OBAMA CALLS FOR CREDIT CARD PROTECTIONS

President Barack Obama said yesterday the nation needs tougher laws to protect consumers who use credit cards. Replying to a question at a town hall meeting in Costa Mesa, Calif., Obama pointed to a study by Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard professor and chairwoman of the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP). There’s a woman named Elizabeth Warren…who did a great deal of study around this. And she made a simple point…if you bought a toaster, and the toaster blew up in your face, there would be a law, a consumer safety law, that would protect you from buying that toaster. But if you get a credit card that blows up in your face, that starts off at zero-percent interest…and suddenly, it’s 29 percent; and if you’re late two days, suddenly you just paid another $30—well, somehow that’s okay. I think generally having some consumer safety, some consumer protection around credit cards, is important. continue reading