February 14,2009
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News: Chances of Success for Sen. Dodd's New Bill.
Just last year Senator Dodd introduced a bill called "the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act". It did not pass. So why would he introduce another bill that is so similar this year? The senator explains that, because of the crashing economy and turmoil in the credit card industry, "I think I've got a better chance this year." Legislative director of the Consumer Federation of America, Travis Plunkett adds: "The issue seems to be building up steam. The House of Representatives passed a bill last year, the Federal Reserve added its regulations and 60,000 people wrote to the Fed asking for help with their credit cards".
Plunkett, has also worked on the credit card bill with Sen. Dodd and agreed to testify before the committee in this opening bout in support of Dodd's effort. He (Plunkett) was heard to say: "Too many Americans are choking on credit card debt ... It looks like Congress is going to act this year." RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) professor, Bob Manning agrees with this. Mr. Manning is the director of the Center for Consumer Financial Services at the institute and believes that this could be Sen. Dodd's defining moment if he can command the leadership in this effort to bring it into fruition.
With all these mandates, it would seem like Senator Dodd is down on the credit card industry. But he sets to allay these presumptions by saying that he is very much in favor of the credit card industry. He just wants to clean it up and curtail predatory practices and policies that harm consumers. He wants to bring back underwriting standards. He is in empathy for the quartering the industry is taking by being "whipped' for lending and at the same time, "whipped' for not lending. To sum it up, he explains: "I think credit cards are a wonderful consumer tool and a great asset, with fair rules." We just need to stop the abuses and work with a horrible economy to get through it.
Meanwhile, in the House, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-New York, has been busy putting together their version of a similar credit card bill. Senator Dodd favors the bill but, doesn't believe it goes far enough. He states that he is willing to work with it, however.