Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I am hoping that later this afternoon there will be a unanimous consent request that relates to an amendment I have introduced, amendment No. 3989, and I wish to take a few minutes now since there is no one else seeking recognition on the floor to describe this amendment in the hopes that when it comes up later, we can move to it and to a vote very quickly. I have spoken on the floor of the Senate several times about the amendment because it is complicated in one respect. This amendment relates to the fees charged by credit card companies such as Visa and MasterCard to the retailers and businesses that accept the credit cards. So if you are a customer of a shop and you purchase something, you present a credit card. There are then two transactions taking place, at least. One transaction is between you and your credit card company, because you put the credit card out there and you have to pay the bill later on. The other transaction relates to the business, the shop that accepts your credit card. By accepting your credit card, they also accept an obligation to pay the credit card company or the bank issuing the credit card. It is called an interchange fee. There is another one called a swipe fee. So the credit card company is getting paid both ways. They get paid by the customers who pay interest on outstanding balances on their credit cards, and they get paid by the retail establishments that accept the credit cards.…”