Senate Passes Bill to Mildly Inconvenience Credit Card Companies

The Senate passed that credit card bill. As in the House, the bill got more Republican support than Obama's bills usually get, which is a clear sign that it isn't going to do much for victims of usurious revolving debt peddlers -- its most powerful provision, which would have capped interest rates at 15 percent, was killed last week. But on the bright side, it does mandate that credit card companies wait 60 days before raising the rate on your delinquent account to 30 percent or whatever, regardless of state law. And it makes them wait longer to suddenly switch your teaser rate to something more vampirish, and hobbles their ability to play that scam where they send your bill late but charge you a late fee/interest markup anyway. In brief, the bill gives your credit overlords a mild, sporting handicap. Now run, run for your life, before they figure out how to get around it!