Morning Buzz: Credit card holder's bill of rights?
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Jill Billante
AC360° Senior Producer
Good morning everyone!
Today, President Obama will hold a town hall in New Mexico to discuss credit cards. This is a story that effects everyone, wouldn’t you say?
The Senate is currently debating a “credit card holder's bill of rights” and the president says he wants to sign that bill by Memorial Day.
Yesterday, the Senate stripped the current bill of a provision that would have capped interest-rates at 15% in an effort to push the bill through. But, that seems to be a very important part of the legislation. Are these lawmakers bowing to pressure from credit card companies? Some of them of course took bailout money from the taxpayers.. the very people they are charging additional fees.
That’s right, in anticipation of the bill passing, the credit card companies have added new fees to millions of consumer accounts and they’ve also tripled late fees to nearly 150 dollars in some cases. Let’s hope this Congress and this president stand up to these companies. Tom Foreman will be keeping them honest.
Also today, we have a great piece from Sean Callebs. Sean is down in New Orleans where thousands of people are facing homelessness. Thanks to a deadline set by FEMA, 3,000 people could lose their temporary trailer homes, and they don’t have enough money to rebuild the homes they lost in Hurricane Katrina.
How can this still be happening all these years later?
And, a new government report shows that pot is getting even stronger. The levels of THC in pot are now at 10%. At the University of Mississippi's Potency Monitoring Project, where thousands of samples of seized marijuana are tested every year, project director Mahmoud ElSohly said some samples have THC levels exceeding 30 percent. Average THC concentrations will continue to climb before leveling off at 15 percent or 16 percent in five to 10 years, ElSohly predicted. Right now, I’m thinking that’s a story for Gary Tuchman. We’ll see how it shakes out.
And finally, while President Obama is creating controversy with his commencement addresses, his wife, Michelle Obama is generating cash for the town of Merced, California where she will be giving the commencement address this weekend. Erica Hill will have that story for us tonight.
See you at 10p!
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Filed under: Jill Billante • The Buzz |
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Another important aspect that should be on this bill is that any overpayment automatically goes directly to principle! Is that on there? Enough with the overpayment going to interest. I know you can specify that but I pay all my bills online with the rest of a large majority of America, and specifying that is not an option there. All my extra payments end up going to interest and become useless.
Hi Anderson
I don't think it was a good idea that they cut the special report on Pres.Obama's speech at ASU last night after you described the amount of interest associated with the event, to keep on with the 'normal programming'. It was very disappointing. By the way, it has nothing to do with the fact that the 'normal programming' was 'Talk Asia'. It could well have been 'Inside Africa' (I'm writing from Africa) which I think you show too many times in a week... In short, it was very disappointing. Somehow it's like being left hungry. Still hungry.
Thanks
Abou Bakr
Senegal
Senate caved and Ask the Gov of louisana they havent spent the money that was sent to them already.
Congress needs to do something to these credit card companies. The crap they pull is outrageous! If any other company did these things they'd be closed down or in jail!
The reason that the NOLA residents are still in trailers that they are now being evicted from is because their elected officials are crooks and took the money that was supposed to help them and pocketed it. If you keep voting in the same losers then this is what you get.
Gary Tuchman doing a story on pot..HMM..somehow I don't think that's the first time he's come into contact with that substance! LOL just kidding Gary!! Looking forward to his report!
Cindy...Ga.
Don't live beyond your means by charging more than you can afford, pay your credit card off and on time every month and there wouldn't be any need for a "bill of rights".
Patience is the word.