GOP tactics harass witnesses scheduled for House panel on credit card

[defendandprotect]

GOP Gags Witnesses on Credit Card Woes
By Mike Lillis
The Washington Independent

Friday 14 March 2008

Partisan maneuver blocked testimony on fee hikes.
They came to the nation’s capital this week from as far away as Denver, Chicago and Niagara Falls—five people who’d had tough experiences with their credit cards and were asked to share those tales with a House panel. Instead, they ran headfirst into the buzz-saw of Washington politics when the panel’s Republicans insisted the visitors allow their lenders to discuss their financial histories publicly—in any forum, at any time.

For four of the five, it was a deal-breaker. Instead of signing the waivers allowing them to testify Thursday, they all sat silently in the audience.

(cut)
But supporters of congressional intervention say the Fed has a history of putting bankers’ interests above those of consumers. "The regulators have been lax in enacting consumer protections, except under the threat of legislation," said Lawrence Ausubel, an economics professor at the University of Maryland.


http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/031908B.shtml

[KansDem]

1. What?! No "closed-door, secret meetings" this time?

Too bad the Repubs can't be as open about their illegal war and profiteering as they want to be with a few credit-card customers.

[Bozita]

2. Didya ever notice how dated "We The People" sounds in Bushco's America?

[Canuckistanian]

3. "the buzz-saw of Washington politics "

Good phrase.