Marquette Nat. Bank of Minneapolis v. First of Omaha Service Corp., 439 U.S. 299 (1978). In a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision, the court held states anti-usury laws regulating interest rates unenforceable against nationally chartered banks based in other states.
Justice William Brennan: It was the intent of Congress when it passed the National Banking Act, nationally chartered banks would be subject only to federal regulation by the Comptroller of Currency and the laws of the state in which they were chartered, and that only Congress or the appropriate state legislature could pass the laws regulating them.
This was one of the more important decisions by SCOTUS as it allowed banks chartered in one state to have the same interest rates in other states, offer credit cards nationally, and beat out the bank competition in other states who might be subject to stricter regulations.
At the time Justice Brennan felt congress would act to allow states to have more freedom in regulating banks within their borders by changing the National Banking Act. “This impairment may in fact be accentuated by the ease with which interstate credit is available by mail through the use of modern credit cards,” he allowed. “But the protection of state usury laws is an issue of legislative policy, and any plea to alter [the law] to further that end is better addressed to the wisdom of Congress than to the judgment of this Court.”
Of course, it did not happen. And who said Congress had any wisdom or care for their constituents?
Perhaps, someone can point to another time when Congress has altered the National Banking Act. The only other time I can recall was when Congress repealed Glass-Steagall and altered the National Banking Act to allow Sandy Weil’s Citibank to acquire Travelers Insurance and move into investing on Wall Street.
More recently, Bernie Sanders has introduced new legislation. In the past, Bernie had introduced legislation in 2009 to cap interest rates which went “no-where” quickly. There are probably other Senate or House members who have also attempted to cap interest rates and ran thee banking gauntlet opposing any such change to their usurious interest rates and other charges.
In a joint statement;
“The American people are sick and tired of being ripped off by the same financial institutions they bailed out ten years ago. If we are going to create a financial system that works for all Americans, we have got to stop financial institutions from charging outrageous interest rates and fees.”
Both Senator and Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Congressional Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) are teaming up on a bill to cap credit card and payday loan interest rates at 15%. In some cases, this is 50% lower than what is being offered today for what is termed as riskier loans or short term payday, etc. types.
Moving on and considering other presidential candidates who may have a difference of opinion than Sanders. It is no secret Delaware Senator Joe Biden has been a big supporter of banks since the seventies and has sponsored and helped to put into play many new laws which prevented students from getting relief or declaring bankruptcy to them from the signature loans made to them. When then President Obama spoke out against credit-card lenders calling them “‘outrageous’ and ‘looked forward to reviewing additional legislation that caps interest rates,'” VP Joe Biden was silent on the issue. Joe knew which side his bread was buttered on then and for that matter today also. Constituents can expect no help from Joe Biden.
When a similar bill capping credit card interest rates at 15% was introduced, half of the Democrats joined Republicans in 2009. It lost 60 to 33. This gives you an idea of how deep the politics run between Banks and the conservative Republicans and Democrats. Consider for a moment how long it took for either party to make this an issue or at least one party. Since 1978 . . .
In particular, I am eager to see how Joe Biden responds to Bernie Sanders proposal to cap interest rates. “Biden is more reliant on the kinds of big donors and high dollar events Democratic primary voters frown upon.”
Tags: Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden
