Consumer outrage at credit cards at an all-time high [so are delinquencies]

“There are some areas where there is significant agreement,” Corker said. Corker — who has two daughters in college — cited bipartisan support for limits on the marketing of credit cards to students.

SHOOT: Simple rules - 1 credit card per person. No credit cards for anyone under the age of 18 years. If you default more than 3 times you lose the right to use one for the remainder of that financial year. Any questions?

clipped from news.yahoo.com But bashing the credit card industry is Politics 101 for a Ph.D.-level White House. Consumer outrage about credit cards is at an all-time high. So are delinquencies, which hit 5.56 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008. That’s a 60 percent jump since 2005, according to the Federal Reserve. And then there are the fears that credit card defaults could be the next financial storm to hit already struggling consumers. Even some of the industry’s longtime allies on Capitol Hill admit that change is coming. “Most of the banks realize that some of what they’ve done before — the processes being followed — don’t really look very good in the light of day,” said Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), whose state is home base for a large number of credit card firms.