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GOVERNMENT: It is for the people

| September 17, 2010 5:35 AM

For the people who routinely write letters to the editor complaining about too much government and all of its intrusions into the banks, auto industry and so on, I have some questions for you. When was the last time that you looked at a credit card billing statement?

According to the New Credit Card rules, you are supposed to see the periodic interest rate. If your payment is late what may become assessed fees and penalty interest rates and how long it would take to pay off the account if only the minimum payment is sent. If such a notification does not appear, the bank is in violation of the law.

According to the summary "Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act," your bank cannot for example assess punitive interest charges against on-time payments, nor assess late fees if they delay crediting on-time payments. If however, you find penalty interest charges and late fees assessed against your on-time payments, the bank is violating the law. These consumer protection laws were passed by a Democratic-controlled Congress and signed into law by a Democratic president.

For everyone's information, this is a government that acted on the behalf of the people who voted for it. To regulate against predatory lending by banks that caused bankruptcies, credit card defaults and bank lawsuits against account holders. To claim that this necessary regulation is "Marxist," demonstrates pure ignorance of what is at stake. Think about it.

JOAN E. HARMAN

Dalton Gardens