Maxine Waters: Banks Screwing Credit Card Users While Rolling In Bailout Money

Like the heads of the Detroit auto companies did a few months ago, the CEOs of big banks including JP Morgan, Goldman, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo got a tongue-lashing from a House committee today. As the CEOs testified before the House Financial Services Committee this morning, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) delivered probably the most scathing remarks, opening with:

"To all the captains of the universe sitting here before all of us, all of my life I have been in disagreement with the banking industry."

As the Washington Post reports, Waters then accused the CEOs of raising interest rates on credit cardholders, and suggested that this is inconsistent with their simultaneous acceptance of billions in bailout money from American taxpayers. Bank of America executive Ken Lewis responded that his bank raised interest rates on only 9 percent of its customers in 2008.

It's no surprise that Waters is against credit card issuers increasing rates on consumers. She is one of the original sponsors of the Credit Cardholder's Bill of Rights, a piece of legislation that would prevent issuers from raising rates for "arbitrary" reasons. For more on this proposed legislation (the House passed the bill last year, but the Senate has not), click here.