This is a historic day for consumers.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Starting nine months from today, we will have the right to be treated in an honest, open, and fair manner by credit card issuing banks.<\/p>\n
How We Got Here<\/strong><\/p>\n The idea of a credit card bill of rights has been around for a long, long time, yet until this year, almost nothing was done about it.\u00a0\u00a0 It is worth reviewing how the bill became a law.<\/p>\n History shows us that the 2008 elections were all about change. <\/strong><\/p>\n Not to get partisan, but there was simply no chance of a Republican Congress passing this bill or George W. Bush supporting it, let alone signing it.\u00a0\u00a0 Before Barack Obama became President, the bill never made it out of committee.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It became law four months after he was inaugurated.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If you like him or not, he deserves credit for pushing this through.\u00a0\u00a0 Next time someone tells you that elections don’t matter, you can remind them of this bill.<\/p>\n The worldwide banking crisis stole the thunder from banks efforts to thwart this legislation.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>It is very hard for the debt ridden banking industry to muster up the political power to defeat this at the moment when they are dependent on the government for their very survival.\u00a0\u00a0 It is even harder for consumers to feel regularly taken advantage of by the very same institutions that their tax dollars are bailing out.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The banks ran out of allies when they managed to upset both business and consumers at the same time.\u00a0\u00a0 Business and consumers alike are faced with credit card fees and a lack of credit from banks.\u00a0\u00a0 When Congress got around to acting, the banks had no one in their corner.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The were left attempting to explain how consumer protections would hurt consumers.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This argument completely lacked credibility.<\/p>\n