I know this really has little direct effect on V's bottom line, BUT I remember the last time this type of legislation was in the news in Sept and V's price dropped $5 down to the 67's, seemingly in part because of people mistakenly linking this type of legislation with them. Something to be aware of.

http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-...

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. House, in a slap at the credit-card industry, on Wednesday voted to immediately impose strict new credit-card rules currently set to take effect in February or later.

The 331-92 vote comes after lawmakers have been flooded with complaints from consumers furious that issuers raised interest rates, hiked minimum payments and lowered credit limits. Dozens of Republicans joined Democrats to approve the measure.

Lawmakers have portrayed the industry's actions as a last-ditch attempt to commit abuses that will soon be banned. But the new rules still give issuers wide latitude to raise interest rates and fees on new accounts and balances.

"The consumers are justly outraged and they've come to their Congress members and to this Congress asking for relief," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D., N.Y.), the bill's sponsor.

Under the legislation, several key provisions of a sweeping credit-card law passed in May would come into force immediately after enactment. Initially, lenders were given until February to implement most of the new rules.

"We gave them time--more time than I wanted to," said House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.). "They then used that time not to calibrate so they'd be ready for the effective date, but to start to jack up the rates."

The credit card law's accelerated effective date hinges on action in the Senate, where the appetite for such measures is unclear. Senate Banking Chairman Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.) has introduced legislation to freeze credit-card rates until the new credit-card rules take effect next year.

The new effective date in the House-passed bill wouldn't apply to card issuers with fewer than 2 million credit cards in circulation or to gift-card issuers.

The banking industry warns that speeding the new rules would expose lenders to class-action lawsuits because they won't have time to comply. They say it will also raise the risk of mistakes on monthly statements and systems failures at retailers during the Christmas shopping season.

To implement the new law "is an enormous task, requiring the complete reworking of internal operations, risk-management models, funding calculations, employee training, and computer coding necessary to service hundreds of millions of accounts every day," the American Bankers Association said in a letter urging lawmakers to oppose the measure.

The industry says the bad economy and the new credit-card law have forced lenders to raise rates and rein in credit. It has repeatedly warned Congress that the new rules would result in higher interest rates for new accounts and new balances. But consumer advocates and Democrats claim the industry has gone too far.

"The response is not in any way proportionate to the situation," said Ed Mierzwinski, a director at U.S. PIRG. "They're using the recession as cover for going nuclear.".......