A blow to consumers.



Today the United States Senate sided with the banks and credit card industry and refused to put a cap on interest rates to consumers.



I don't know anyone who does not have a credit card, who have not had their limit decreased or their interest rates increased, despite being a timely consumer that pays the bills when due.



This is a devastating blow and just shows you that change don't mean a damn thing in the senate. It is business as usual, it is filling their campaign coffers as usual by the usual suspects, the lobbyists representing these corrupt industries.



Despite complaints that banks and credit card companies are gouging customers by charging outrageous interest rates, the Senate on Wednesday easily turned back an effort to cap interest rates at 15 percent.



The effort by Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, drew only 33 votes and needed 60, with a bipartisan group of 60 senators opposing it as the Senate pushed its credit card overhaul toward the finish line. Some Democrats and consumer groups have said that an interest cap is needed to put real teeth into an otherwise solid bill.



Other backers of the measure calculated that an interest rate ceiling would doom the popular legislation. The banking industry, which had some heavy-weight representatives monitoring the vote off of the Senate floor, warned that an interest rate limit could cause a sour reaction in the financial markets.

Democrats

When Dick Durbin said the banks owned the Senate, he was quite right.



I don't get it. Again, the Senate is in the hands of special interests, not the American people.

Lobbyists on the floor of the senate performing strong arm tactics to these senators.Akaka-HI; Baucus-MT; Bayh-IN; Bingaman-NM; Byrd-WV; Cantwell-WA; Carper-DE; Hagan-NC; Johnson-SD; Kaufman-DE; Landrieu-LA; Lieberman-CT; Lincoln-AR; Murray-WA; Nelson-NE; Nelson-FL; Pryor-AR; Shaheen-NH; Stabenow-MI; Tester-MT; Warner-VAAnd over at Daily Kos, the diarist is RIGHT in this statement: