Senate Rejects Consumer Protection

Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island recently proposed an amendment to the financial regulation bill that’s being worked on in the Senate. That amendment would have capped the interest rate that credit card issuing banks could charge consumers. It would have limited the interest rate to the cap set by individual States.

Currently, credit card interest rates are limited by the State in which the issuer is headquartered. Delaware, North Dakota, and perhaps a few others, have either a high limit or no limits at all and major credit card issuers have set up corporate headquarters in those States.

Late yesterday, that amendment was rejected by the Senate. Once again, government has folded to the wishes of the big money banks over the needs of their hard working constituents. We can assume that someone’s pocket is a bit greener this morning. I applaud Sen. Whitehouse for the effort.