Political Quotes

“I am delighted to be here with my colleagues, the Senator from Illinois and the Senator from Kansas. I am going to start by answering a question that the Senator from Kansas asked rhetorically: Why is it that American citizens and consumers and merchants pay seven times what is paid by merchants and individuals in Europe? It is because our government doesn't protect our consumers. Our government is not protecting our merchants and our small businesses. Where there is a monopoly or, in this case, a duopoly and there is this massive pricing power that Visa and Mastercard have, they are doing what monopolies and duopolies do. They abuse that pricing power, and they just stick it to our merchants. It was $33 billion in charges in 2013, and it is $93 billion in charges now. And it is not as though the expenses for Visa and Mastercard have really gone up anything close to that. Inflation is their ally, as the Senator said. COVID was their ally, as we had to rely more on those cards. And they justify what they are doing because it is a convenience for the shopper. You know what, it is a convenience for the shopper. It is a convenience for the merchant. But how does that justify a rip-off just because you are doing something that we need?…”