Last Wednesday, President Obama once again abused the power of Government to dictate to private individuals on how they can do business. This time it was to credit card companies.
Unsurprising, the main stream media is hailing this horrible infringement on an individual’s liberty as a huge reform to protect the consumer.
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Banks say the changes may cut the flow of credit to consumers because it will make it more difficult for issuers to set rates based on the risk their customers pose.
“With this bill we are putting in place some common sense reforms designed to protect consumers,” Obama said at a signing ceremony at the White House.
“We’re not going to be giving people a free pass and we expect consumers to live within their means and pay what they owe. But we also expect financial institutions to act with the same sense of responsibility that the American people aspire to in their own lives,” he said.
Enactment marks the crest of a backlash against the card industry after years of rate and fee hikes and aggressive marketing programs that have angered consumers, analysts said.
The law largely codifies a set of rules issued by the Federal Reserve last year and puts them into effect in February 2010, five months sooner than the Fed had planned.
It also represents the first major financial regulation reform completed by Obama as he tackles a rewrite of the rules of banking and the markets to better protect consumers and investors, and prevent another credit crisis.
{The Rest of The Article From Yahoo News}
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AOL adds the following:
The White House staged a signing ceremony in the Rose Garden, an indication of the legislation’s importance to Obama. Though opposed by many financial companies, the bill cleared Congress with broad support.
Obama made clear that he didn’t champion the changes with the intention of helping those who buy more than they can afford through “reckless spending or wishful thinking.”
“Some get in over their heads by not using their heads,” the president said. “I want to be clear: We do not excuse or condone folks who’ve acted irresponsibly.”
And yet, he said, for many of the millions of Americans who use credit cards and carry a balance, trying to get out of debt has been made difficult and bewildering by their credit card companies.
Obama said many “got trapped” because of the downturn in the economy that has turned family budgets on their heads. But, he said, “part of it is the practices of the credit card companies.”
He criticized policies that allowed for confusing fine print; the sudden appearance of unexplained fees on bills; unannounced shifts in payment deadlines, interest charges or rate increases even when payments aren’t late; and payments directed to balances with the lowest interest rates rather than the highest.
“We’re here to put a change to all that,” Obama said.
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“So we’re not going to give people a free pass, and we expect consumers to live within their means and pay what they owe,” Obama said. “But we also expect financial institutions to act with the same sense of responsibility that the American people aspire to in their own lives.”
Obama decried the “uneasy, unstable dependence” that a minority of card users have on credit.
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Credit card contracts can be confusing, and paying off debt is exceptionally difficult. However, Government intervention isn’t the answer. Despite the tone of President Obama’s comments, no one forced any of these consumers to get credit cards (especially if they didn’t understand their contract), or live beyond their means.
Additionally no one got “trapped”. Every credit card was sold to an individual over the age of eighteen, and thus only to adults. If they are wise enough at eighteen to get an abortion (although they don’t need to be 18 to do that), join the U.S. armed forces, and VOTE then they are wise enough to decide what sort of deal to make with a private credit card company, or not to make one at all.
This is just another example of an Administration with a nanny-state mentality, overreaching with the powers of the Federal Government to gain control of another industry and eliminate any sort of individual responsibility. The Government will be making this decision for you now.
Although every individual instance might not by itself be a tragedy, this is all part of a larger trend. This constant slide away from personal liberty should be cause for alarm; not praise. Although it might seem like a helpful intervention now, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and the path to political slavery with precedent created for the “common good”.
What is the list of Government controlled private industries at this point? It is great to see that this Administration isn’t wasting this “good [financial] crisis”. (sarc!)
