Credit card reform was it necessary?

My source of irritation today is the new credit card reform law which was
just signed. Was it really necessary? I am not sure it was but then the
government thinks they can tell any company or industry what to do. Let's
look at some of the provisions of this law as I understand them first.

First of all, anyone under 21 would either have to prove that they can make
the payments or have a parent cosign for the card. That's not a bad
provision in and of itself; but there are issues with this one that I will
discuss later.

Another provision would limit the fees and interest charges on people who
are carrying a large amount of debt, as it is said by liberals that these
people are sinking deeper into debt and the credit card companies won't let
them get out because of all these fees and interest rate hikes and the like.
Once again, there are issues and consequences here that we will get into in
a bit.

The last thing is the one which irritates me to no end as it affects those
of us who are responsible with our credit and pay off our balances on time.
We will see our fees go up. We will lose the rewards and we will be stuck
paying for those who don't know how to handle credit, whether they are over
or under 21.

Now to the provisions of the law and my comments. There are those who whine
about cutting off the under 21 crowd, saying that this will have unintended
consequences. As I understand it, those unintended consequences will be the
inability of people to get credit later. Well, I didn't have a credit card
when I was in college. I had a checking account and had to pay my bills. I
didn't get a card until I got out of school. Even then there were issues
which needed to be looked at and dealt with; and the issues were dealt with
satisfactorily.

Too many people both over and under 21 don't know how to say "no" when they
get some advertisement from a credit card company. People also don't know
that they can opt off these lists. True the companies don't make it easy to
find out this information. How about making that information more readily
available so that the consumer has the choice. That would be a start.
Also, if you are going to require people under 21 to prove they can pay, why
not require everyone to prove they can pay? The liberals won't do this
because the number of people in their core constituencies who would be
affected would be huge. Well then, that shows the need for consumer
education in those communities; and this is something which should start at
home. Unfortunately too many adults don't know how to handle credit either;
and how can they teach their children if they themselves don't knhow how to
do it; but this is a question for another time. The question of the age of
adulthood, which I have heard talked about, is also a question for another
time.

This brings me to my next point about limiting the increase in fees and
interest rates on those who carry a balance. Remember that extending credit
is a risk. Some people are good risks and some people are bad risks. Those
who don't know how to handle credit and get deeper and deeper into debt are
the ones who are crying about it rather than trying to do something about
it. Take responsibility for your actions. If you are having problems,
don't hide. Let your creditors know what is going on. Failing to pay your
bills only hurts you in the long run; but unfortunately in these times we
all pay the consequences of irresponsible behavior. By definition, the ones
who don't pay their bills are bad risks and should be treated as such.
That's why you work to improve your credit, not whine about how bad it is
and run from your responsibility for that situation.

This leads me to my last point about those with good credit paying for the
sins of others. I don't want to pay for the irresponsibility of others. I
and my husband pay our bills off on time. Heck we don't even like debt but
we will be forced to pay for everyone's irresponsibility. There's something
wrong with that picture.

As I said, consumer education begins at home. Should this be shoved off on
the schools much as everything else is these days? I am not sure about that
but maybe here is a place for it. In any case if one is responsible with
credit, they won't have any problems.

Again, this is proof that the future is in the wrong hands. Hopefully the
train wreck can be stopped before it is too late. The credit card reform
legislation is just one car on that train wreck. There are others which
will be addressed separately. Suffice it to say, this train wreck is moving
far too fast for my liking.