the fed

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.

Some House members seek to resurrect a measure to allow bankruptcy judges to cramdown loan principals and terms that failed in the Senate this spring.

After months of proposals, arguments, hearings and public comments, federal regulators today approved new rules to make credit cards more consumer friendly. The changes will prevent card companies from hiking interest rates on existing balances and grant card users a longer window to pay their bills. The new rules take hold in July 2010.
Some Democrats [...]