Archive for the ‘credit cards’ tag
Tom Coburn is a jerk
We seriously need serious credit card reform and here is Coburn trying to latch on to a bill to pass something totally unrelated.
"It’s just wacky," said Jon Houston, an aide speaking on behalf of Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., the bill’s chief House sponsor who has been pushing for a crack down on credit card practices for two years.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., saw an opportunity to grab on to a comparatively fast-moving target, since lawmakers are under the gun to finalize a credit card bill in the next 11 days. Keeping pressure on Congress, President Obama held a town hall in New Mexico on Thursday inviting consumers who had written or called the White House about their credit card companies.
Just plain silly.
Credit Card industry on the ropes but no KO yet
A glum army of credit card-banking industry lobbyists looked on as both houses of Congress acted to pass tougher legislation regarding credit cards. Some of the crooked and corrupt practices that have been addressed are the raising of interest rates without warning, the marketing of credit cards to younger people, charging high fees for being a day or two late, jacking up interest rates because of unrelated bills and &c.
Support the Credit Card Accountability Act
After reading Credit Card Nation and Maxed Out a few years ago credit cards are another reason to hate bankers honestly. Now Chris Dodd is aiming to do something about the way banks wield credit cards over an unsuspecting public.
“The Credit CARD Act would level the playing field between borrower and lender by putting an end to some of the most arbitrary, abusive, and unfair credit card lending practices that trap consumers-particularly disadvantaged and minority borrowers-in an unending cycle of costly debt. The bill would:
- Protect consumers from “any time, any reason” interest rate increases and account changes;
- Prohibit unfair application of card payments;
- Protect cardholders who pay on time;
- Limit fees and penalties;
- Ensure that cardholders are informed of the terms of their account; and
- Protect young consumers from credit card solicitations.
A good trend in bad times: stay away from credit cards
I hope this continues even after the economy picks back up again. Credit cards have been a plague for far too long. It’s not that I don’t think credit cards are needed it’s just the way they have been marketed all these years. Read Maxed Out and Credit Card Nation for starters.
