Yesterday's diary, reported Congress is having hearings today to consider seriously needed reforms to our countries credit card practices - but now Republican opposition may stop its passing.  This legislation, which enjoys bi-partisan support from many Democrats and Republicans, is aimed at helping reduce the hidden interchange fee through increased transparency, but Reuters reports (bold added):

"A consumer group, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, said it supports legislation because it would create a mechanism pressuring both merchants and the credit card companies to negotiate fees.

`The panel (would) not set prices or establish government price controls,' said Edmund Mierzwinski, consumer program director at U.S. PIRG. `It is an oligopolistic market in which a small set of cardholders dominate the market and establish a set of deceptive practices.

The bill has little chance of becoming law this year due to Republican opposition and the dwindling number of congressional work days left before the November election.'"

More details below.

The credit card associations and the banks that support them have gotten away for too long without answering serious questions about their practices, and at long last, tomorrow there will be a hearing on Capitol Hill to consider the Credit Card Fair Fee Act - HR 5546. It hasn't had the same press as the Credit Card Bill of Rights but it is no less important, and I say that not just because I work with the merchant group that has done tons of work over the last couple years to bring the issue to this point.

One co-sponsor of the bill who speaking up on the issue is Vermont's Peter Welch, one of the best progressives we have in the House. Comments from Welch and more details via the Rutland Herald below:

Strange things afoot at the Circle K...

I read very closely about what's happening with the credit card industry, and I know when they're trying to put one past a reporter. Especially a small-town reporter that they probably don't expect to do all the research on a story that a member of the SCLM would. So imagine my (mock) suprise to find a MasterCard spokesperson trying to sneak one past a reporter for the Valley News of White River Junction, Vermont.

What do they know in Vermont anyway? Enough to make  MasterCard look not just deceptive, but inept at doing it. Details after the jump.

I myself am the fairly recent owner of a credit card. Iv'e gone through most of my life and late into my twenties without ever needing one. I finally succumbed after many admonitions from older friends who warned, "One day you'll want to buy a house, and you'll want to have credit." So I relented. I now have a new card in my wallet. It's much shinier than my debit card. I wonder if that's on purpose.

And of course, his card has rewards, but I am loath to rack up points on it. Why? For one thing, I don't trust where the money comes from. It comes out of something called the interchange fee, which is like an ATM fee for merchants, if your ATM fees kept going up and up and up each year. Another reason is the absurdity of spending thousands to reap a small reward. Spending money on absurd little gifts is just, well, absurd. And the other problem is that you can get into massive debt chasing after these "rewards" -- it's a dangerous game to play.

What's the most absurd reward you've ever heard? Have you had a bad experience trying to collect?

The great thing about giving to charity is that you give what you can, even if it's a small amount. I didn't always think of it this way. I used to think that my donations wouldn't matter unless I could give large amounts of money. And in fact, I didn't give anything until Hurricane Katrina. Before that I was in school, and what little money I had was earmarked for Ramen. Could I have given a dollar or two for various causes? Yes, but I figured it wouldn't be worth it. And so I waited until I was done with school, and ensconced in a job with a livable wage, until I started giving back. And even now, I'm only making enough that it's 25 here or 50 there.

So that's why I'm upset to see that now Red Cross is now requiring a minimum donation amount before it will accept your donations over the web.

But I am not upset with Red Cross. And you might recognize that sign as one similar to the ones you see next to the cash register at coffee and sandwich shops and independent convenience stores. They're all facing the same problem...

Urging Republicans who originally voted against SCHIP to change their positions, Paul Simon spoke out on Huffington Post yesterday.  His plea is really worth reading in its entirety but here is a small section:
"The president's veto of the re-authorization of SCHIP was a heartless act.

Thanks to groups like Families USA and the Children's Health Fund, Congress is getting closer and closer to overriding the President's veto -- and children of hard working American families are getting closer to receiving affordable health care through SCHIP.

I am asking those of you who supported the veto to reexamine your conscience, to find compassion in your heart for our most vulnerable and sweetest citizens -- our children. I am asking you to change your vote. If you do, I believe it will be one of the proudest days of your life."

As you might've seen, Bush just vetoed the SCHIP bill just as he promised. Way to go, Republicans! So much for that whole "compassionate conservative" thing! No, when Bush comes to shove, it's working class families that end up in the mud puddle. Or much worse.

Anyway, on behalf of Families USA, I'd like to share this commercial they're running. It might remind you a bit of the old Monster.com commercials, or the MoveOn ad which should have run at the Super Bowl.

I can't upload the video directly, but if you click on the image below, it will take you to the video on the Families USA page:

Here's a bit of background on how the commercial came to be. And below the jump, some myths and facts about the SCHIP bill...

(I originally posted this at Daily Kos earlier in the week, and got a decent response. I'm interested to see if it generates any thoughts here. Thanks!)

John Edwards is pretty good when it comes to the credit card industry. To be sure, he has made an issue out of it, while I can't find much anything about the issue on either Hillary Clinton's or Barack Obama's websites. I'll give credit where it's due: He's willing to take on issues that matter to real Americans.

But then the flip-side of that is that I'm addressing this diary to him, and not to the others. They should listen too. But I think Edwards is the only one who might, and maybe is the one who can make the best political use as well.

More below the jump.