Senate Refuses to Cap Credit Card Interest Rates at 15 Percent
Mick Arran, Open Salon: Just a little while ago our gallant Democrat Senate — and I quote — “easily” defeated Bernie Sanders’ bill to put a 15% cap on credit card interest rates the same day that CBS did a segment on the banks’ sudden raising of already usurious rates on some of their best consumer customers with no warning of any kind. The reason was — partly — that the Sens have their own bill almost ready for passage.
Despite complaints that banks and credit card companies are gouging customers by charging outrageous interest rates, the Senate on Wednesday easily turned back an effort to cap interest rates at 15 percent.
The effort by Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, drew only 33 votes and needed 60, with a bipartisan group of 53 senators opposing it as the Senate pushed its credit card overhaul toward the finish line.
See, the Big Senate bill don’t have no stinkin interest rate caps. Uh-uh. That was just too much for our bankster puppets to swallow. Or at least, that’s what the Puppet Masters told them to say….
The banking industry, which had some heavy-weight representatives monitoring the vote off of the Senate floor, warned that an interest rate limit could cause a sour reaction in the financial markets.
Yah gotta love them Sens. Making sure their friendly neighborhood banking lobbyist was right in the corridor outside the Senate Chamber so they could get fresh new talking points if they ran into trouble selling waverers. Not that there were any. No no. This was a no-brainer. I mean, the Boss was right out in the corridor, fer dawg’s sake.
