Robert Gibbs, White House press secretary, was asked today whether the administration will insist on the creation of a separate consumer financial protection agency as part of the year’s plans for banking reform. His response should encourage the consumer advocates pushing for that agency.
The president still believes
Equating today’s rising credit card rates to usury, several House Democrats today announced plans to introduce legislation capping credit card rates at 16 percent.
“Things were a lot better for the average person in this country when we had usury caps,” Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), head of the House Rules Committee, said More…
Moments ago, Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic proposal to freeze credit card rates on existing balances through the holiday season. The bill, sponsored by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), would prevent credit card companies from hiking rates and fees on existing balances until the industry reforms More…
Senate leaders are trying to “hotline” a bill that would expedite previously passed credit card reforms to prevent companies from hiking rates and fees before the law takes hold, according to sources on Capitol Hill.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has asked members of the Banking Committee More…
First they delayed the reforms; now they’re trying to expedite them.
The House approved legislation today to have its previously passed credit card reforms take effect next month, rather than three months later.
The bill is designed to fix a problem the lawmakers themselves created.
Attempting to fix a problem that his panel helped create, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) will introduce legislation today to prevent credit card companies from hiking rates on existing balances. Although Congress passed sweeping credit card reforms earlier in the year — including a ban on More…
Democrats on Capitol Hill were all cheers when they passed first-of-its-kind credit card reform earlier in the year — only to become publicly indignant when the card companies began hiking rates and fees in advance of those changes taking hold.
So after some Democrats More…
In April, we ran a piece about how some Democrats had bowed to the wishes of the banking industry and delayed their credit card reforms until next year, even as consumers have struggled to keep up amid the recession. Inevitably, the banks have used the delay More…
Credit card holders hit with arbitrary interest rate hikes in recent months might be stuck with the extra burden, despite the high-profile congressional effort this year to protect consumers from such increases.
With most of Congress’ sweeping credit card reforms not taking effect until next year, some card companies More…
Even as some of Congress’ recently enacted credit card reforms go into effect today, a New York Times editorial reminds Washington that the banks are still cheating customers with overdraft fees charged to debit card users. These fees, which average $27 a More…
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