Obama and credit card reform

[Anonymous]

Tuesday may have ushered in a historic first for the White House, but that's not all the 2008 election may bring.

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/obama-president-credit-card-outlook-1282.php

[Calamity]

I don't know how this can work.

[athensguy]

It will be similar to protections already achieved in the past for other forms of loans. It's a big deal, and the CC holder's bill of rights will help many people keep out of further financial problems. It will also increase profits at banks, even though they are resisting the change, as always, because it helps people.

[Anonymous]

It's sounds wonderful to have a bill of rights as a consumer of credit. And lord knows people who sign away a lifetime's worth of earnings on a mortgage contract or sweat away their monthly paycheck on a pile of credit card bills should have the fine print spelled out more clearly than it usually is.

But has anyone ever noticed whenever these popular reforms get passed there is almost always  an unintended blowback that bites us in the butt?

They passed cable reforms in the telecommunication bill and we got blackouts and higher monthly rates. They passed a luxury tax on expensive recreational boats and nearly destroyed the industry. They passed an energy independence bill that jacked up the cost of food by subsidizing corn-to-ethanol. They tried to pass an offshore drilling bill, in the name of energy security, that actually banned 90% of our offshore oil and gas reserves from ever getting tapped.

Surely, the road to hell is paved over with well-intentioned reforms.

Hey, let's hope they get it right but I'm fairly skeptical, if recent history is any guide.

Cato 

[marty56]

As a former CC junkie, a bill like this would have just made death by credit card slower and more painfull for me and I suspect many others.

These days I just practice restraint and will only carry a balance under extreme emergencies with a known exit date.

I would rather see the focus shift on modifiying or behavior.

[Anonymous]

Overhaul of practices via federal legislation only makes sense. Some practices are downright criminal.

CC rating systems exist in various forms. Ratings are different as different folks want different things. Not sure how a gumint rating system would work. The MPAA rating system (G, PG, PG-13, R and NC-17) is a voluntary system, funded by fees charged to producers and distributors, and there has never been even the slightest hint of bias or influence in 40 years. If we're going to pursue a CC rating system, perhaps we should look to the MPAA rating system for guidance.

BK reform, post 2005 BK reform, well duh. Yeah. 2005 BARF law has continued to barf and probably contributed to our current economic mess.

Payday loans are actually one of the most honest and forthright loan programs out there. Before capping interest rates on them, we should look to force CCC to be more upfront using plain language. However, ever since the Marquette decision, a federal usury law has been desperately needed yet no one has championed it to my knowledge.