| The vote in question here is regarding consumer protection against the credit card industry. Senators Bennet and Udall both voted no, but then waited and changed their vote. It appears as if they did this after consulting party leadership and seeing the vote would ultimately fail regardless of their vote.
Rolling Stone has a fully story as well, with this to say of the legislation:
The short version of this story: Bernie Sanders had put forth a proposal in the Senate to put a 15 percent cap on credit-card interest. Who isn't in favor of this kind of legislation? The only difference between credit card companies and loan sharks at this point is that you can choose to not patronize a loan shark. As an adult professional in this country one has to have a credit card - it's impossible to rent a car, buy a hotel room, shop online or do countless other things without one.
I would agree that this looks very bad for the two Senators. This was a measure that would have helped those of us suffering from credit card debt -- debt which was incurred in many cases -- because those companies changed agreements only after consumers had acquired debt.
I think of it this way: if I borrow from a mobster, I expect that they might break my legs if I'm slow in paying them, or might even break my legs if I am paying on time. These credit card companies are now operating like mobsters, breaking legs even if payments are met on time.
This is especially bad for Senator Bennet, as primary voters this month may not be too keen on his odd change. Not to miss an opportunity, the Romanoff campaign was quick to pounce:
"The general public has no idea what goes on in the name of political self-preservation," said Romanoff spokesman Roy Teicher. "This is why people hate Washington, and this video makes their case swiftly." |
