lawmakers gave the thumbs-up to allowing loaded guns in parks.

[rushmc 23]

Credit Card Bill Forces Dems to Take Vote on Gun Rights
The Democrat-led Congress is intent on sending to President Obama's desk legislation that would impose sweeping restrictions on credit card companies in the name of consumer protection. But to do so without further delay, lawmakers have to take a vote against gun control.

FOXNews.com

Wednesday, May 20, 2009



Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 19, 2009 (AP)

An odd thing happened on the way to Congress overhauling the credit card industry -- lawmakers gave the thumbs-up to allowing loaded guns in parks.

The weapons amendment was slipped into the Senate version of the credit card bill, which passed Wednesday by an overwhelming vote. The amendment, inserted by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., restores Bush administration policy allowing loaded guns in national parks.

Now House Democrats have to approve the same Senate version, and in turn take a vote against gun control, in order to avoid kicking it back to the other chamber. Debate began on the bill Wednesday afternoon.

The Democrat-led Congress is intent on sending to President Obama's desk the legislation that would impose sweeping restrictions on credit card companies in the name of consumer protection. Considering the large number of moderate Democrats in the House, the bill is expected to pass intact when it comes for a vote.

But navigating around a gun amendment takes delicate legislative maneuvering, and anti-gun Democrats will have a chance to go on record against the amendment without torpedoing the overall bill.

That's because the House will hold two votes: one for the credit card end of things, one for the firearms portion. This gives anti-gun members political cover by allowing them to vote against the guns amendment and then for the credit card bill.

But the Coburn amendment showed that a surprising number of Democrats -- 27 on the Senate side -- are willing to back legislation expanding gun rights.

Among those who voted "yes" was Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who had blocked Coburn's amendment from coming to the Senate floor for more than a year. Seven other Western Democrats voted with Reid to support the Republican senator's amendment, which allows a range of firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges as long as they are allowed by federal, state and local law.

Spokesman Jim Manley said Reid is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, adding that the guns in parks issue was a major concern for many Nevadans.

Meanwhile, the credit card bill is targeted at addressing consumer concerns.

The bill would enact sweeping new restrictions on the industry, including a requirement that customers penalized by higher interest rates because they missed a payment are given a chance to reclaim their lower rate after six months.

Obama is expected to sign the bill into law. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday said the bill would "create a more fair, transparent and simple consumer credit market."

Of the five senators sympathetic to card lenders, two were from South Dakota, where thousands of jobs depend on the industry. Republican Sen. John Thune estimated the bill would cost as many as 5,000 jobs in his home state.

Sen. Tim Johnson, also from South Dakota and the only Democrat to oppose the bill, agreed it could be devastating.

"This is a time when millions of consumers are already facing lower credit limits and higher interest rates on their credit cards because of decreasing credit availability and continued economic instability," he said.

Also opposing the bill were GOP Sens. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Robert Bennett of Utah and Jon Kyl of Arizona.

But their voices were drowned out by lawmakers who said their offices had received dozens of complaints from voters.

"We said that big banks can no longer take advantage of hardworking Americans," Reid said of the Senate vote.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Del., on Wednesday brushed aside talk that credit will be more scarce if Congress approves the bill.

Calling Tuesday's Senate vote "a great day for consumers," Dodd also said people still must handle their money responsibly and pay their bills on time. But he also said the measure was "a long time coming, a long time overdue."

Dodd said any assertion that credit will be hard to get is absurd, "a little like Chicken Little."

Under the new bill, a customer would have to be more than 60 days behind on a payment before seeing a rate increase on an existing balance. Even then, the lender would be required to restore the previous, lower rate after six months if the cardholder pays the minimum balance on time.

Consumers also would have to receive 45 days' notice and an explanation before their interest rate was increased.

FOX News' Chad Pergram and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[Andy9o8 2]

C'est la vie.

[rehmwa 2]

I hear BikerBabe hates ice cream

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[wmw999 2,588]

Quote

I hear BikerBabe hates ice cream

That's because ice cream sales cause murder

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[nerdgirl 0]

Quote

Quote

I hear BikerBabe hates ice cream

That's because ice cream sales cause murder.

LOL - literally.

/Marg

Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters.
Tibetan Buddhist saying

[kelpdiver 2]

another case of sausage making in Congress.

the claims about thousands of jobs lost are a bit hard to support when you compare the fee and profit margins for credit card divisions only 10-15 years ago. It was in the past decade that banks found they could make a fortune with charging fees and that became a huge portion of their profits.

[Butters 0]

Quote

The weapons amendment was slipped into the Senate version of the credit card bill, which passed Wednesday by an overwhelming vote. The amendment, inserted by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., restores Bush administration policy allowing loaded guns in national parks.

How are these issues even related ...

"That looks dangerous." Leopold Stotch

[rushmc 23]

Quote

Quote

The weapons amendment was slipped into the Senate version of the credit card bill, which passed Wednesday by an overwhelming vote. The amendment, inserted by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., restores Bush administration policy allowing loaded guns in national parks.

How are these issues even related ...

THIS my friend seems to be what this thread has become!!

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[mnealtx 0]

Quote

Quote

The weapons amendment was slipped into the Senate version of the credit card bill, which passed Wednesday by an overwhelming vote. The amendment, inserted by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., restores Bush administration policy allowing loaded guns in national parks.

How are these issues even related ...

They aren't, but it's a normal tactic in Congress (BOTH sides of the aisle, tyvm) - slip your amendment into a 'must pass' bill....

The above would be the SECOND thing I'd change if I had the power. No more "riders" - if it's important enough to be made law, it's important enough to be it's OWN bill, and not glommed into an existing bill. The FIRST change would be term limits for Congress - twice around the merry-go-round, then go home.

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[Butters 0]

Quote

The above would be the SECOND thing I'd change if I had the power. No more "riders" - if it's important enough to be made law, it's important enough to be it's OWN bill, and not glommed into an existing bill. The FIRST change would be term limits for Congress - twice around the merry-go-round, then go home.

Agreed.

"That looks dangerous." Leopold Stotch

[Glitch 0]

+1 Agreed... along with a max compensation package that equals the average of their constituency.

Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...

[kelpdiver 2]

Quote

The above would be the SECOND thing I'd change if I had the power. No more "riders" - if it's important enough to be made law, it's important enough to be it's OWN bill, and not glommed into an existing bill. The FIRST change would be term limits for Congress - twice around the merry-go-round, then go home.

Great, so Congress would be as useless as the state legislatures where term limits are in play?

The price of that stupidity has become quite clear in California. Term limits did not improve things, it made them much worse.

[mnealtx 0]

Quote

Term limits did not improve things, it made them much worse.

And "politics as a life-long career" have improved things WHERE, exactly, and in what way?

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[JohnRich 4]

It's going to be hilarious to see how Obama tap-dances around this one.

If he really supports the 2nd Amendment as he claims, then he won't have a problem with this bill. All it does is say that gun laws in National Parks will match the laws of the States within which the Parks are contained.

We know he really wants that credit card reform.

So, will he reject the bill and prove himself to be the anti-gun person he really is?
Or will he swallow his anti-gun pride and sign the bill to get the credit card reform he wants?

[kelpdiver 2]

Quote

Quote

Term limits did not improve things, it made them much worse.

And "politics as a life-long career" have improved things WHERE, exactly, and in what way?

Compared to what? That model was in place for a long time, really since the beginning of democracy.

The change was towards term limits, and it was for the worse. Politicians do not build long term relationships with their opposing members, and are ill prepared to deal with stalemates. Worse, since the only real effect of term limits is that everyone hops from one house to the next to the AG, then back again, everyone is always prepping to run for a new office, which means they have no incentive to do the needful. That makes them even more stubborn than the entrenched cronies of the past.

[billvon 3,116]

>It's going to be hilarious to see how Obama tap-dances around this one.

?? Obama has stated that he is not opposed to gun ownership and that he's OK with local control. What's the angle you are going to use to bash him on this?

[ryoder 1,590]

Quote

The FIRST change would be term limits for Congress - twice around the merry-go-round, then go home.

I agree with an additional change:
All terms are five years, (as opposed to current 2 for Congress and 6 for Senate).
I think it takes up to two years to learn a new job and be effective.

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[mnealtx 0]

I could agree with that, but I'd split it down the middle and go for 4 year terms...

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[rhaig 0]

Quote

>It's going to be hilarious to see how Obama tap-dances around this one.

?? Obama has stated that he is not opposed to gun ownership and that he's OK with local control. What's the angle you are going to use to bash him on this?

probably the local control that Obama has supported in the past (voting in favor of gun bans).

--
Rob

[rushmc 23]

Quote

>It's going to be hilarious to see how Obama tap-dances around this one.

?? Obama has stated that he is not opposed to gun ownership and that he's OK with local control. What's the angle you are going to use to bash him on this?

So, you do not believe what is posted on HIS websites?

Do you get tingley feelings up your leg when you see or hear him?

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[billvon 3,116]

>So, you do not believe what is posted on HIS websites?

I just checked his website - nothing about banning guns there.

Which website are you referring to?

>Do you get tingley feelings up your leg when you see or hear him?

Can you even see your monitor through all the spittle on it?

[rushmc 23]

Quote

>So, you do not believe what is posted on HIS websites?

I just checked his website - nothing about banning guns there.

Which website are you referring to?

>Do you get tingley feelings up your leg when you see or hear him?

Can you even see your monitor through all the spittle on it?

Damn you are fast!

Inacurate but fast

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[billvon 3,116]

So? Going to give a link to what you claim was posted on his website, or was that just another made-up "fact?"

[ryoder 1,590]

Quote

>So, you do not believe what is posted on HIS websites?

I just checked his website - nothing about banning guns there.

Which website are you referring to?

Everything I've read about Obama was pretty clear that he was in the gun-control camp, until he started the presidential run. Only then did he start toning it down. e.g.

http://www.ontheissues.org/domestic/Barack_Obama_Gun_Control.htm

"There are only three things of value: younger women, faster airplanes, and bigger crocodiles" - Arthur Jones.

[JohnRich 4]

Quote

>It's going to be hilarious to see how Obama tap-dances around this one.

?? Obama has stated that he is not opposed to gun ownership and that he's OK with local control. What's the angle you are going to use to bash him on this?

Congress has painted Obama into a corner. He can't get out of the room without stepping in wet paint.

If he signs the bill, he will be betraying his many liberal anti-gun supporters, who want him to reject guns in National Parks.

If he rejects the bill because of the gun clause, he will be revealing his true anti-gun nature, which he has been denying since he started campaigning, and reveal himself as a forked-tongue liar.

Either way, he's going to have a lot of explaining to do, to a lot of people. And I'm going to enjoy watching him tap dance across the wet paint.