I know many people who will be happy to see this type of government control.
The problem was not the credit card companies/banks but people living way beyond their means. If this were not the case they could take their business elsewhere.
It’s not good news if freedom is what you’re after.
When the governmnet “lightens your load” in one instance it doubles, triples, or quadruples it in another.
No, that's not necessarily true at all. In the past, I've been in situations (major car and home repairs, medical bills, and wholly unexpected college/university fees) in which I would have been royally screwed if I did not have a credit card to back me up.
The credit card companies are in fact THE problem, with their fraudulent lending and pricing policies, and countless pitfalls, any one of which leads to major fees and interest rate hikes at usury levels, courtesy of those fine-print "Important Amendments" we all get in the mail from time to time. The whole system, as it is now constituted, is one big debt trap.
Having been screwed myself by my credit card issuers in the past, I actually agree with Obama on the need for this legislation because this industry is wildly out of control, with prior congressional complicity (Kennedy, Biden, and Dodd).
Sorry to burst some bubbles on this thread, but even a clock is right twice a day.
Credit cards are out of fashion in our home (thanks, Dave Ramsey). That's what we have an emergency fund for. Debt sucks! ($16K down in 13 months, about $1K to go)
And to all who will argue that it's impossible to save money in this day and age, it most certainly is. My husband brings home $3600/month (I am a stay at home mom). Out of that comes our mortgage ($800), our utilities (phone, cable, internet, gas and electric), the kids' Catholic school tuition ($500/month 10 months out of the year), groceries for six plus four pets, clothing, gas for the cars, charitable giving, and spending money for dh and myself (the kids get chore money, which they must put into savings, giving, and spending banks). The rest of our money either goes into the emergency savings acct or the other savings we have set up for Christmas/pet care/house maintenance/car maintenance. Before the month starts, we put down where all the money is going on our spreadsheet. Right now we are down to a bit of a student loan and our mortgage in the debt category.
Right now we're living like no one else so later we can live like no one else. Right now we live pretty frugally--the kids' clothes come from consignment shops and a lot of clearance racks (or hand me downs). Eating out is a rare treat. Cable and internet are our luxury items. Our home is 60 years old but it's very livable. Our cars are a 2000 Ford Windstar and a 1988 Honda CRX. People may look at us and think we have no money or very little, and in a sense they are right (we do have 4 kids, LOL), but we know how we're paying for Christmas, we know how we are going to pay when a car needs work or the water heater goes out, and it's not by whipping out a credit card. It's a great feeling of independence to be able to do that. It just takes self discipline.