Get $100K for Sharing a Tip about Credit Card Debt Reduction!

Written by Mike Killian
Posted On: December 5, 2005

"Do you have a common-sense idea that will improve the day-to-day lives of everyday Americans? Or an opinion on how working families can succeed in the new global economy?" These are two of the first three sentences that appear on a unique site called SinceSlicedBread.com. To encourage the facilitation of ideas, the site is sponsoring a contest that is offering consumers up to $100,000 for sharing consumer tips.

I interviewed Andy Stern, President of Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which sponsors the site, via e-mail about the site and concept. I first asked, "How did the SinceSlicedBread idea come about and how long has it existed?"

"Launched in October of this year, SinceSlicedBread.com is a contest, a web site and a national call for fresh, common sense ideas that will strengthen our economy and improve the day-to-day lives of working men and women and their families. It is also a place where ordinary Americans and experts alike are discussing the important economic issues of our times and looking for ways to address them."

I then asked, "What will happen to the end results?"

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"Through SinceSlicedBread.com, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is encouraging all Americans to take an active role in thinking about how to improve public policy. We are so serious about it, in fact, that we have asked a nonpartisan panel of highly respected academics, business leaders and political figures to review the ideas submitted and pick their top 21. From those top 21, the public will vote to 'decide on the best idea since sliced bread'. SEIU will award the winner $100,000 and our pledge to help make the winning idea a reality. Two second-prize winners will each receive an award of $50,000. In early 2006, SEIU will publish a book of the top 21 ideas."

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I was concerned with the rapidly approaching deadline to submit ideas and asked, "Will there be a continued application when your December 5 deadline has passed?"

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"The deadline to submit ideas is midnight December 5, but the contest doesn't end there. We encourage people to join our virtual town hall to review and comment on ideas throughout the month. On January 9 the judges top 21 ideas will be announced and we invite everyone to log on to the site and vote for what they think is the best idea since sliced bread. The winners will be announced in February."

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Finally I asked, "What would you like our readers to know about your site?"

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"Not only can people submit ideas for addressing such thorny issues as consumer debt, education, health care, social security, taxes, labor policy and the economy, they can also review and comment on ideas that others have posted. This has sparked lively debate and created an online community where ordinary people have an opportunity to talk about national public policy and ways to improve it. The discussion continues with blogs from some of the nation's most prominent bloggers and SinceSlicedBread.com podcasts."

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I was so impressed with the concept, I not only conducted this unique interview, but submitted my own idea. CardRatings.com encourages all our readers to do the same. We are particularly interested in our readers submitting ideas regarding eliminating credit card debt. No one person has all the answers. But collectively we can certainly trim a number of problems down to size!

We welcome your comments about credit card and other money issues in our popular credit forum!