Consumers may have reason to feel overlooked as the government rushes to bail out banks, carmakers and insurance companies "too big to fail," but there is one bright spot in legislation moving forward on Capitol Hill. The Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights won approval from the House in a solid bipartisan vote, 357-70, last week and has the support of the administration as it moves to the Senate for a showdown vote.

The bill is a long overdue response to the abuses of predatory credit card issuers who have used every trick in the book to extract money from cardholders. That includes shortening the payment period, using misleading terms to confuse cardholders and even penalizing consumers who pay on time. The lopsided vote reflects the public's anger over having to bail out banks with taxpayer money and then having to pay unfair and exorbitant charges to the same institutions when their credit card statements arrives.

Among other provisions, the bill protects cardholders from arbitrary interest-rate increases; prevents the use of "due date" gimmicks; prohibits card companies from imposing excessive fees and prevents them from issuing subprime cards to people who can't afford them. The Federal Reserve adopted a somewhat similar package of rules last year, but that doesn't take effect until July 2010. Why wait?

Moreover, the House bill goes beyond the Fed's regulations in several ways. For instance, it would require card companies to send out bills at least 21 days before the due date, and to give cardholders at least 45 days' notice before increasing interest rates. The legislation bars adding fees for paying by phone and bans issuance of cards to most minors under 18.

A recent survey of the dozen largest card issuers by the Pew Health Group Safe Credit Cards Project found 93 percent of cards "allowed the issuer to raise any interest rate at any time by changing the account agreement." It also found that 87 percent of cards allowed issuers to impose automatic interest-rate penalty increases on all balances, "even if the account is not 30 days or more past due." The median penalty rate: 27.99 percent annually.

Last week, bank lobbyists helped to defeat a bill in the Senate that would have allowed judges to modify mortgages in bankruptcy. The effort was intended to help homeowners facing foreclosure, but pressure from the industry killed the measure on the floor.

The same powerful lobby opposes credit card reform, raising the possibility of a filibuster. That shouldn't happen. The case for tighter regulation is overwhelming. The margin of approval in the House suggests that constituent ire is rising and won't be mollified until the bill becomes law.

— The Miami Herald

n n nThe latest indication that America is ready for health-care reform is also the strongest: The insurance industry, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, doctors and a union representing about 1 million workers delivered a pledge to President Barack Obama on Monday to reduce health care costs by 1.5 percent a year over the next decade.This could save the government $2 trillion, which could be put toward the goal of health insurance for all. But the savings estimate is less significant than the sea change this indicates in the movement toward health reform. No longer are the major players in the health care industry trying to block it. They're just trying to make sure they're partners rather than casualties in the plan.Ironically, the recession may be helping the cause. Fewer and fewer companies are comfortable shouldering the bulk of health insurance costs for workers. And as more workers face unemployment, the ranks of uninsured in the middle class, let alone the poor, are growing.With Monday's historic announcement, the debate now shifts from whether national health care reform is possible to when and how it can be accomplished.