What is Digg?Sponsored by Travelzoo
$45 & up: Huge Hotel Sale view!
travelzoo.com - Great discounts on rooms for the holidays and beyond!
830 Comments
- charm803, on 05/13/2009, -68/+461Well, then, don't get a credit card. Problem solved!
- BBE1965, on 05/13/2009, -20/+302The banksters spent 13 million of TARP bailout funds to lobby on this issue in just the past few weeks.
- novenator, on 05/13/2009, -58/+275even 15% is excessive.
- stoanhart, on 05/14/2009, -20/+236Personally, I don't think congress should be forcing interest rates on the banks. Congress SHOULD pass a law that prevents the CC company from arbitrarily changing your terms, conditions, and interest rates at any time, so you will always have the rate you agreed to, but they shouldn't set the rate itself.
- 408train, on 05/14/2009, -30/+192now theres a responsible solution!
why do people insist on being babied by big government - elTito, on 05/14/2009, -78/+218Jesus ***** Christ stop whining about this. You signed the contract when you got the credit card. If you were too stupid to have read it at the time, that's your problem.
You are not a victim. Deal with it. - arianapaz, on 05/13/2009, -16/+134here is the vote: from this place: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_li ...
Grouped By Vote Position
YEAs ---33
Begich (D-AK)
Bennet (D-CO)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Burris (D-IL)
Cardin (D-MD)
Casey (D-PA)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dodd (D-CT)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Grassley (R-IA)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Kerry (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Levin (D-MI)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Merkley (D-OR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Udall (D-CO)
Udall (D-NM)
Webb (D-VA)
Wyden (D-OR)
NAYs ---60
Akaka (D-HI)
Alexander (R-TN)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Bond (R-MO)
Brownback (R-KS)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Collins (R-ME)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hagan (D-NC)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kaufman (D-DE)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McCain (R-AZ)
McConnell (R-KY)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Risch (R-ID)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Shelby (R-AL)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (D-PA)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Warner (D-VA)
Wicker (R-MS)
Not Voting - 6
Kennedy (D-MA)
Leahy (D-VT)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Whitehouse (D-RI) - candsoop, on 05/14/2009, -28/+117Interest rates don't matter if you pay your bills on time.
- millaround, on 05/14/2009, -42/+130Yeah!
...
Oh, except that you can't function in civilized society without one. Credit ratings? Approval requirements? Buying a car? Accepted forms of payment?
Face it: Credit card companies have a monopoly in many ways that make it almost a requirement to have and use one of their cards at some point in your life. Since we can't so simply opt-out, there needs to be regulation that safeguards the people. - richmondphotog, on 05/14/2009, -37/+124Why would anyone be for high interest rates that can change at anytime and for no reason? No one. Unless.... your campaign is paid for by a bank. Look at that voting record and ask yourself if your senator really works for you.
- BenTheTank, on 05/14/2009, -38/+121Here's an idea, don't ***** up your credit, and choose your card wisely so that you are not subject to 40% interest rates. It should not be the government's job to protect us from ourselves in every aspect of life.
I anticipate being Dugg down by the financially irresponsible. - gerrylazlo, on 05/14/2009, -10/+90Here's a solution to your problem. Get a credit card, use it, and pay it off every month. Now you have credit AND a 0% interest credit card.
No more safety nets for financial stupidity. - Awsomo6, on 05/14/2009, -16/+93I agree. Don't spend more than you have and you get to pay 0 interest! Wow problem solved.
- tenardier, on 05/14/2009, -5/+61Plan B
1-pay off credit card
2-never use them again
3-never use them again...................... - inactive, on 05/14/2009, -3/+58I'm currently digging myself out of about 5k of credit card debt from college (I had to live for my entire senior year off of credit cards - long story, but I wasn't going to ditch 50k worth of education in the last quarter)
...and I have to call and yell at credit card companies basically every other month. They essentially try to sneak in interest rate hikes in with other credit card junk mail ALL THE ***** TIME. If I wasn't so on top of my finances I wouldn't even notice until it was way too late. I mean, WTF. I make all my payments EARLY and this is what they do. Also, when I call they always try to sell me some ***** upgrade *****.
Once I'm out of debt I'm just going to stuff one of their billing envelopes with ***** YOU scrawled out on my statements and never touch a credit card again for the entirety of my life. - slvrbullet87, on 05/14/2009, -14/+59I have never had a credit card and i have been able to get 2 car loans
- jmpeagle, on 05/14/2009, -9/+54there's a steve martin skit on SNL where he discovers a new way to reduce your credit card debt.....don't but ***** you can't afford
@millaround
then use it as a bank card, never pay a cent of interest, I never have. Who buys a car with a credit card? I don't know anyone who has.
Don't bhuy stuff you can't afford. Just because the credit card companies are willing to lend you money, doesn't mean you should take it. - DRG2003, on 05/14/2009, -1/+46*If you pay your bills in full
- Awsomo6, on 05/14/2009, -18/+57God finally someone with sense!
- inactive, on 05/14/2009, -9/+45*****....Wish I could loan somebody a $100 and If you didn`t pay me back $140 I would just go run to Goverment and ask for a loan.
- 3nder99, on 05/14/2009, -1/+36It's funny, they raised my rates to like 29% when they were totally *****. So I paid off 10k in debt the week after the rate change, and now they don't get any money from me. Occasionally I will use a card, but I pay it off that month. So basically by raising my rates, they not only lost their income from me, but are losing money by keeping my account open while I never give them a single red cent of interest.
- grapesofbaath, on 05/14/2009, -6/+40Term limits would fix 90% of the programs with Congress.
- rjey, on 05/14/2009, -10/+43Wow a ton of democrats on the Nay list? Why am I not surprised.
Works both ways moron.
You realize democrats could pass this with NO republican support if they wanted to? Why don't they? Because both sides are owned by the banks that is why. - digdug135, on 05/14/2009, -17/+49And why should they cap the interest rates? As long as there is competition among credit card issuers and adequate disclosure of the terms, what's the problem? If someone is being charged 27% interest it's because that's the rate they deserve. Would you rather they have no credit?
Credit for the rich; none for the poor? See http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevoluti ...
If there are practices that are misleading or fraudulent, go after the offenders. Don't enact price controls. - HappyScrappy, on 05/14/2009, -13/+45Good. I personally find 25% interest rates on credit cards to be usurious. But it's a free market, if your credit card has a 25% interest rate, go get a different one. And if you can't find one for less, know that if there were a 15% cap, it would likely mean you wouldn't have one at all!
(in that case, you probably should switch to a debit card) - chriscim, on 05/14/2009, -7/+39Apparently you drank the kool-aid. No one NEEDS credit cards and everything on a loan. Even buying a home, you can go the manual underwriting route.
- Awsomo6, on 05/14/2009, -6/+37You can have a credit card and function in society and pay 0% interest if you just don't spend more than you can pay off. There needs to be regulation to safeguard people from themselves? From spending more than they have? Talk about cradle to grave.
And please don't bring up that sometimes you need a credit card to make a big purchase that you might not have enough for right away. There are a lot of other ways to finance big purchases where you can be in control of the interest you pay.
There are millions of people with 0 credit card debt who simply laugh when others complain about their interest rates. - johnnr2, on 05/13/2009, -49/+78disgusting!
- NealKasper, on 05/14/2009, -38/+65No one twisted their arms into getting those credit cards. And secondly, who thinks it's senate's job to decide someone's income? Pretty soon they'll be voting to cap your income at $50k. It's enough to live, right? So what's the big deal? If you make more than that you must be screwing somebody, right?
- inactive, on 05/14/2009, -8/+34wow you sign contracts without reading them first? Then you deserve the 36% interest you *****.
- feelmypimphand, on 05/14/2009, -7/+31Reading and signing the agreement is one thing.
Moving payment dates, changing mailing address information, and mailing the bill as close to possible to the due date are all forms of trickery they use to get you to be in 'default' of the agreement and then jack up your rates.
Do you think this is fair? Free market right?
You could always just choose to not have a card right? - Don't need to worry about renting a car or anything else that requires one.
You could change credit card companies right? - They all do this because there is no motifvation to make a fair and honest profit when all the other credit card companies are using the same tactics.
Charge interest...make people adhere to the agreement...make a profit...fine
God forbid you do it honestly though. - Number23, on 05/14/2009, -20/+44Why do you feel you have right to borrow money at a rate you determine? If you don’t like the rate, don’t borrow the money. If your credit sucks, pay your bill and you’ll improve you credit. Measure like these only transfer cost from the irresponsible borrowers to responsible borrowers.
THERE IS NO FREE LUCH.
This isn’t complicated, if lenders are not allowed to set interest rates that reflect the credit worthiness of the borrower, they won’t lend the money. - hollismb, on 05/14/2009, -5/+29So, don't use credit cards then. Or, pay off the balance in full with each statement, and you'll never pay interest. The last thing we need is more people being encouraged to borrow money they won't have anytime soon, or can't pay back.
- diggduggDOOM, on 05/14/2009, -4/+25One more reason to join a credit union.
- lizcorde, on 05/14/2009, -3/+24In a perfect world it's easy to say "Pay your bills on time.." but if anyone hasn't lost their jobs they have no room to tell others how to handle their finances. This is a brutal economy and many who thought they'd never live to see the day when their finances were exhausted because they had a choice between eating or paying a credit card company that's double dipping (from your taxes and high interest rates) deserve to be treated fairly. Just watch the news and see the thousands of lay-offs that's effecting all areas and practically all industries. But the common man will have the last laugh; he (or she) will no longer use the credit card, that will create the bank to lay off workers; stores won't get his business so they'll have to reduce their work force as well; truckers and suppliers won't be needed either and just like dominoes everyone pays. So go on geniuses who are preaching about "paying your bills" your day may come too. I say to hell with banks and credit cards, use cash, why do we owe them any favors?
- vinceislegend, on 05/14/2009, -19/+40If people would spend their money responsibly, this wouldn't be an issue. If you're against the terms, don't get the card. It's not that complex.
- NealKasper, on 05/14/2009, -8/+29That's strange.... I opted out of having a car loan by paying cash for a car. Also, I opted out of paying credit card interest by not carrying a balance. I did however opt in to getting a loan on a house. Looks like I may indeed be in control of my destiny. Weird, huh?
- wolfing, on 05/14/2009, -5/+24Totally agree. We should stop thinking the government should be involved in this. Yes, last 8 years' inaction created the problems we're having today, but "overaction" could create problems of its own down the road.
- crimson117, on 05/14/2009, -1/+20http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Top-bailedout-firms- ...
- AngelaQ, on 05/14/2009, -8/+27#1 worst recommendation for helping pay off debt of all time. How will not getting a new credit card help people pay off the debt they already have? Answer: it doesn't, just makes you feel morally superior for giving such idiotic advice.
Did you even read the story? It's about people with credit card debt who are trying to pay it off, not people who are wondering whether they should get their first card. - netsettler, on 05/14/2009, -20/+38I'm all for caps on interest rates, but 15% seems low for a maximum rate. There are very respectable places that charge more than that for short-term interest. Congress has previously failed to cap it at 75% and recent plans to get it down to 36% sounded politically ambitious. I've been hoping for a 20% or 25% cap. But I'm hardly surprised they can't get a consensus to set a cap at 15%. Of much more significance to me is retroactive interest rate rising or other changes in terms/rates after you've acquired a card. But if someone offered you a card at 16% and you voluntarily took it, I'm having a hard time seeing that as usurious. If there's a 15% cap, you'll just get offered no card.
- charm803, on 05/14/2009, -17/+35As a customer, you have a choice of whether or not you use their product. No one is forcing people to get a credit card. Live within your means, I say.
- kepone, on 05/14/2009, -8/+26I agree with 0tis..
it is easy to say " don't spend the money" when it's not you looking at an empty refrigerator and 3 kids to feed..( or whatever someone's personal financial scenario might be, be it a plain old dead beat or a grandmother that needs her osteoperosis medication ) - Protonz, on 05/14/2009, -0/+18So government agencies gave tax money to private banks, then the banks gave a chunk of that money directly to individual politicians.
Interesting form of money laundering that is just a bit too complex for the average person to give a ***** about. - IKORKYI, on 05/14/2009, -7/+24...or there are still some senators that believe the government shouldn't be telling private business how to run...maybe those who voted against the bailouts...
- DBeta, on 05/14/2009, -3/+20Perhaps you haven't been looking at the same United States, but the interest rates have very little to do with people's credit use. Sure, smart people pay attention to it, but credit card companies are very deceptive, and hide these interest rates. They give you great interest rate(sometimes as low as 0%), but if you do one little bad thing(max out your card, miss a payment), your rate jumps to 34%+ and is normally back charged for the entire time the debt was create.
Credit cards are complicated. I've avoided them completely myself, but they are much like institutionalized, automatic loan sharks. - pegothejerk, on 05/14/2009, -1/+17CC companies also love to send bills closer and closer to the due date, along with plenty of other questionable tactics. There was a great piece on the Daily Show a few days ago featuring Elizabeth Warren (who is heading a congress oversight panel on the bailouts) and she discussed the shady tactics and the need to stop them.
- NaughtSleeping, on 05/14/2009, -2/+18"They don't what your business because you were willing to pay it off."
@mrfoos2: Not true. There's a reason why my credit cards give me incentive to use my card EVERY chance I get (i.e. cash back, gifts, etc.) even though I pay off my balance every month and pay no interest. They make money from the transactions, not just people paying late fees. - lalalalamppost, on 05/14/2009, -4/+20Where's that second "D-MN" vote ...
Oh yeah... -
Show 51 - 100 of 848 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is