It seems everywhere you look, the media is obsessed with the rapidly increasing value of Visa and MasterCard shares. Meanwhile, another credit card story has died down — the one about government purchase cards being abused by federal employees, allegedly for things like online dating services, lingerie and iPods. Well, now a group of federal legislators are aiming to bring the controversy back into the limelight (and, undoubtedly, increasing their own popularity among their constituents at the same time).

U.S. Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) went so far as to say employees who misuse government purchase cards “should be fired immediately and face charges.”

It makes sense, considering the “average Joe” has to face criminal punishment of some type if caught misusing a credit card belonging to another person. The Houston Chronicle, where Culberson’s comments appeared, recently shed light on the fact that NASA employees were among those who misused the federal credit cards. According to the news article:

“The problems have persisted despite at least five internal reports issued since 1997.”

An interesting development in light of the ongoing effort by House members to pass a bill authorizing extensive audits of government employee spending and ultimately holding those employees more accountable. A companion bill in the Senate has passed committee, but has not seen much action on the Senate floor in recent weeks, according to the Chronicle. Maybe (hopefully) developments like the NASA debacle will be just the motivation needed to keep the bill atop the list of priorities.

The demographic with the fastest growing amount of debt is retirees, i.e. those 65 and older. Retirees are taking on debt faster than any other demographic group. According to New York-based Demos research firm, almost one-third of American seniors have debt on their credit cards. On average, it totals $4,041 per household, an 89% increase over the decade prior. To illustrate how severe this is, the average increase in credit card debt across all age groups was only 53% more than the decade prior.

More than 40% of senior citizens’ household income is estimated to go toward debt payment, according to Smart Money. And that income doesn’t leave much breathing room at an average of $23,459, as of the most recent U.S. Census Bureau report.

Contributing to the problem is prolonged life expectancy, astronomical healthcare costs, loose lending standards (up until recently, at least), and fixed income that is simply inadequate. People in this age bracket have a lot fewer options for fighting debt than their younger counterparts. For those who are facing this problem, or have loved ones who are, check out Smart Money magazine’s tips on alternative ways to keep afloat financially without relying on the credit card industry.

Target Corp. announced in March that it was planning to sell half its credit card business for an expected $4 billion. It was later revealed that the buyer would very possibly be JPMorgan Chase, although another unidentified buyer is waiting in the wings as well. Regardless of who the buyer winds up being, Target could use the cash to buy back shares of outstanding company stock or to build new stores.

This is a business move that has been tossed around repeatedly among Target Corp.’s executives and shareholders. It’s not a bad deal, as the 4Q of 2007 brought Target $532 million off its credit card business alone. Not too shabby. However, the buyer may need to take the good with the bad. In March, the company’s annualized credit card balance write-off amount climbed from 6.8% to 8.1%. According to the company, which Blogging Stocks credits as the second largest discount retailer in the U.S., consumer defaults on Target retail credit cards totaled a staggering $55.5 million in March alone.

The benefits of buying half of Target’s credit card operations: It’s proven to be lucrative and retail credit lines are notoriously high-interest. The negative: The profit margin is apparently shrinking, and there’s no telling how long it will be this lucrative. After all, people are struggling to buy a tank of gas, a gallon of milk, and make the mortgage payment. The Target credit card probably falls pretty far down the list of most consumers’ priorities.

Target appears to be bleeding money in this credit operation, so it’s smart to finally unload half of it. Besides, it’s a good time to take any revenue generated by the sell and put it in company shares, development land and building costs while prices are relatively low. One can’t help but wonder, however, if it is too little, too late, and if the deal will indeed go through (and at the expected price). Only time will tell what the future holds for Target.