Wilson: Independence Day came early for me

Monday is July 4, and July 4 is Independence Day. But Friday was July 1, and July 1 wasn’t a bad Independence Day on its own.

I’d planned for the last few months to try to have my car loan paid off ahead of its original February closing date. A principal payment here and there, I calculated, and I’d be done by October. Then I found some other budget cuts to make, and I realized I could pay everything off July 1.

Everything was lined up to pay it off July 1, but I had an autopayment set up July 2. I didn’t want to pay off tomorrow what I could pay off today, but I didn’t like the idea the bank would accidentally draft money it didn’t need and leave a few hundred dollars in limbo.

I called customer service.

“I am obligated to tell you, Mr. Wilson, that when you originally agreed to automatic payments, your loan received a 0.5 percent interest rate discount. By canceling this final autodraft, that will also reinstate the original interest rate. We would send you a letter detailing that.”

“But it’s not retroactive, correct? The higher interest would only apply to my remaining principal, which I won’t have in 10 minutes.”

He agreed and canceled the autodraft, I hung up and made the payment and I was ready to celebrate independence.

The celebration didn’t end there. I checked some morning news digests and saw we’d soon be independent of Nancy Grace. The host of her eponymous show on HLN declined to renew her contract. Grace is leaving in October to pursue so far unnamed projects, but we’re free. Sure, I never watched her show on purpose, but there was always a chance I’d see her while flipping channels or tuning in to big verdicts.

My personal favorite Grace moment was when she bemoaned that Casey Anthony “will leave that courtroom a free woman.” Yes, Nancy, that’s how the whole “not guilty” verdict works. Grace wondered how Anthony got away with murder, without any introspection into what role she played by turning Casey Anthony into a celebrity in a country where celebrities are rarely convicted.

Feeling a little more satisfied, I went to the office, where reporter and baseball fan Doug Clark informed me July 1 was Bobby Bonilla Day. It’s the day Bonilla, the poster man for “overpaid baseball player,” gets $1.19 million annually because the Mets didn’t want to pay him $5.9 million 16 years ago.

It makes no sense now, but let me explain what the Mets were thinking. They had $5.9 million to pay Bonilla, but the Mets had a financial guru that was getting them 12 to 15 percent annually on investments. They chose to invest that money, promise Bonilla 8 percent annual growth and pocket the rest. That’s a $49 million profit.

Or it would have been. The Mets didn’t make 12 to 15 percent annually. That financial guru was Bernie Madoff, and he “Madoff” with the Mets’ money. Bonilla, however, still has a contract, and the 53-year old outfielder makes more than two of the team’s starting pitchers combined.

So light up your fireworks, grill your dogs and burgers and enjoy our designated Independence Day on Monday.

But I celebrated freedom on July 1. I’m free from a little bit of debt, the world’s free from Nancy Grace and the Mets aren’t free from their self-inflicted contractual obligations.

Don’t be sad, because two out of three ain’t bad.

Kevin Wilson is managing editor for the Clovis News Journal. He can be contacted at 575-763-3431, ext. 320, or by email:

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