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Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders and freshman New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez plan to tackle the issue of predatory lending in the form of credit cards offered, referring to the banks that offer the cards as modern-day loan sharks.
They hope to cap credit card interest rates at 15% with legislation they introduced on Thursday.
An outline criticized banks for charging on average more than 17% interest on credit card balances while they are able to borrow money at less than 2.5%.
In a statement with the announcement of the new consumer protection banking legislation, they said:
"Today’s loan sharks wear expensive suits and work on Wall Street, where they make hundreds of millions of dollars in total compensation by charging sky-high fees and usurious interest rates."
Ocasio-Cortez also shared the news on her Twitter account.
She posted:
"There is no reason a person should pay more than 15% interest in the United States. It’s common sense - in fact, we had these Usury laws until the 70s. (Max interest rates are record-high for ppl with excellent credit, too.)"
"It’s a debt trap for working people + it has to end."
There is no reason a person should pay more than 15% interest in the United States. It’s common sense - in fact, w… https://t.co/GIB0ICeyi9— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1557413375.0
Americans are currently saddled with more than $1 trillion in credit card debt.
Figures cited from CreditCards.com puts the national average interest rate on credit cards at 17.73% with many people paying much higher interest. The rate limit they propose in their legislation would also apply to payday loans, another form of lending flagged as predatory and poorly regulated.
People had mixed reactions to the proposed legislation.
@AOC Forcing a cap on CC rates will just cause people’s limits to decrease and then they’ll end up spread across mu… https://t.co/Udn3VUeHxT— Ali🌿 (@Ali🌿) 1557413471.0
@AOC However the FICO system in general is severely outdated and rather dumb, so if that could be fixed somehow that would be cool.— Ali🌿 (@Ali🌿) 1557413598.0
@SassyEconomist @AOC ^this. The system is overly complicated and not well understood. But it controls your entire f… https://t.co/1uIRU25xS5— sidecap (@sidecap) 1557414393.0
@MichaelKusek @SassyEconomist @AOC "It is unfair that people who lend you money calculate the risk of whether that… https://t.co/S5AYtBBC3T— #LearnToCode (@#LearnToCode) 1557415621.0
@LearnTo73637432 Love watching conservatives argue in favor of big banks over actual working class people. https://t.co/xOJfmcOn6E— MJ (@MJ) 1557415854.0
People pointed out that for many the debt trap began in college. And that consumer protections did exist in the past.
@AOC The debt trap for most starts in college... We need an education system that doesn’t burden it’s attendees for… https://t.co/KP8lTIZnz2— Angela Belcamino (@Angela Belcamino) 1557418184.0
@AngelaBelcamino @AOC This is the kind of issue that Elizabeth Warren's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was cr… https://t.co/UIMX4NQIii— MRW (@MRW) 1557418572.0
They also brought up other consumer protections that were rolled back.
@AOC We had a lot of things, going into the 70's, that seem like a dream now. Like free or very reduced cost public… https://t.co/2H9BnTBEbv— Norman Goldman (@Norman Goldman) 1557413732.0
A lively debate occurred on Twitter over the proposal.
@business @BernieSanders @AOC Did she major in economics? Really! Forcing a cap on CC interest rates. Some of the… https://t.co/p1qxQAEIeL— woodsonn (@woodsonn) 1557413317.0
@kmilf21 @business @BernieSanders @AOC Why assistance when you can just be more fiscally responsible. I just kept h… https://t.co/pRena2l2ya— woodsonn (@woodsonn) 1557413910.0
@woodsonn @kmilf21 @business @BernieSanders @AOC Fiscally responsible... like the big banks that nearly destroyed t… https://t.co/BFQGOouNgY— Fortune's Always Hiding (@Fortune's Always Hiding) 1557413960.0
@CaseyOTrimble @kmilf21 @business @BernieSanders @AOC This I agree with. Power and greed corrupts. The banks are… https://t.co/FxsCIofeCk— woodsonn (@woodsonn) 1557419062.0
@kmilf21 @woodsonn @business @BernieSanders @AOC And to wrap this around to the original topic, those regulations n… https://t.co/QP6eo1u0nS— Fortune's Always Hiding (@Fortune's Always Hiding) 1557420336.0
The bill may pass in the House of Representatives, but may face an uphill battle in the Senate.