With that in mind, it would be a good idea for Congress to temporarily waive the 10% penalty on early withdrawals. That would help the average taxpayer. What do they do? Congress waives the mandatory minimum withdrawal for folks over the age of 70 1/2. This just helps the affluent! My gosh, Mr. Congressman and Congresswoman, can’t you get it? Only wealthy retirees don’t need the money every year.

There have been so many tax breaks for the affluent it’s just unbelievable. What are they? Well, for one is the Section 529 Education Savings Account. It generous of Congress to pass this legislation. There is only one problem. Working Americans can’t afford this. Most working Americans cannot fund the full amount of their 401K. Financial analysts recommend funding the full amount on your 401K and a Roth IRA before funding a 529 Education Savings Account. Only doctors, dentists, lawyers, CEO’s and self employed business owners can afford to save more than $20,000 per year in their 401K and Roth IRA and STILL put another $5,000, $10,000 or unlimited amount in a 529 account. Since only the wealthy can afford to use a 529 account, Congress essentially gave the wealthy tax free college educations for their children. The working Americans will to pay for their kids college education with after tax money.

The credit card companies have shortened the amount of time allowed to make payments, hit cardholders with punitive fees when late, increased percentage rates when borrowers were late, made rate increases retroactive and many more abusive practices. Since the cardholders don’t have any voice and no power to negotiate a fair credit card contract, the Congress has passed the Credit Cardholder Bill of Rights with the leadership of Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney . This is sweeping legislation that will restrict the credit card companies from abusive practices. Some of the practices that will be curtailed are:

Ends unfair, arbitrary interest rate increases

Stops excessive over-the-limit fees.

Ends unfair penalties for cardholders that pay on time

Stops credit card companies from making cardholders pay off low interest balance before the higher interest balance

Prohibits short due dates and requires credit card companies to allow 25 days for payment

Establishes definitions for common terms like “fixed rate” to prevent misleading advertising

Sets guidelines on fees for sub-prime credit cards

Prohibits adding fees and interest charges on interest only balances remaining after a credit card balance is paid in full

This is a major and sweeping piece of legislation designed to clean up abusive credit card lender practices. Anyone who looks at this will agree that these practices are mean-spirited, greedy and unfair. This is important legislation, but it still must pass the Senate.

These are the Congressmen and Congresswomen that have been defending citizens against credit card abuse by banks, credit card issuers and lenders. We tip our hat and salute these representatives, because they have stood up against the powerful banking lobby to protect the rights of the credit card holders:

Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY)

Barney Frank (D-MA)

Maurice D. Hinchey (D-NY)

Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS)

Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)

André Carson (D-IN)

Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)

Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX)

Robert E. Andrews (D-NJ)

Chaka Fattah (D-PA)

Steven R. Rothman (D-NJ)

Corrine Brown (D-FL)

John D. Dingell (D-MI)

Nita M. Lowey (D-NY)

David Wu (D-OR)

David R. Obey (D-WI)

Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)

Gene Taylor (D-MI)

James P. Moran (D-VA)

Brad Sherman (D-CA)

Gary L. Ackerman (D-NY)

Melvin L. Watt (D-NC)

Edolphus Towns (D-NY)

Jackie Speier (D-CA)

José E. Serrano (D-NY)

Eni F.H. Faleomavaega (D-AS)

Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY)

Howard L. Berman (D-CA)

Henry A. Waxman (D-CA)

Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)

Peter DeFazio (D-OR)

Edward J. Markey (D-MA)

Solomon P. Ortiz (D-TX)

William J. Jefferson (D-LA)

Betty Sutton (D-OH)

Michael M. Honda (D-CA)

Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)

Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)

Ben Chandler (D-KY)

Neil Abercrombie (D-HI)

Michael E. Capuano (D-MA)

Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ)

Peter Welch (D-VT)

Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI)

Loretta Sanchez (D-CA)

Lois Capps (D-CA)

John Olver (D-MA)

Xavier Becerra (D-CA)

Christopher Shays (R-CT)

Tom Udall (D-NM)

Russ Carnahan (D-MO)

G.K. Butterfield (D-NC)

Janice D. Schakowsky (D-IL)

Brian Higgins (D-NY)

James P. McGovern (D-MA)

Mark Udall (D-CO)

Jim Langevin (D-RI)

Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)

Lloyd Doggett (D-TX)

Doris O. Matsui (D-CA)

Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA)

Henry Cuellar (D-TX)

William Lacy Clay, Jr. (D-MO)

Lincoln Davis (D-TN)

Luis Gutierrez (D-IL)

Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY)

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and her colleagues in the House of Representatives that support fair credit (card) legislation sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission in support of a pending rule to address unfair and abusive practices by credit card issuers. The text of the letter is below:

Dear Chairman Bernanke, Director Reich and Chairwoman Johnson:

In issuing the proposed rule under the Federal Trade Commission Act to address unfair or deceptive credit card practices, the Federal Reserve, the Office of Thrift Supervision, and the National Credit Union Administration have together taken an important and necessary step towards fairness and shared responsibility in credit card contracts. The undersigned cosponsors of the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights, H.R. 5244, applaud and support the proposed rule.

While the proposal deals with some practices slightly differently than H.R. 5244 does, it identifies as “unfair and deceptive” the same core abuses identified in our bill:

* Retroactive repricing, or raising rates on existing balances so as to instantly increase the cardholder’s debt;

* Universal default, or raising rates retroactively on cardholders who pay on time and don’t go over their limit;

* Double cycle billing, or charging interest on balances already paid off;

* Payment allocation to low rate balances, which prevents responsible cardholders from paying down their higher-rate balances; and

* Excessive fees charged for subprime cards.

We agree that these abuses are unacceptable and should be eliminated, and appreciate the careful factual and legal case the agencies have made in proposing these reforms. We are pleased that your agencies, which are responsible for the safety and soundness of our financial institutions, are now firmly on record that eliminating these abuses will benefit consumers, and will not pose a threat to safety and soundness or the health of the economy.

Thank you for your leadership in this area.