Credit Card Legislation May Screw Small Business

The Republican Party is always yammering about how they protect small business, right up there with mom, cherry pie, and the right to bear semi-automatic arms. In the debate on the credit card bill of rights, Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, said the legislation could prompt lenders to restrict credit. "And small businesses that count on this credit," he said.

Well, the legislation passed the House. So let's see these protectors of small business fight for inclusion of small business in the credit card bill of rights legislation as it winds its way through the Senate. Business Week Online says the House version specifically exempts businesses with under 500 employees.

BW notes:

If the House version passed today becomes law, credit card companies will have a loophole to subject small business customers to the tactics that ordinary consumers will be protected from. Of course, small business owners could just opt to use personal cards in their own name instead of small business credit cards, since they’re essentially the same.

So let's see Republicans rally to the defense of small business, which they profess to love. They will, won't they? Or are they (and the Democrats who went along with that anti-small-business provision) too much in the pocket of the big banks?

© 2009 Gary Weiss. All rights reserved.