Ah yes, it has been said that sunshine is a great disinfectant, so here it is.  Yesterday Republicans shamelessly thwarted efforts by Democrat Senator Chris Dodd to help Middle America by freezing credit card interest rates on existing balances.  At a time when people in this country are literally going hungry and without work, Republicans had the chutzpah to throw Middle America under the bus and instead line the pockets of credit card companies.  Oy gevalt . . .

I understand the great plight suffered by credit card companies.  The gravy train with biscuit wheels that they’ve been riding for years will soon be coming to an end.  

As you may recall, especially if you’re an insomniac and have needed something on the nightstand to help you sleep, the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act enacted in May, prevents arbitrary interest rate, fee and finance charge increases on a consumer’s existing balance.

In response, credit card companies have been hiking credit card interest rates to 30% in a last ditch effort to take advantage of consumers before all of the CARD Act’s provisions take effect.

To stem the hiking of fees on Middle America, Dodd’s bill would have sped up some of the provisions in the CARD Act, which don’t take effect until February or August of 2010.  But yesterday Senator Thad Cochran (R., Miss.) objected to the measure, and it only takes one senator to block a unanimous consent request in the Senate.

This missive has nothing to do with the fact that consumers have a responsibility to spend within their means and to pay what they owe, and everything to do with the fact that the credit card industry has a responsibility to deal with consumers honestly.  There is nothing honest about what credit card companies are doing to consumers with these rate increases and fees, which are simply usury and legalized extortion.

Middle America is already frustrated with the political Left and Right for not providing relief on pocketbook issues, and this gets the peasants one step closer to grabbing their pitchforks.  If you’re keeping score, let the record reflect that in keeping with its tradition of whoring for big business, Republicans have once again chosen big business over Middle America.

A. Muser

http://americanmuser.wordpress.com

  As the public tries to make it through this economy, businesses are setting new levels of corporate greed and screw the consumer:

  a. Credit card companies and banks raising fees before new rules take effect

  b. Mortgage firms still not doing all they can to prevent foreclosures

  c. Drug fims raising prices before and during Medicare Part D open enrollment and to anticipate any drug pricing rules that come with health care legislation.

  d. Tobacco companies now marketing their loose tobacco as pipe tobacco because the tobacco sold as loose for "roll your own" is at a higher tax rate to fund CHIP.  They found the loophole that taxes loose "pipe tobacco" at a lower rate and raising production and informing their retailers to direct customers toward that instead of the higher taxed "roll your own".  All to prevent taxes that will go to Children's health

  Corportate greed run amok - where is the outrage?  where are the "tea party conservatives" and why are they NOT raging against these machines and their fees??

  Is there a cover story in this for Newsweek??

 hope so!!