House Dem whore out to credit card companies

Thursday, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions of the House Committee on Financial Services was holding hearings on credit card debt, related to a bill sponsored by Rep. Carolyn Maloney that would outlaw some of the worst credit card tricks and traps. People with debt problems had been invited to speak, until they got this switcheroo:

The people who had been invited to testify had flown in from around the country with their credit card bills in hand, only to learn that they couldn't talk unless they would sign a waiver that would permit the credit card companies to make public anything they wanted to tell about their financial records, their credit histories, their purchases, and so on. The Republicans and Democrats had worked out a deal "to be fair to the credit card lenders." These people couldn't say anything unless they were willing to let the credit card companies strip them naked in public.

Look at Maloney put her tail between her legs:

“In order to have a discussion that focused entirely on the substance and not on process, we are doing everything we can to accommodate any concerns that have been raised.”

Credit card company reps had already gotten to speak in a previous session, without any requirement that they sign waivers about what all they had done with financial data, how good or poor their privacy protections were, etc. etc.

Good thing this wasn’t the Senate, where Joe Biden, Sen. MBNA, probably wouldn’t have let the people show up in the first place.