In 1974 Congresswoman Bella Abzug realized something: she could make laws in Congress, but she couldn’t get her own credit card without her husband’s permission.

Now, almost 40 years after Congresswoman Abzug fought for - and won - the rights of women to get their own credit, that right is being threatened.

Last year, a law called the CARD Act took effect. It was meant to protect consumers from misleading credit card practices. Instead, it set the United States back almost half a century. The CARD Act changed the way people - especially stay at home moms - could apply for a credit card. Instead of filling in your “household income” (the combined income of you and your partner or spouse), you can only note your own income. What does this mean?

It is 2012, and because I’m a stay at home mom, I can’t get my own credit card. My husband has to give me permission to get my own line of credit. This is demeaning and flat out unfair.

This is despite the fact that I make 95% of our household purchases, have an impeccable credit score and handle the majority of my family’s finances.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has the ability to change the CARD Act without going through a long, painful Congressional process. In fact, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created “to make markets for consumer financial products and services work for Americans”.

I am an American and I’m a stay at home mom. There are millions of parents out there, just like me, who should be given the right to their own credit, but we need the CFPB to make this service work for us.

Join me to tell the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to fix this broken rule. Stay at home parents shouldn’t be devalued by our country’s credit policies.



***I am starting this petition in partnership with MomsRising.org