It's about time. The testimonies before Congress that I happened to see for a few minutes on television were unbelieveable. People would sign up for a credit card at a fixed percentage rate and the cc companies would all of the sudden just up the fixed percentage rate with no notice along with other unsavory practices.

Of course the banks want no regulations or rules and are fighting this tooth and nail but at least this time Congress appears to be doing the right thing.

I pay my credit card balance in full every month but many people have had to put their health insurance premiums (after they lost their jobs) and other emergencies on their credit cards and aren't as lucky. The banks should not be allowed to run wild and do as they please. Everyone has rules to follow and that includes the credit card companies.

I don't know how this is going to work out yet. Usually when the Fed regulators say they are protecting consumers, they are protecting the banks. A tiger can't change it's stripes.

Seems to me it's about time people quit using their credit cards. Also seems to me the federal government should do the same. You can't borrow your way out of debt and when you print more money it devaluates the money you have.

Also seems to me the federal government should do the same. You can't borrow your way out of debt and when you print more money it devaluates the money you have.

To our misfortune, they show no signs of retreat; it's full speed ahead. Man the money pumps! Get off the beach. There is a tidal wave of inflation coming.

The Fed is ripping people off way more than the credit card industry could dream of. How about getting rid of the Fed? That would be even better for people than these superficial-feel-good-
measures.

Ripping us off is putting it mildly. The Fed is plundering the poor and middle class to save the rich by monetizing their bad debts.

Yeah, well I'll maintain a healthy skepticism until the actual bill is passed. Then we'll see exactly how dedicated the Fed is to stopping this highway robbery on the part of credit companies/banks. I bet the final version is seriously watered-down.

You can't protect people from their own stupidity. As long as people keep wanting the latest cell phone or flat screen TV they will keep on spending money they don't have. Marketing keeps getting more and more effective all the time, but let's face it, the U.S. economy has been relying on credit for far too long.

So the wonderful and protective and helpful (Ya right!) Fed wants to "clamp down" on credit card banks. Well how were these "unfair and deceptive" credit card industry practices allowed in the first place? Did no one notice they were "unfair and deceptive" when these banks began operating? Guess they needed time to figure it out. Maybe they aren't that smart.

Apocalypto:

A lot of banks that are now engaging in sharky practices are banks descended from old, well-run institutions. An example would be here in Georgia, where we used to have Citizens & Southern Bank. Great bank, soundly run, with fair lending standards. Now- a few mergers later- it has become Bank of America, with the same crazy credit card dealings as every other bank nowadays. This situation didn't just happen overnight. A few banks tried out some stuff designed to make themselves more money for essentially doing nothing, and got away with it. Other banks followed; it was clear consumers were putting up with capricious rate hikes and egregious late fees, so why shouldn't these other banks have joined in the fun of found money?

What should have happened, of course, is that the first customer who got socked with this shit should have closed his or her account. Others should have followed, immediately and in great numbers. The first institution to try this crap should have had to close its doors for lack of customers. But "we the sheeple" went along with it, and now undoing the mess is going to take a long time and a lot of legislation.