Senate Backs Allowing Loaded Guns in National Parks

[M1911]

The house has passed credit card reform WITH the OK to carry in national parks provision, and Obama is scheduled to sign it on Friday. Some hard core democrats voted against it on due solely to this provision.

I'm very surprised.

 

[gene]

They will find a way of stripping the right down the road again!

 

[pdm]

The house has passed credit card reform WITH the OK to carry in national parks provision, and Obama is scheduled to sign it on Friday. Some hard core democrats voted against it on due solely to this provision.

... Holy Carp. I don't quite believe it.

 

[Nickle]

The message may be as important as the result. Despite owning all three houses, the Democrats realize that picking fights with the gun owners may not be a good karma move.

The trouble with most people is that they think Gun Control follows party lines.

It doesn't. Many of the Democrats that make that majority are actually pro-gun, and the leadership knows it.

They had just choices here.

Pass it, or look like an ass.

 

[dwarven1]

The message may be as important as the result. Despite owning all three houses, the Democrats realize that picking fights with the gun owners may not be a good karma move.

I sure hope so... it'd be about time that the Brady Bunch understands that we outnumber them. Despite all the barking moonbats out there in the cities who are against guns. (This from the city boy... born and brought up in a bedroom community of NYC and living in a city inside the 495 belt. Hey, I'm living proof that blind liberals CAN learn to open their eyes!)

They will find a way of stripping the right down the road again!

So we keep vigilant and smack them down when they do. "Eternal vigiliance is the price of liberty" means that WE watch the GOVERNMENT, not the other way around.

 

[cekim]

Interesting. I mean, it's a good thing, but very interesting. Talk about an earmark. CC bill to CCW bill?

Yeah, this crap is not good even when it works in our favor...

Just leaves it open to abuse from the other side...

12 spending bills coming up that will undoubtedly include gun ban riders, earmarks,etc.. at some level - the question is whether they make it through...

Single issue bills would stop this...

 

[dsm]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think it's worth it. I'd rather the whole thing didn't pass. The government has no business at all passing the credit card legislation.

 

[cekim]

The government has no business at all passing the credit card legislation.

Which is yet another method of wealth redistribution...

If you pay your bill on time, one way or another, this bill will mean you are paying someone else's bill... (either that or you will lose access to credit that you have now because of someone else's irresponsibility...)

 

[Lynne]

....or the 8000 earmarks (contraception research, dog parks, swine odor control) in the "stimulus" bill. Seems we finally snuck one in, even if it is a tiny one.

It's called taking one from the libs play book. About damn time!

 

[dsm]

Which is yet another method of wealth redistribution...

If you pay your bill on time, one way or another, this bill will mean you are paying someone else's bill... (either that or you will lose access to credit that you have now because of someone else's irresponsibility...)

Exactly my concern. Work hard and play by the rules, and you will be punished.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

Heads we don't win, tails we lose. Regulation = decreased credit access for the rest of us. No regulation = increased bankruptcy filings and troubled banks, both of which will get assistance from the govt.

 

[dsm]

Heads we don't win, tails we lose. Regulation = decreased credit access for the rest of us. No regulation = increased bankruptcy filings and troubled banks, both of which will get assistance from the govt.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_dichotomy

 

[Nickle]

Nah, they got told they couldn't resort to usury any more.

The outcome will be stricter limits on credit cards, hopefully.

They'll become harder to get, and the people that shouldn't have them, will be less likely to be offered them. Those people already aren't issued cards by the better companies.

The big hits on this are for the companies that issue cards to every Tom, Dick and Harry hoping they will screw up and pay the penalties. I've seen it as a racket for quite some time. Companies like Capital One are the culprits.

 

[M1911]

Not all regulation is bad.

 

[pdm]

Not all regulation is bad.

Just most.

 

[MassHack]

Great news.

 

[Windwalker]

Obama Signs Credit Card Bill

MSNBC is reporting that Obama has signed the Credit Card Bill, but is not reporting anything about the included Guns in the National Park amendment. Stay tuned.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30884011/

Reuters also reports, but no mention of the amendment.

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE54L5S220090522

 

[Jose]

Of course they won't report it.

 

[mikem317]

Huh, I thought the Constitution mandated that the government is supposed to protect contract law, not opently violate it.

Oh, well, it's just a goddamn piece of paper anyway, right?

 

[Herrminator]

I really don't wanna get flamed because I don't really know all the logistics to the bill, but if I were to say that Obama has done any good..I think this would be it..

Anyone wanna defend credit card companies that jack up interest rates for no reason and hit you up with huge late fees?

 

[sig shooter]

I really don't wanna get flamed because I don't really know all the logistics to the bill, but if I were to say that Obama has done any good..I think this would be it..

Anyone wanna defend credit card companies that jack up interest rates for no reason and hit you up with huge late fees?

ME..ME..ME, its a government invasion of private business and enterprise. You sign the dotted line and you agree to there terms and rules. No one
forces you to sign there contract its all voluntary. if you don't like their rules don't get thier credit card,

 

[Herrminator]

ME..ME..ME, its a government invasion of private business and enterprise. You sign the dotted line and you agree to there terms and rules. No one
forces you to sign there contract its all voluntary. if you don't like their rules don't get thier credit card,

So it's voluntary when people like my mom get cancer or even lose their job? The last thing a credit card company does is care about people..so F*** them.

 

[sig shooter]

So it's voluntary when people like my mom get cancer or even lose their job? The last thing a credit card company does is care about people..so F*** them.

You are not forced to sign the contract, They even provide you wording of the contract to read. Read the fine print and then make the educated decision to sign it. Some credit card company's also offer payment protection for the reasons you stated for a small fee. If you think any of these govcrims that are pushing this bill care about people, you have another thing coming.

 

[matt]

ME..ME..ME, its a government invasion of private business and enterprise. You sign the dotted line and you agree to there terms and rules. No one
forces you to sign there contract its all voluntary. if you don't like their rules don't get thier credit card,

beat me to it.

 

[firestorm]

One part of the bill Obama did not publicly celebrate at the signing, a gun amendment. The measure by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., allows people to bring loaded guns into national parks and wildlife refuges.

The addition of the amendment to the bill — and Obama’s acceptance of it — was viewed as a bitter disappointment for gun-control advocates.

They watched gun-rights supporters gain a victory from a Democratic-controlled Congress and a Democratic president that they couldn’t achieve under a Republican Congress and president. Many blamed the National Rifle Association, which pushed hard for the gun law.

Democrats lawmakers and aides said they didn’t have enough time to send the bill to the House-Senate conference committee — where the gun provision could have been removed without a vote — and still get the bill to Obama by the Memorial Day weekend as he requested.

This seems to be a mention of the gun amendment part of it. It's in your first link, about halfway down.

 

[matt]

MSNBC is reporting that Obama has signed the Credit Card Bill, but is not reporting anything about the included Guns in the National Park amendment. Stay tuned.

Sorry, I've been otherwise occupied. Was there an amendment to allow ccw in National Parks?

 

[mass]

This is one bill I actually agree with. Yes, you signed a contract, but then the credit card companies chenge it right in the middle and tell you that if you don't like it, just pay the card off. Most people can't do that.

No sooner than the ink was dry on the bill, Capital one raised my rate 6 points from 10%startingi n August. Good thing it's usually paid off every month because I know what won't be in my wallet. By the way my credit score is very good and hasn't changed in a year. I have other cards with lower rates, so they can just kiss my @ss.

Being able to carry in National Parks is pretty sweet too.

 

[Herrminator]

. If you think any of these govcrims that are pushing this bill care about people, you have another thing coming.

Touché [sad2]

 

[wahsben]

This is one bill I actually agree with. Yes, you signed a contract, but then the credit card companies chenge it right in the middle and tell you that if you don't like it, just pay the card off. Most people can't do that.

No sooner than the ink was dry on the bill, Capital one raised my rate 6 points from 10%startingi n August. Good thing it's usually paid off every month because I know what won't be in my wallet. By the way my credit score is very good and hasn't changed in a year. I have other cards with lower rates, so they can just kiss my @ss.

Being able to carry in National Parks is pretty sweet too.

Yes, this is the problem. They change the terms even when you have good credit.

 

[Another_David]

I support most of the changes but not all. And like some people posted, "if you don't like the terms don't sign on the dotted line"--only I'm talking to the credit card companies. If the banks don't like the new rules they can go f themselves. I would have preferred half of them go under instead of the recent bail outs. I'm not happy about the current situation but if the banks were willing to allow some gov intervention in the form of a handout then they should be allowing some intervention in the form of consumer protection. If this puts half of them out of business now I'm okay with that. Same for the big three autos. I'm so sick of free rides for people that are "too big to fail".

[step off soap box]

Have a happy Memorial Day weekend everybody!

----

oh here's the article, Green I like, Red I don't

Obama Signs Credit-Card Consumers’ ‘Bill of Rights’ (Update2)


By Jeff Plungis and Roger Runningen

May 22 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama signed into law a credit-card consumers’ “Bill of Rights” that limits fees and curbs contract changes, saying it will give Americans “the strong and reliable protections they deserve.”

“We’re putting in place some common sense reforms, designed to protect consumers,” Obama said at a White House Rose Garden ceremony. “We’re not going to give people a free pass, we expect consumers to live within their means and pay what they owe, but we also expect financial institutions to act with the same sense of responsibility.”

The legislation would make card companies apply payments to balances with the highest interest rates first. Increasing a consumer’s rate on existing balances based on late payments to another lender, a practice known as “universal default” would be prohibited.

The administration considers the legislation part of its efforts to restore the U.S. economy by creating a “fair, transparent and simple consumer credit market,” Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said May 19.

The American Bankers Association, representing companies such as Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc., opposed the bill, saying banks will be prevented from pricing for risk and credit may become less available.

“This is a real wake-up call to the credit card industry,” Gene Truono, a former bank compliance officer, said in a telephone interview today. “Some of the acts and practices over the years have not been favorable to consumers.”

‘Profitability’

Card issuers are likely to raise interest rates “so they can continue to maintain a level of profitability,” he said. In the long run, “you’ll see much more competitive interest rates” for people with the best credit ratings, said Truono, now a managing director of BDO Consulting in New York.

Credit-card companies are reeling from record default rates. Charge-offs, which are loans the banks don’t expect to be repaid, were 9.01 percent on average in April compared with 5.24 percent a year earlier, a 72 percent jump, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Available consumer credit contracted by a record $11.1 billion in March, according to a May 7 Federal Reserve report. The drop was equivalent to a 5.2 percent annual rate, the biggest since 1990.

Credit-card industry analysts have said companies’ average losses on bad loans may exceed 10 percent this year, setting a record.

Tightening

New York Democratic U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney said lawmakers were inundated by complaints from credit-card customers.

“It got to the point where I literally couldn’t walk down the street to go to the supermarket, or ride the subway, or even go to the floor of Congress where I was not told of rates being hikes on balances, even when consumers were playing by the rules,” Maloney said May 20. “It absolutely inflamed the public.”

Americans pay around $15 billion in penalty fees each year, the White House said. Nearly 80 percent of American families have a credit card, and 44 percent of families carry a balance.

Obama said the legislation is intended to reverse instances in which companies have taken advantage of credit-card customers.

‘Drafted to Confuse’

“Contracts are drafted not to inform but to confuse,” Obama said. “Mysterious fees appear on statements. Payment deadlines shift. Terms change. Interest rates rise. And suddenly a credit card becomes less of a lifeline and more of an anchor,” he said.

The measure requires 45 days’ notice before lenders can increase a card’s interest rate. It would prohibit retroactive rate increases on existing balances unless a consumer was 60 days late with a payment. Companies would have to restore the original, lower rate if a cardholder stayed current six months after a late payment. Banks will have to comply with the new law in nine months.

The law also aims to tighten restrictions on lending to students and how gift cards are redeemed. It bans fees for paying by phone or over the Internet, except for live services to make expedited payments. It also aims to simplify the way terms are disclosed to consumers.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Plungis in Washington at [email protected].