Rep Tom Coburn ( Oklahoma) adds ammedment to restore Right to Carry

[PocketProtector]

Update:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009...est=latestnews

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.


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.

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 Wednesday.

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.

[coat4gun]

This just passed the House. The amendment carried 279 to 147 with 6 not voting. Now it is on to the Pres to sign.

[H.E. Pennypacker]

I agree with others in that the back door isn't the best way to pass legislation, even if it's legislation we like. I wouldn't like it one bit if an anti-gun law was sneaked into a bill like this.

Also, when I saw the vague headline pass on the ticker on Bloomberg TV today, I thought, "oh shit, another anti-gun law added last hour on a bill that is a shoo-in to pass". While I'm relieved it's a pro-gun amendment, I still don't like the way it was added into a bill that has nothing to do with guns.

[coat4gun]

I agree with others in that the back door isn't the best way to pass legislation, even if it's legislation we like. I wouldn't like it one bit if an anti-gun law was sneaked into a bill like this.

Also, when I saw the vague headline pass on the ticker on Bloomberg TV today, I thought, "oh shit, another anti-gun law added last hour on a bill that is a shoo-in to pass". While I'm relieved it's a pro-gun amendment, I still don't like the way it was added into a bill that has nothing to do with guns.

While I agree in principal, until the practice is banned it only hurts those that do not do it. The others that have no problem with it will just keep sneaking in legislation because they can. Maybe if enough of both sides get hurt by it, a large enough majority will be built to put a stop to it.

[ChamberedRound]

This just passed the House. The amendment carried 279 to 147 with 6 not voting. Now it is on to the Pres to sign.

For those interested, a link to the voting record:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll277.xml

And, a reference just posted to MSNBC. Not sure why the vote tally is different in the article, unless it was for a different vote on this bill.
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archi...0/1938548.aspx

House passes credit card bill
Posted: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 3:01 PM by Mark Murray
Filed Under: Congress, Economy

From NBC's Luke Russert

By a bipartisan 367-61 vote, the House this afternoon passed the Credit Cardholder's Bill of Rights Act of 2009. It passed the Senate yesterday by a 90-5 margin.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a briefing on Tuesday that the bill will provide "a more fair, transparent and simple consumer credit card market." The bill has been deemed consumer friendly by many leading consumer rights groups, and is aimed at cutting down the rising interest rates placed on credit card holders who are more than 30 days late. Here are a few highlights of what the new laws will do for Americans:

-- The bill would extend the grace period from 30 to 60 days before credit card companies could increase the interest rate on the consumer's balance. That effectively bans "universal default," which is the practice of raising interest rates after a customer is 30 days late. If the customer pays on time after the 60 days for six months, the credit card company must revert back to the old interest rate.

-- If the credit card company decides to increase the interest rate on its customers universally, it must give the customers 45 days notice before implementing the new rate.

-- The bill also calls for credit card companies to freeze the initial interest rate of the cardholder for the first year they have the card. And it prohibits credit card companies from charging cardholders a penalty fee when they exceed their credit limit, unless they specifically agree to the penalty in writing.

In the bill, Congress also makes a special effort to protect the credit rating of younger Americans. Americans under 21 years of age must have a co-signer who can vouch that the minor has means to pay the credit card bill or agree to be equally responsible for payment.

Overall, the bill strives to give cardholders a clearer picture of where the money is going. Under the new law, credit card companies must provide a clear detailed billing statement that does away with hidden fees and discloses any changes made in billing by the company.

In another twist today, the House offered two votes on the Credit Cardholder's Bill of Rights Act of 2009. One was for the bill itself -- and the other for an amendment by Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn that will allow loaded guns in national parks. The two votes allowed House members to distinguish themselves on the gun rights issue. On the House floor, Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) vehemently spoke out against the gun portion of the bill, saying that it was "dumb amendment and Congress should be embarrassed we have to vote on it." That being said, the Coburn Amendment passed with the backing of 27 Democratic senators last week and passed the House with over 100 Democratic votes because if it hadn't neither would the Credit Cardholder's Bill of Rights Act.

President Obama has indicated that he wants to sign the bill by Memorial Day, and look for that to happen after today's vote. Once signed by Obama, Congressional aides tell NBC News that it would take about nine months before the new laws fully go into effect.

[Zef_66]

For those interested, a link to the voting record:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll277.xml

And, a reference just posted to MSNBC. Not sure why the vote tally is different in the article, unless it was for a different vote on this bill.
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archi...0/1938548.aspx

From what I know, the difference in vote count is because the bill was split up. They voted on the amendments to make sure they were acceptable. Once those were passed, then they voted on the entire bill itself.

I read a possible reason for this was because the liberal democrats didn't want to be put on record for voting for a pro-gun bill. So this way, they can show that they supported the credit card bill, but not the pro-gun amendments come election time.

See the links for voting:

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll277.xml
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll276.xml

[sttaffy]

I was really pulling for this one. I live in the middle of Philly and skirting around all the national park areas in old city was starting to get really really annoying.

[headcase]

I think that the reality is this wasn't backdoored in, I think it was backdoored out, by an activist judge at the behest of the brady assholes. This amendment to the credit card bill wasn't just slipped in, it was put in in full daylight. The democratic leadership of the house forced a second, separate vote on the amendment, and still passed it overwhelmingly. This wasn't some hush hush thing that was covered up and pushed through, like many things are.

[JrFreak]

I glad to see this finally get through. Obama is 'suppose' to sign it Friday. My wife and I walk at a National Park a lot in the spring / summer and it's only 1/2 mile from a state prison. Good chance that an escaped criminal goes there to hijack a car or worse. I'll have my Glock 27 and my .380 Kel-Tec on me after this goes live...

[JavaProgrammer]

I think that the reality is this wasn't backdoored in, I think it was backdoored out, by an activist judge at the behest of the brady assholes. This amendment to the credit card bill wasn't just slipped in, it was put in in full daylight. The democratic leadership of the house forced a second, separate vote on the amendment, and still passed it overwhelmingly. This wasn't some hush hush thing that was covered up and pushed through, like many things are.

Even so, what does carrying in a national park have to do with credit cards?