No wonder credit cards suck! Industry lobbyists are on track to set spending record this year

by Christopher Elliott on September 7, 2010


Anyone who thinks the government isn’t for sale in 2010 should take a look at the amount of money credit card companies have spent on lobbying. It hit a record last year, with nearly $36 million being spent, according to the site Opensecrets.org. If the trend continues, they’ll fork over even more this year.

No wonder credit cards continue to have gaping loopholes such as the one pointed out this morning by my MSNBC colleague Bob Sullivan. The lobbyists have been spending like pirates. So much for credit card reform.

It’s also worth noting where the money goes.

Here are the top clients for 2010 so far:

And here’s who is getting the money:

Here’s a complete list of clients and recipients for 2010.

What can you do about it? If you’re in one of these representatives’ districts, you can let them know how you feel about the credit card lobby’s influence. Or you can just vote against them in the next election.

Tagged as: Credit Card, Lobbyist, Washington

  • MCGJr

    The only problem with credit cards are the people who don’t know how to use them. Pay your bill off, IN FULL, every month and all the commotion about what the idiots in Congress do becomes a non-issue.

    And, to the more general issue of ‘the idiots’… Until the public decides that:
    1) Fraud and criminal acts should be treated as such for ALL government workers (elected and non-elected), this will continue. Prime ref: Sec’y Treas. Timothy Giethner.
    2) Term limits is a good FIRST step. Until then, the totally uninformed public that keeps re-electing those who are not acting in the best interest of the public, there will be no changes for good.

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