Credit card rules put under spotlight

The credit card industry's playing field, which was tilted toward issuers when Republicans controlled Congress, is now tipping back to consumers as Democrats assume power.

Proposed laws to curb questionable practices, which barely reached bud stage before dying on the vine in recent years, have sprung to new life. And Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, late last month began a series of hearings on how credit card industry practices affect consumers.

The upshot? Credit card lending practices, fees, penalties and interest rates are crippling U.S. consumers, who carry more than $750 billion in debt -- and Congress has noticed.

"No industry in America is more deserving of oversight by Congress," the Consumer Federation of America told Dodd's committee Jan. 25, noting that credit cards are the third-highest source of Better Business Bureau complaints, following cell phone services and new car dealers.

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