America has been in the midst of a credit crisis for over a decade, a crisis that Bill Clinton did very little to address, that the Democrats as a whole all but ignored, and that the Bush GOP, pandering as usual to their Corporate America paymasters, did everything in their power to make even worse. Put together, what they have all done is let the financial industry loose to create chaos, a chaos which the mortgage debacle made infinitely worse and which now threatens the second global depression in 70 years.

Now - now - after the damage has been done and the economy is teetering on the edge of freefall, they are finally getting around to doing something about the massive rip-off credit card companies have been pulling on their customers since Reagan first began deregulating the industry.

Stricter regulation of the credit card industry will probably be
approved by the end of the year, consumer advocates, members of
Congress and banking officials said as the comment period on the
Federal Reserve's proposed actions drew to a close last week.

Nearly 56,000 comments poured into the agency via e-mail and regular
mail, a record response for any Fed proposal, said agency spokeswoman
Susan Stawick.

Both the Fed and Congress are working to tighten rules on the credit
card industry. The large response to the Fed's proposal comes on the
heels of congressional action on the issue. The House Financial
Services Committee moved Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney's Credit Cardholders'
Bill of Rights out of committee on July 31. The measure would prohibit
unexpected increases in the rates charged on pre-existing credit card
balances, among other things. Observers said the New York Democrat's
bill probably wouldn't pass the Senate this year because time is
running out.

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