Congress looks to end credit abuses
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| Thu, 05-01-2008 - 5:44pm |
Congressional Democrats have learned at least one lesson from the mortgage crisis: A sign of economic weakness buried on the business pages can quickly balloon into a political problem on the front pages.
Now, as subprime problems trickle into other types of consumer loans, credit card companies may be the first to feel the effects of increased congressional scrutiny.
“It is appropriate for us to take some action,” House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said at a recent hearing on the credit card industry. “As I look back at the subprime and the decision of Mr. Greenspan not to do anything for a long time, I wish we had been able, more vigorously, to pre-empt him.”
Congress, candidates and regulators at the Federal Reserve (Alan Greenspan is the past chairman) are pursuing dozens of different legislative remedies to curtail abusive practices in the credit card industry.
On Wednesday, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) introduced a bill aimed at stopping predatory practices by the card industry. On Friday, the Fed is expected to announce its own rules cracking down on abuses.








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Well it is about time something be done
Isn't it? They are seriously out of touch with how us low life working class people feel
I disagree with you, but I'm pretty sure
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I am probably not going to be very popular with my response here, but I am going to chime in anyway.
Credit cards DO stick it to people every chance they get, but shouldn't there be a small amount at least of personal responsibility for people as to how much they are putting on credit cards? Yes, sometimes circumstances really suck and credit cards are the only option at the time. Not always though, sometimes people just spend spend spend needlessly..and, well they need to learn somehow.
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Janet, I am not talking about global warming, I am talking about the global economy.
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