Chris Dodd on the Side of the People? No Way Buttercup.

This morning  I happened to see exactly one story on CNN but it was a good one about consumers being raped by the fine print in credit card agreements. Once again some meaningful reforms are stuck in the US Senate, specifically the Finance Committee Chaired by Sen Chris Dodd of Connecticut. IMHO Dodd’s tap dance is worse than Mike Chaney’s and make no mistake ladies and gents, the esteemed Senator has again pissed on the common man’s back claiming rain. CNN has the story:

It arrived in Rich Stevens’ mailbox a few weeks ago: the notice that Citibank had “rate-jacked” the Visa cards belonging to him and his wife.

Some credit card holders have seen their interest rates go up dramatically, a practice called “rate-jacking.”

“In my case, from 9.5 percent to 16.99,” the 54-year-old nurse from the Long Island hamlet of Merrick, New York, told CNN. And his wife’s rate zoomed from 7.95 percent to 16.99 percent, he said.

Stevens said he did not know why the rates had soared; his credit rating is great.

But, like thousands of other credit card customers around the nation, he has been notified his rate is skyrocketing.

“It almost borders on loan-sharking, from my perspective,” he said.

In the blogosphere, writers are livid at the instant rate hikes — called “rate-jacking.”

Citigroup seems to be the target of most bloggers’ venom — partly because Citigroup issues so many credit cards and partly because Citi began sending the notices at about the same time it was getting a $20 billion, taxpayer-financed government bailout.

No one at Citigroup would talk on camera to CNN about the matter. Instead, the company issued a written statement, which said: “To continue funding in this difficult credit and funding environment, Citi is repricing a group of customers.”

Citi told CNN that anyone unhappy with the new rates can opt out and continue paying the lower interest, but they must close their account when their card expires. It’s all in the fine print.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-New York, said she is sick of the fine print.

She agreed that credit card companies get away with whatever they want, as long at they put their desires into the fine print.

“They have this provision that says they can raise the rate — any time, any reason,” she said.

In September, Maloney got the House to pass by an overwhelming margin of 200 votes the “credit card holders’ bill of rights,” which would have stopped rate-jacking and the imposition of other fees by banks.

But the bill has languished in the Senate since September. “There’s a lot of pushback from the financial industry,” she said. Watch how card companies are trying to woo customers.

Critics say that pushback is linked to donations from the banking industry to the politicians responsible for regulating credit cards.

The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee is Christopher Dodd. His staff said the Connecticut Democrat has his own credit card bill containing tough language to stop things like rate-jacking and shortening of billing cycles — two issues that anger consumers.

But even Dodd’s own bill has failed to gain traction — it has sat since July.

Dodd himself received more than $4 million from the financial sector during the last campaign, according to campaign records. His office did not respond to CNN’s questions about that.

Dodd is a stuffed shirt crooked blowhard IMHO and one of the central figures in the US Senate responsible for the current mess, especially the subprime meltdown.  His now proven affinity for hopping in bed many of those responsible including former Countrywide CEO and King of Subprime Lending Angelo Mozillo tells the tale of whom Dodd really represents in the Senate. Dodd’s office outdoes itself trying to defend the Senator explaining the credit card industry must make laws because the Senator is powerless against their lobby. Luckily for consumers the unelected members of the federal reserve board will do what Dodd claims he can not in passing regulations on rate jacking.  The CNN story continues:

It did say that he has tried repeatedly to protect consumers, but added, “legislation has been met with stiff opposition by the credit card industry.”

On Thursday, the Federal Reserve is expected to vote on its own new rules regarding credit cards, rules in the works for four years that could clamp down on rate-jacking.

Whatever is passed, Maloney said, probably would not take effect until 2010.

We’ll be exploring Dodd’s relationship with Angelo Mozillo in future posts in hopes the Senate leadership can get someone chairing Finance that is not in the pockets of the people who brought us this current economic mess.

sop