David Obey: “I oppose this rule for two reasons. One is because of this, a little piece of plastic called a credit card. All too…”

“I oppose this rule for two reasons. One is because of this, a little piece of plastic called a credit card. All too often, little cards like this are issued by bloodsuckers. This bill, as it went to the Committee on Rules, contained a provision to defend average consumers from some of these credit card companies who abuse their privileges under the law and wreak havoc on people's financial rights. Right now, there are a number of credit card companies who feel no compunction whatsoever about the idea of changing your interest rate on your credit card, even if you have never missed a payment, even if you have never been a day late with that company. They still reserve the right to jack up your interest rate to the default rate called the universal default rate if you have missed some other payment on somebody else's bill. Example: if you go on a vacation and you are a week late paying a mortgage bill, or you are a week late paying a light bill, if that gets reported on somebody else's credit report, a credit card company can make you pay 30 percent interest, no questions asked, even though you have never been late with a payment for them. As Linda Sherry of Consumer Action said, ``It is the only industry in the world to reprice something you have already paid for.'' Now, the bill, as it went to the Committee on Rules, contained an amendment which I offered which passed by a 10-vote margin on a bipartisan basis in the Committee on Appropriations.…”