Democrats for Loan Sharking
Posted in: Financial crisis
Well, hats off to Chris Dodd and Harry Reid. Unlike Pelosi and Frank, who bowed to the caucus and wouldn’t let a vote on credit card interest rate caps come to the floor lest anyone have to take an embarrassing vote, Reid and Dodd allowed a vote on the Bernie Sanders bill to cap rates at 15%.
NYT:
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.
But Mr. Sanders said the card companies and banks were engaged in conduct that could get others hauled into court. He said one-third of all credit card holders are paying interest above 20 percent and as high as 41 percent.
Got that? Dick Durbin’s "they own the place" bankers had Tony Soprano-like enforcers on hand to make sure things went their way. They also, if you’ll recall, prevented credit card holders from testifying before Congress. (TARP recipients paid $13.5 million to lobbying working to oppose cramdown & credit card caps, and prevent limits on their own executive bonuses 1Q 2009 — see chart.)
Now we know who thinks the banks who created this mess should be bailed out with hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars, and be able to turn around and soak the public with usurious interest rates:
| Senator | Credit Card Interest Rate Caps |
TARP I Bank Bailout Oct 2008 |
TARP II Bank Bailout Jan 2009 |
Lifetime FIRE Donations |
| Akaka (D-HI) | No | Yes | Yes | $551,095 |
| Baucus (D-MT) | No | Yes | Yes | $4,633,243 |
| Bayh (D-IN) | No | Yes | No | $3,988,480 |
| Bingaman (D-NM) | No | Yes | Yes | $492,042 |
| Byrd (D-WV) | No | Yes | Yes | $421,000 |
| Cantwell (D-WA) | No | No | No | $1,828,540 |
| Carper (D-DE) | No | Yes | Yes | $2,160,628 |
| Hagan (D-NC) | No | N/A | Yes | $545,000 |
| Johnson (D-SD) | No | No | Yes | $3,025,166 |
| Kaufman (D-DE) | No | N/A | Yes | $0* |
| Landrieu (D-LA) | No | No | Yes | $2,388,634 |
| Lieberman (ID-CT) | No | Yes | Yes | $9,981,924 |
| Lincoln (D-AR) | No | Yes | No | $1,672,292 |
| Murray (D-WA) | No | Yes | Yes | $1,394,807 |
| Nelson (D-FL) | No | No | Yes | $2,667,406 |
| Nelson (D-NE) | No | Yes | No | $3,058,968 |
| Pryor (D-AR) | No | Yes | Yes | $1,322,948 |
| Shaheen (D-NH) | No | N/A | No | $659,000 |
| Specter (D-PA) | No | Yes | Yes | $5,757,910 |
| Stabenow (D-MI) | No | No | Yes | $1,736,406 |
| Tester (D-MT) | No | No | "Present" (Yes) | $473,226 |
| Warner (D-VA) | No | Yes | Yes | $1,950,479 |
Related posts:
- Republicans Move to Permit Credit Card Companies to Jack Up Their Rates for the Next Several Weeks
- Don’t Mess With John Galt’s Right to Get a Sub-Prime Loan
- Bankster Bluster Leads to Legacy Loan Program Fail
- More on Christie’s
Below-Market LoanGift to a Prosecutor in His Office - Nine Democrats “Just Say No” to Graham-Lieberman
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