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The House of Representatives passed a bill to move up the effective date for the new credit card law to Dec. 1, 2009. The original effective date was August 2010, which then moved to February, before this new bill was passed because lawmakers sensed that credit card companies were conducting unfair practices since they knew they would soon be restricted by the law.
Unfair Credit Card Practices
There have been reports from cardholders around the country for many months that they're credit card issuers have been participating in unfair practices. Some of these practices include double-cycle billing, unexplained interest hikes, drastically lowered limits, and even card cancellations with no explanation. In addition, credit card companies had left bad tastes in many mouths because of their insistence upon coaxing financially-inexperienced college students into signing up for cards in exchange for freebies, resulting in many teens and young adults having damaged credit.
The Affects of Moving the Effective Date
Lawmakers hope that by moving the effective date of the new law, cardholders will be able to breathe a much-needed sigh of relief. On the other side of the coin, the new effective date will require that credit card companies enforce new strategies for managing cardholder accounts almost immediately, including allowing cardholders the ability to reject changes to their contracts (see more about the Credit Card Bill of Rights).
Currently, the bill is still moving through Congress. It must be passed by Senate before it can reach President Obama to be signed into law.
Have you experienced unfair credit card practices from your card issuer? Share your story ...
According to White house reps, the $787 billion stimulus package has created or saved around 640,000 as of October 30, 2009. While these numbers sound promising, they don't seem to reflect the continuous rise in unemployment that we see with our eyes every day. Of course, this doesn't mean what the White House says isn't true. Maybe it just needs a little bit more analysis.
What the White House Says
According to the White House, of the 640,329 jobs that have been created or saved since the start of the stimulus package, the largest numbers have gone to the following:
- 325,000 went to teachers and school staff
- 80,000 went to construction
Also, the following states have benefited the most:
- 110,000 went to the State of California
- New York State received 40,000
- 34,000 were allocated to Washington State
A review of the White House data from the Christian Science Monitor revealed that $159 billion in stimulus spending is providing around 2,100 jobs for every one million people in the country. However, recent reports show that some estimates may have been overstated.
The Reality of Unemployment
While job creation looks promising according to the numbers from the White House, no one can dispute that fact that unemployment is still on the rise. Many more people have lost jobs than have become employed. In fact, 10 million workers have been laid off since the recession and 15 million are out of work, according to government stats. So hearing of job creation doesn't necessarily ease the nerves of the millions competing for the same jobs.
If you're actively looking for work, finding a job can be equated to finding a needing in a haystack. However, the situation isn't hopeless. There are said to be more jobs being created in health care, construction, the school system and hi-tech industries to name a few.
Have you or someone you know received a stimulus-created job?
Suze Orman is probably shooting out expletives at every turn with recent news that nearly half of unemployed Americans are withdrawing funds from their 401(k) plans. Experts spend a lot of time advising workers not to touch the funds because they take away from much needed retirement at the end...
Read Full Article: Like it or Not, Americans Are Cashing Out Their 401(k)s
Seasonally-adjusted mortgage applications dropped 12.3 percent in the week ending Oct. 23, 2009 from the week prior while refinancing applications dropped 16.2 percent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA ). These numbers have dropped for several weeks - right alongside mortgage...
Read Full Article: Mortgage Demand Drops Again ... Why?
The Treasury Department recently reported that the United States debt is dangerously close to reaching its self-imposed limit of $12.1 trillion dollars. Currently, we are only $211 billion shy of reaching the ceiling with an increase rate of nearly $3.8 billion per day. What is the Treasury...
Read Full Article: The National Debt Nears Its Ceiling
It has become apparent that someone sent a memo to banks to help reignite a bank failure trend that had slowed for nearly 20 years. The proof is in the pudding with Friday's 106th bank closure (along with six others in the same day), which by far makes the highest number of yearly closures since...
Read Full Article: Is the Next Bank Failure Trend on the Horizon?
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) knows he can't trust those pesky credit card companies, which is why he's pushing to move the new credit card law's effective date up from Feb. 2010. He hopes to get the date moved to Dec. 1, 2009, stopping companies from any attempts to shuck the system before...
Read Full Article: Why Schumer Doesn't Trust Those Credit Card Companies
Congress, like many consumers, is fed up with high bank overdraft fees, so to follow suit with a recent House bill proposal, the Senate is now taking its turn at tackling bank overdraft fees. Senate leaders revealed their proposal Monday, October 19, 2009, and hopes it will provide relief to...
Read Full Article: Senate Tackles Bank Overdraft Fees
Times are tough for the unemployed, and are looking to get worse before getting better, as employers as a whole are not hiring new employees. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, even though the government is expected to report growth in the economy for the last week of October...
Read Full Article: Despite Profits, Employers Not Yet Looking to Hire
Workers contributing to their 401ks will be happy to know that their contribution limit won't change this year. Typically, the contribution limit adjusts to the conditions of the economy. Since the economy is in a deflated state, economists thought the IRS might lower the limit for 2010....
Read Full Article: 401k Contribution Limits Won't Change Next Year






