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Home | Politically Connected | National Politics | U.S. Senate
Franken proposes consumer credit changes
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DFL Senate candidate Al Franken, saying that he fears a massive credit crunch will be the next financial crisis afflicting the middle class, proposed a series of changes Wednesday designed to protect consumers from soaring interest rates and predatory lenders.
Franken also accused his main opponent, Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, of failing to help those duped or forced into accepting outrageous credit terms. Coleman campaign officials disputed Franken's charges.
Franken announced his proposals after hosting a roundtable discussion at a St. Paul restaurant with four women who said they had been socked with inequitable credit schemes in a variety of circumstances.
To change the credit industry, Franken said he would back a "credit card bill of rights," crack down on predatory lenders and repeal the 2005 bankruptcy bill, which Coleman supported.
The credit bill of rights, among other things, would ban interest on late fees, require that credit applications be intelligible and mandate that credit companies disclose the long-term costs of making only the minimum payment.
Mark Drake, a Coleman campaign spokesman, called Franken's proposals "rhetoric." He said that Coleman's investigative subcommittee has exposed credit abuses, and that the senator has supported bills to stop deceptive credit practices and allow bankruptcy judges to modify adjustable-rate mortgage interest rates.
KEVIN DUCHSCHERE
Overdraft fees, the bane of Whistleblower readers, are big money for banks, USA Today reports
Maybe I’m naive, but Whistleblower was astonished to read that overdraft fees of the sort that tormented Katie Trottier and numerous other readers are a major profit center for banks, USA Today reporter Kathy Chu reported this week. I guess I labored under the impression that the fees still reflected some actual cost on the [...]
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