lenders and Indian tribes will want to make a political donation, if they haven’t already.