Last Wednesday, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the majority whip and the chairman of the Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, said this:
DURBIN: And the banks — hard to believe in a time when we're facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created — are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place.
Flash forward to today:
The U.S. Senate blocked consideration of a 15 percent cap on credit-card interest rates, as lawmakers continued debating ways to limit lenders' fees and changes to contracts with consumers.
Senators voted 60-33 to invoke budget rules that killed the proposal, by Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent. Sanders said the action was needed to stop banks from routinely charging 25 percent to 30 percent on credit cards.
"When banks are charging 30 percent interest rates, they're not making credit available, they're engaged in loan- sharking," Sanders said.
They'll pass a treacly thing instead that will be difficult to enforce:
The bill would require credit-card companies to give 45 days' notice before increasing an interest rate. It would prohibit retroactive rate increases on existing balances unless a consumer was 60 days late with a payment. Companies would have to restore the original, lower rate if a cardholder stayed current six months after a late payment.
Here's a list of the Democrats:
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