Postive Move to Reign in Credit Card Companies

Well, yesterday Chris Dodd's credit card reform bill passed the Senate 90-5 . To tell you the truth I wasn't expecting it pass without some major buckling under to the credit card lobby and I surely didn't expect this wide of margin. It wasn't that long ago that the Republicans could have simply prevented a bill like this from coming to the floor thereby eliminating any need for them to put themselves in harm's way by having to vote against it. Now they have no choice and have to vote whether they like it or not. Credit card reform really is a hot button issue right now as more and more people are discovering that the credit card people are poisonous leeches and I guess the GOP sense of self-preservation reared it's head and they gave the bill a massive majority.

The large margin does beg the question over whether Dodd could have played a little harder and gotten a better bill. Hard to say? We've still got to get the House and Senate bills conferenced and if the Democrats are paying attention, maybe it will be the first legislation in history to actually be improved in conference.

You'll notice a lot of wailing and hair pulling from the credit card industry. Don't believe even a single word of it. If you will remember my post from a couple of weeks or so ago you will see that these warts on body of society are still going to be able to continue to suck the life force out of the economy with their unreasonable skim on every credit transaction. Don't believe the threats about punishing the people who manage their credits cards wisely either. If you think the credit card companies will win the game of making the "deadbeats" pay for the difference we'll get a chance to see how the " free market" really operates. People who have managed their credit wisely aren't stupid and if the credit card companies aren't carefull they will send these customers to alternate services. Yes, I know it is virtually impossible to travel(rent a car, book a hotel, etc.) or shop on the internet without a credit card if the existing credit card companies get to onerous in their quest for profits at any cost then someone will come up with an attractive alternative. It's the way the market works.