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Just now on the Senate floor, Republicans objected to a motion by Chris Dodd (D-CT) to immediately take up a bill to move up the effective date on the CARD Act, which was passed several months ago. In the intervening time, credit card companies have been jacking up their rates in what Dodd described as “a last-ditch attempt” to pad their profits until all of the provisions of the CARD Act, which prevents arbitrary interest rate, fee and finance charge increases on existing balances, take effect. The bill Dodd sought would have frozen all rates, charges and fees until all of the CARD Act’s provisions became law. It would also have reduced rates for every cardholder who saw arbitrary rate increases in 2009.
So basically, the banksters have been gouging their customers one last time, Sen. Dodd wanted to stop them from doing that, and Republicans objected. The bill, which has already passed the House, could come up under regular order in the future, but Republicans basically engaged in a needless delay so credit card companies could wring some more profits from their customers.
With all this talk of right-wing populism, it would be nice if Democrats could actually do something with this vote. We basically have Republicans voting to maintain flat-out gouging of Americans by the banking industry, with Democrats on the side of the people. That the public doesn’t have an understanding of this is a failure of communication and messaging.
UPDATE: Here’s video of this exchange on the Senate floor:
…here’s Sen. Dodd’s release on this issue.
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The problem is that the media only pays attention when the Republicans (or Blue Dogs) are talking.
I’d say the horse left the barn long ago on that one. Citi raised its best customers to 29.9% a few weeks ago. The trick is for all of us to jettison the cards. Borrowing money is so George Bush.
This is exactly what I’ve been saying. When the Republicans held up the unemployment extension, I said the Dems should have called a press conference and outed these dicks to the press! I’m sick of them allowing the party not in power to basically run things! Now those idiots want the healthcare bill read on the floor. The Dems should tell them they can get a reading on the floor beginning the day before Thanskgiving! If they don’t like that then they should log on and read the bill on their own! Even after the healthcare bill passes, I’m personally going to help other states to dump their fake ass Dems and get real progressives!
Perhaps the trick is to sound like a teabagger. Maybe we need to start questioning the citizenship of Joe Wilson or the loyalty of Orrin Hatch. Perhaps the patriotism of John McCain. Or Cornyn’s gender identification. Maybe question the connection between Boehner and Acorn… /s
And yet if the economy [on Main Street] is still in the dumps come next Fall, these self-same gouged Americans will go to the polls and reelect these self-same Republicans to *fix* the economy for them.
What is wrong with this picture?
When are the Democrats going to come up with an effective electoral strategy aimed at exposing both the Blue Dog conservatives and the Republicans for working and middle classvoters in and out of Kansas?
And when is the left in America going to work in tandem with them by going out into the communities and organizing an effective grassroots opposition?
We all know the mood of the American voter: We are as mad as hell and we are not going to take it anymore!!
What does that mean though if the only alternative is to reelect Republicans!!
Also: The Democrats on the side of the people? Well, some of them. Here are the top five corporate contributers to the political careeer of Chris Dodd.
Securities & Investment $6,061,717
Lawyers/Law Firms $3,032,075
Insurance $2,298,496
Real Estate $1,967,073
Commercial Banks $1,302,063
Really, how committed can someone like this be to *the people*?
slightly off topic, but still within range:
“Is Goldman Sachs About To Drag Down The Federal Reserve?
Ahead of tomorrow’s hearings on various Fed transparency initiatives, Rep. Elijah Cummings is calling for a complete tear down of the existing Fed structure, and demands an overhaul to the “minimal accountability” that the Fed is subject to courtesy of the current Wall Street perpetuated (and lobbied) status quo.”
Perhaps we should put some pressure on Franks, and Dodd!
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/goldman-sachs-about-drag-down-federal-reserve
I’ve always said that the Democrats are too smart for the room especially when they open their mouths. Every single one of them act like they’re the Professor of the World rather than a thinking, breathing and average person. They are utterly incapable of speaking without sounding like a textbook.
I don’t know about that one.That seems like the case but on closer reflection the Dems are not committed to fighting boldly for the Average American.The Dems are just as much as the GOP on knees trying to please the bankers.
The Dems can’t be that wimpy,it’s their oath to Corporations that have ‘em quietly whispering about the GOP blocking the freeze.If they really cared where is the News Conference telling Americans what the Repukes are up to.
The smartest people I have ever known, including some Nobel Laureates, were capable of speaking to people at whatever level was needed. It is the second level, those who are intelligent but not secure in that intelligence, that come off sounding like textbooks (or worse).
The rates these banks charge are far worse than slush funds we paid in the military for drinking money. David vs. Golith is an under-statement and it is time to protect the American consumer. Democrat Chuck Shumer is the most Awesome advocate for the American people.
The problem here is equating Dems with Progressives. Only a small group of Dems in Congress are actually progressives. We need to take advantage of the Rethugs internal collapse and form a new Proggressive Party to replace them and let the Dems absorb the conservatives like they did in the 1840′s when the Republicans were the progressive party and replaced the Whigs.
The point has been made many times on many websites. The Democrats consistently fail to demagogue issues or take moral positions when it would be easy to do so against the Republicans, while the Republicans never miss an opportunity to synthesize bogus moral objections and draw fake moral distinctions between their position and the position of the Democrats.
Every Democratic politician needs to be harangued about this at every opportunity. I mean, they ARE politicians, so it’s not like lying or distorting an issue is beneath them.
We’ll never be authoritarians, so we *are* at a disadvantage. We’ll never have an Atwater or a Rove or a Luntz. But for crying out loud, we’ve got Hollywood people and theatre people and authors and scholars… if only we had some Democrats who were capable of and willing to play the media system the way the Right does…
Don’t they realize that they can’t get anything done partially because they refuse to POINT OUT THAT IT’S THE REPUBLICAN’S FAULT?!?
Rahm Emanuel
The problem with the Democrats is political theater. Republicans can do it, Dem’s cannot. The Dem’s need to hold a press conference and say that the Republicans are declaring WAR on Christmas. By not capping fees and interest rates, the Republicans are against the American consumer at Christmas. The Republicans would rather bankrupt the American consumer than support the holiday AND gift giving season. They are abandoning their Christian values by supporting the bankers during the holidays. Jesus would not let the bankers or the republicans ruin the holiday season, why should the American consumer. When the Dem’s learn to do good political theater, then they have a chance at winning.
The Dodd bill is mere crumbs offered to the peons. A REAL bill would reinstate anti-ursury rules like we used to have. There should be a hard limit of prime + 10% as the MAX that can be charged.
Hell, it has never ever made sense to really put the screws to people who have trouble paying their credit card bills. These clowns think that if these people have trouble paying at 20% that it makes sense to jack it up to 30% or even 70%? Good move! Now they wont get ANY of the money back!
Anti-ursury laws: bring them back. Dodd’s bill is too little too late now that the rates are north of 30%.
And there are a number of “Progressives” who ran as such (and were supported as such) who have since shown their true colors as the same old corporate shills that all other politicians are, regardless of party.
Unfortunately, one cannot determine a rep is truly a progressive until after they are in office and doing damage (or trying to repair past damage). By then you are stuck with them for a while regardless.
Come on Democrats, get with the program for 21st century politics…
You have to rant and rail against injustice like a batshit crazy teabagger on Meth when the rethulicons pull crap like this. That’s how you get the MSM to take notice so you can get things done.
Get some “populist” street smarts and shout out loud with plenty of mockery – and be sure to call their actions un-American, not just for the hell of it but becasue it’s true. That’s the only way the MSM ever lets Americans know that we are getting screwed by the GOP’s Cracker Caucus.
You nailed it! I never thought I’d hear myself say it but sometimes a little regression is a good thing.
Things are so bad these days that even the mob can’t believe what the banksters are getting away with. Rumor has it that Angelo and Nunzio are thinking of turning their South Philly loan sharking business legit to cash in before it too late.
“That the public doesn’t have an understanding of this is a failure of communication and messaging.”
Oh, but the public does. And the usual Democratic suspects ARE planning to use the Republican stumble–just probably not for the actual relief of the debt-carrying public.
My Senator, Udall, championed this change. But given his past performance with corporate interests, he no doubt did so after making pretty sure that it wouldn’t pass.
It isn’t about beating up on Republicans any more. They are now caricatures, not alternatives. Which makes them ideal scapegoats for the real agendas of the wheeler-dealer part of the Democratic Party, the Blue Dogs and so-called “moderates”, not to mention Lieberman.
What we have to do is see through cynical maneuvers and be ready to hammer their disingenuous authors every bit as hard as if they WERE Republicans.
Surprise…Surprise…And who thinks anything different will have if insurance companies and some states will not to the same thing to fix costs before Healthcare Reform kicks in. Count on it. So perhaps we can keep that in mind.
Rahm Emmanuel? He’s our Frank Luntz? But we have contempt for Rahm!
Maybe I should be clearer. I don’t mean that Democratic politicians don’t use talking points. I mean that liberals don’t generally adopt them. Luntz comes up with things like replacng “estate tax” with “death tax” and “nuclear option” with “constitutional option” for marketing purposes, and Republicans adopt them and defend the language like any cultist would defend their jargon. Liberals are suspicious of such things. I’m not aware of any language that Rahm has disseminated in talking point memos, but I’m sure as hell not on his mailing list, nor am I aware of anyone who is.
But, of course, it’s more than jargon. Atwater pioneered the take-no-prisoners, turn-every-issue-into-a-moral-issue politics that Rove honed. Again, I don’t see Rahm publicly and openly endorsing such practices, nor do I see the rank-and-file liberals adopting them, let alone cheering them on.
I have a great desire that the authoritarian instinct be defeated. I’ve encountered it here and there in my own various circles, and it is *always* repulsive. Hell, I even played a white-collar cult leader in an interactive theatre show I co-produced, so I know what it’s like to command an audience to all chant the same thing at the same time. It’s awesome. But liberals as a category of people seem to have no taste for Two Minutes of Hate, even if they feel frustration and anger 24 hours a day.