President Obama is meeting with credit card executives.
Many people are still proudly donning Obama gear, displaying bumper stickers on their cars and, of course, personalized “Obamacons” on Facebook. But even if you are still mourning Sen. John McCain’s loss in November, you have to give the president credit for some of the things he’s done in the past few weeks.
The “Making Work Pay” tax credit, which is part of the Obama administration’s economic recovery plan, just went into effect. This mini-stimulus is upping most people’s paychecks about $15 a week, or $60 a month. An extra $720 a year will definitely help many Americans, whether they are barely scraping by, or are in need of basic goods they just couldn’t justify buying until now (thank you for my new kitchen trash can, Mr. President).
Secondly, Obama is proving that he is a man of integrity with his complete intolerance of deception and lies, whether it be on Wall Street or regarding the plastic in your wallet. The president Thursday met with credit card executives to tackle abusive banking practices that include improperly raising fees and interest rates, especially on existing balances.
"The president believes new rules of the road for the credit card industry are needed," Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said.
In fact, a “bill of rights” for consumers is being considered. Can you imagine actually getting somewhere with a customer service representative at your bank because they will be required by law to cooperate?
The recession most certainly isn’t over, and no government official is perfect, but it feels nice to constantly say, “Why didn’t we do this years ago?” about so many decisions that are being made.
