In the 111th Congress, two caucuses exist to promote left-oriented economic legislation. The 27 members of the Congressional Populist Caucus in the House of Representatives lay out this economic agenda:
Populist Caucus Platform:
1. Fighting for working families and the middle class by creating and retaining good-paying jobs in America, providing fair wages, proper benefits, a level playing field at the negotiating table, and ensuring American workers have secure, solvent retirement plans.2. Cutting taxes for the middle class and establishing an equitable tax structure.
3. Providing affordable, accessible, quality health care for all Americans.
4. Ensuring quality primary education for all American children, and affordable college education for all who want it.
5. Defending American competiveness by fighting for fair trade principles.
6. Protecting consumers, so that Americans can have faith in the safety and effectiveness of the products they purchase.
The 79 full House members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus have adopted a broader agenda that includes these economic elements:
Fighting for Economic Justice and Security in the U.S. and Global Economies
» To uphold the right to universal access to affordable, high quality healthcare for all.
» To preserve guaranteed Social Security benefits for all Americans, protect private pensions, and require corporate accountability.
» To invest in America and create new jobs in the U.S. by building more affordable housing, re-building America’s schools and physical infrastructure, cleaning up our environment, and improving homeland security.
» To export more American products and not more American jobs and demand fair trade.
» To reaffirm freedom of association and enforce the right to organize.
» To ensure working families can live above the poverty line and with dignity by raising and indexing the minimum wage.
This week, Rep. John Tierney has introduced a new bill, H.R. 4300, that shares ground with the spirit of these caucuses’ economic justice and consumer protection platforms even if it does not match them to the letter. Tierney’s bill responds to this year’s huge hikes in interest rates imposed by credit card corporations by imposing a 16% annual interest rate cap on consumer credit cards, along with a maximum $15 charge for late fees and similar penalties.
How thoroughly are the Populist and Progressive caucuses supporting credit card reform legislation? Not very thoroughly at all: only 37% of Populist Caucus members and only 46% of Progressive Caucus members have cosponsored H.R. 4300. Not even the Chair of the Populist Caucus, Rep. Bruce Braley, has declared his support for the bill.
Support for credit card policy reform may grow over time, but it is unlikely to do so wholly on its own merit. Indeed, the prospect of lowered profit for the credit card operators who fund campaigns lends momentum against the bill. Americans will have to counter that by calling in with their support for the effort if H.R. 4300 is going to get anywhere. Members of the Progressive and Populist Caucuses should be especially receptive to your calls, and that makes them good first targets for our efforts.
The following are members of both the Populist Caucus and the Progressive Caucus who have nevertheless NOT yet cosponsored H.R. 4300:
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA, District 4). In-district phone: 770-939-2016
Rep. David Loebsack (D-IA, District 2). In-district phone: 319-351-0789
Rep. Ben Lujan (D-NM, District 3). In-district phone: 505-984-8950
Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA, District 39). In-district phone: 562-860-5050
The following members of Congress are members of the Populist Caucus who have NOT yet cosponsored H.R. 4300:
Rep. Leonard Boswell (D-IA, District 3). In-district phone: 888-432-1984
Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA, District 1). In-district phone: 563-323-5988
Rep. Steve Kagen (D-WI, District 8). In-district phone: 920-437-1954
Rep. Michael Michaud (D-ME, District 2). In-district phone: 207-942-6935
Rep. Thomas Perriello (D-VA, District 5). In-district phone: 434-293-9631
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA, District 27). In-district phone: 818-501-9200
Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA, District 12). In-district phone: 650-342-0300
Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY, District 3). In-district phone: 502-582-5129
The following members of Congress are members of the Progressive Caucus who have NOT yet cosponsored H.R. 4300:
Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI, District 1). In-district phone: 808-541-2570
Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI, District 2). In-district phone: 608-258-9800
Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA, District 31). In-district phone: 213-483-1425
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR, District 3). In-district phone: 503-231-2300
Rep. Robert Brady (D-PA, District 1). In-district phone: 610-874-7094
Rep. Corrine Brown (D-FL, District 3). In-district phone: 407-872-0656
Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN, District 7). In-district phone: 317-283-6516
Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA, District 32). In-district phone: 626-448-1271
Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY, District 11). In-district phone: 718-287-1142
Rep. Lacy Clay (D-MO, District 1). In-district phone: 314-367-1970
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO, District 5). In-district phone: 816-842-4545
Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL, District 7). In-district phone: 773-533-7520
Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA, District 2). In-district phone: 215-848-9386
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA, District 4). In-district phone: 508-999-6462
Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH, District 11). In-district phone: 216-522-4900
Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL, District 8). In-district phone: 407-841-1757
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL, District 4). In-district phone: 773-342-0774
Rep. John Hall (D-NY, District 19). In-district phone: 845-225-3641
Rep. Michael Honda (D-CA, District 15). In-district phone: 408-558-8085
Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI, District 13). In-district phone: 734-246-0780
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA, District 9). In-district phone: 510-763-0370
Rep. John Lewis (D-GA, District 5). In-district phone: 404-659-0116
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY, District 14). In-district phone: 718-932-1804
Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA, District 7). In-district phone: 508-875-2900
Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI, District 4). In-district phone: 414-297-1140
Rep. James Moran (D-VA, District 8). In-district phone: 703-971-4700
Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ, District 6). In-district phone: 732-249-8892
Rep. Ed Pastor (D-AZ, District 4). In-district phone: 602-256-0551
Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ, District 10). In-district phone: 973-645-3213
Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME, District 1). In-district phone: 207-774-5019
Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO, District 2). In-district phone: 303-484-9596
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY, District 15). In-district phone: 212-663-3900
Rep. Laura Richardson (D-CA, District 37). In-district phone: 562-436-3828
Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA, District 34). In-district phone: 213-628-9230
Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL, District 1). In-district phone: 773-224-6500
Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY, District 12). In-district phone: 212-673-3997
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA, District 35). In-district phone: 323-757-8900
Rep. Melvin Watt (D-NC, District 12). In-district phone: 336-275-9950
Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL, District 19). In-district phone: 561-988-6302
If you find the name of your representative in one of these lists, please consider taking the five minutes necessary to pick up the phone, dial that local number, and let it be known that you support the consideration of this bill. If you and other Americans don’t engage in that basic level of advocacy, H.R. 4300 is certain to wither on the vine.
The current legislation due to take effect in February will prevent card issuers from raising rates on existing balances unless the cardholder has defaulted on that particular card. This is fair, and should be adequate protection for responsible people who happen to fall on hard times. It also means that any potential borrower will know up front what the interest rate will be, and can make an informed, responsible decision.
Presently, people who are higher credit risks must pay higher interest rates to make it worth the lender’s risk. People who are lower credit risks — those who are responsible with credit — are rewarded with lower rates.
If lenders are unable to charge a sufficiently high rate to make the risk worthwhile, they will take one of two actions: Raise rates across the board, to make up for the increase in risk, or raise standards for lending. Most likely, they will choose a combination of the two.
The result? People with good credit will pay more to borrow money and be punished for the irresponsibility of others, while people with a damaged credit history — say, by a foreclosure, an increasingly common event in the current market — will find it difficult to rebuild their credit as the standards for lending will have changed to their detriment.
Sounds like a Lose-Lose to me. Who exactly is benefited?
Well, you’re leaving out the bit in which credit card companies have lately been raising interest rates and fees across the board, on people who have good credit histories as well as bad ones.
Your third paragraph begins with an “if,” and what follows is an empirical contention. Is it true that lenders have been unable to charge a sufficiently high rate to make the risk worthwhile, that is, to not make a profit? Does an annual credit card interest rate of 16% make it impossible for a credit card company to make profit? Are you aware what the rate of profit of credit card operations has been over the last couple of years? If so, I’d really appreciate you sharing that information.
Any credit card reform pushed by these representatives needs to include interchange fee reform.
Interchange fees are the hidden fees small businesses are charged by credit cards when a consumer uses the card. This must be absorbed by the business or passed on to consumers.
Currently, these fees are the third highest expenditure by small business — after salaries and benefits! In an economy like this, how can small business hire more people when they are already struggling and credit card companies keep sucking everyone dry?