Commentary

The Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (Medicare Part D) takes effect Jan. 1, 2006. It is a voluntary insurance plan created by Congress to help Medicare-eligible people pay for their prescriptions. Medicare recipients will choose their drug plan and pay a monthly premium. While aimed at...

Ever wonder why the fancy ATM in the lobby that you just upgraded for Triple DES doesn't do much more than the old machine it replaced? Ever wonder why the ATM in your state-of-the-art corporate headquarters still sends transactions to a third-party data center in Duluth, only to be routed...

Before pulling the plug completely on its struggling Oldsmobile division, the marketing wizards at General Motors mounted a campaign a few years back to attract younger drivers to its sagging Olds lineup. The now famous tagline, "This is not your father's Oldsmobile," no doubt will live on-long after the last...

Marv: Indeed, we do see this issue differently. On the surface, I agree that there appears to be as many opinions on the credit union philosophy as there are people, but I think when it comes to the core, just about everybody knows what that philosophy is. You talk about...

It is very clear to me that we see the issue of charter options very differently. Neither of us is likely to change the other's point of view. One of these days I would like to hear more detail about your definition of "credit union philosophy." It has been my...

Plastic card losses are escalating to unprecedented levels as criminals exploit the Internet, mail, ATMs, and retail merchants to pilfer plastic card information. There's been much publicity about the theft of debit and credit card information from databases retained in violation of card association rules at nationally known retailers including...

I'd like a show of hands: who of you used Cliff Notes while wading through the classics? There's no shame in it, come on, fess up. When faced with 900 pages of impenetrable prose, plenty of students opt for Cliff's concise summary. The temptation to try this strategy surfaced in...

Marv, you did what no one before could do. You got me to finally speak up about credit union charter conversions. I am talking to long-time credit union consultant and insider Marv Umholtz who recently announced that he was going to serve with the Coalition for Credit Union Charter Options,...