Use that stamp to lick credit rip-offs

Check out this article found in the Detroit News today. Sen. Carl Levin is proposing legislation to get rid of some outlandish credit card fees:

Penalty limits: The bill caps penalty rate hikes (such as when you pay a bill late) at 7 percent and would effectively eliminate the absurd “universal default clause” in which, even if you paid your credit card bill on time, the issuer raises your rate if you’ve been late on some other credit card bill.

No retroactive rate hikes: Rate increases could be applied only to charges after the increase goes into effect, not to previous balances.
Ending the fee-for-all: The bill outlaws piggy-backing fees, such as when a penalty puts you over your credit limit which, in turn, gets you socked with an over-limit penalty. It also bars interest on fees.
No more pay to pay: The bill prohibits the practice of charging $5, $10 or even $15 in some cases if you pay your bill by phone or online. This is a blatant rip-off since it costs less to handle these transactions than to cash a paper check.
Show your support
Unless you enjoy getting socked with underhanded overcharges at your credit card company’s whim, you want to support this legislation.
The first step is to get the bill heard by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, chaired by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., with ranking Republican Richard Shelby of Alabama.
You can call the committee at (202) 224-7391; send faxes to (202)-224-5137; write to 534 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510; or e-mail by using the “contact” link at http://www.banking.senate.gov/.
Faxes and online work best, I’m told. Also contact Dodd and Shelby as well as Levin and our junior senator, Democrat Debbie Stabenow. To get contact info, call (202)-224-3121 or check at http://www.congress.org/.
So get those letters going, whether you click it or lick it. Because your best “stamp” investment is stamping out these credit card rip-offs.
Call your Senator in support of this bill.
Check out the article here.