H.R. 4300 is a bill introduced by Rep. John Tierney that is sitting before the House of Representatives. If passed, it would cap credit card interest rates at 16% and reduce the magnitude of various credit card account fees. But there is no indication that the bill will pass. Indeed, there is no indication that the bill is to be marked up or reported out of the House Financial Services Committee anytime soon.
You might reasonably ask yourself why H.R. 4300 is stalled. After all, the average American has 4 credit cards, and most Americans could benefit in some real financial way through the regulation of credit card interest and fees, which have gone up in the past two years far beyond the level that credit card holders originally agreed to. It’s not as though credit card companies couldn’t make income with interest rates at an annual rate of 16% instead of 30-35%, either. Preserving the capacity for profit while protecting Americans’ pocketbooks: why isn’t this idea going anywhere?
The Community Financial Services Association Of America, an advocacy group for the industry of high-interest credit cards and payday lending, paid just one man $700,000.00 during the first three quarters of 2009. Tim Rupli is just one of the hired lobbyists for the CFSAA. His job? To keep the Congress from implementing caps on credit card interest and fees.
Just one group paid just one lobbyist $700,000 for 9 months of lobbying work on this bill. That group alone filed 17 separate lobbying disclosure reports in the year 2009. Does that answer your question?
