A couple of weeks ago, Jim wrote about the Restoring America’s Commitment to Consumers Act (H.R. 4300). The bill, introduced by U.S. Representative John Tierney, would place a limit of 16 percent on credit card interest rates, and restrict the fees often associated with credit card accounts as well.
The financial companies that issue credit cards aren’t at all fond of this legislation, of course. They make an awful lot of money by exploiting people who are struggling to make ends meet during these economically difficult times. So, they’re using some of the money that they make through their usury to try to stop H.R. 4300 from being passed.
One method they’re using to defeat the bill is to deploy lobbyists, ready to persuade members of Congress with money. Jim has already documented how members of Congress who withhold support from H.R. 4300 have gotten fundraising assistance from lobbyist Tim Rupli. Tim Rupli is working for a number of finance companies related to the credit card industry, including MetaBank, which issues credit cards. John Tierney is one of the few members of the House Finance Committee who have not received fundraising assistance from Tim Rupli.
Big Finance is doing much more than just withholding support from John Tierney, though. They’re running one of their own as a candidate to replace him.
David Sukoff made his fortune working for a hedge fund on Wall Street. But, unlike many of the hedge fund’s investors, he pulled out before the crash of 2008. He took his money and retired, still in his early 30s, to the town of Bedford, Massachusetts.
Now, Dave Sukoff is running for Congress against John Tierney. He’s using some of his own hedge fund wealth to fund the campaign, but drawing money from elsewhere too.
One of the top donors to the Sukoff for Congress campaign so far: Edward Olebe, Senior Vice President at Mastercard International. Of the campaign donations that Sukoff has reported to the Federal Elections Commission to date, 57.6 percent of the donations that comes from outside of Sukoff’s family were made by people working for finance firms.
Consumers are fast becoming an endangered species:
I don’t care whether they are republican or democrat. I wish Congress would think for the indivdual people. A corporation is actually only a small group of people with a lot of money to hire lobbyists. I’m to the point there should be no lobbying, but rather, representatives in each state that are responsible for letting our Congressman know what the people want. These representatives are only paid by the number of people they represent for example in the more populous areas, and those in the less populated states by the area they cover.
Of course interest rates need to be controlled. Likewise, if someone is irresponsibily using a credit card it is taken away, if that person fails to meet certain criteria. Actually I think one needs to establish a certain history of good credit before they are issued in the first place!