Three Senators Co-Sponsor Bill To Delay Financial Reform Provision They Voted For Last Year

[Donnachaidh]

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/06/08/239281/three-senators-swipe-fee-delay/

As part of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, a new provision was put into place allowing the Federal Reserve to cap the amount that banks can charge merchants for processing debit card transactions. The Fed has proposed capping the fees at 12 cents, far below the 44 cents per transaction that the banks currently charge. These fees account for about $16 billion annually for the banks.

The banks have launched an all-out lobbying campaign to delay (and ultimately repeal) this swipe-fee amendment, which was written by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and passed by a bipartisan 64-33 vote. The Electronic Payments Coalition, which is representing the banks in this debate, spent $2.5 million lobbying on this issue between January and April.

Today, the Senate will vote on a provision authored by Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) that would delay the swipe fee cap for a year, giving the bank lobby another 12 months to convince Congress to kill it off entirely. And already, three senators who supported Durbin have flipped and will support Tester’s plan, delaying for a year a regulation that they already voted to approve:

The amendment represents the latest twist in the uphill effort to roll back a provision of the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law and would prevent the financial industry from losing billions of dollars in swipe-fee revenue. The changes have won Mr. Tester the support of at least three senators who voted for Sen. Richard Durbin’s (D., Ill) amendment to curb swipe fees last year: Sens. Kay Hagan (D., N.C.) and Mike Crapo (R., Idaho) and Michael Bennet (D., Colo.)

More at the link --

IIRC, wasn't Tester supposed to be one of the good guys? I remember how there was such a push to get him elected -- and THIS is his payback? WTF?

[LiberalAndProud]

1. Compromise. or not.

http://www.bankinvestmentconsultant.com/news/banks-interchange-fee-bill-2673638-1.html

WASHINGTON — Banks appeared to be gaining the upper hand in their battle against retailers to delay pending interchange fee caps, but the fight was far from over.

-snip-

But champions of the fee cap, including Durbin, said the language offered by Corker and Tester was not sufficient.

"Some members have called it a compromise. It's not a compromise," Durbin said. "A compromise suggests both sides came together and agreed on something. There has not been any input from the retailers, small businesses and consumers across America. The only compromise is among the big banks and the bigger banks."

[pansypoo53219]

2. i can't wait for my discount for using cash.

but then, i don't really shop anymore since i discovered estate sales.

[Wilms]

3. ^