It's a national security issue that the federal and state governments cannot temporarily accept payment from visa/mc? Really? Is this because cash or checks are not viable solutions? This is the result of privatization of government. Pay close to attention to what privatization means. It's a loss of critical accountability. Demand government not rely on a private payment provider. It's a gross neglect of national security for payment processing to be beholden to visa/mc. They have no responsibility to the citizens of the US. I don't think is actually the case, as mc/visa take fee's of all transactions they process. Most vendors prefer cash or a check, I would assume the feds do as well. Of course if you have no actual cash anymore, and can only finance your debts on credit, well..... yet more evidence the lack of regulation of credit card companies is a national security risk. -Kiriki -----Original Message----- From: Matthew Black [mailto:black@csulb.edu] Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 3:20 PM To: nanog@nanog.org Subject: Re: Mastercard problems O> ----- Original Message -----

From:James Downs <egon@egon.cc> To:andrew.wallace <andrew.wallace@rocketmail.com> Cc:Christopher Morrow <morrowc.lists@gmail.com>; "nanog@nanog.org" <nanog@nanog.org> Sent:Wednesday, 8 December 2010, 21:30:20 Subject:Re: Mastercard problems [snip] Yikes.. you consider a private company's business to be the financial and payment system of the United States?

Yes, I do. Especially when government agencies accept payments through MasterCard, et al. matthew black comments reflect my opinions and may not represent those of my employer.