On the recordAugust 3, 2010
I say to those who will be critical of the remarks I am about to make, this is not from some French Socialist journal; this is not from some left-leaning magazine; this is a news story in the Wall Street Journal this morning which is talking about what the credit card companies are doing. So the obvious question one would ask if you live in Illinois or any other place, for that matter, and which we should ask ourselves is, Are we powerless to stop this? Are we powerless to stop these banks, credit unions, and credit card companies from basically ignoring reform in the law, from finding ways to skirt the law and charge even more? Well, the answer is we are not. I will tell you why. Because last week President Obama signed into law the strongest consumer financial protections in the history of the United States. The bill, which was authored by Senator Chris Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and Congressman Barney Frank, his counterpart in the House, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act included many provisions that will help consumers immediately--especially regarding mortgages and credit cards. Make no mistake, as this article tells us, the big banks on Wall Street are working overtime already to dream up ways to avoid this new law as well. The law will never keep up with their lawyers and accountants. They will always find a way around it.





