In a seemingly peculiar bipartisan alliance, conservative House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., and Congressional Progressive Caucus member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., teamed up to push a measure that would cap credit card interest rates at 10%.
“The annual percentage rate applicable to an extension of credit obtained by use of a credit card may not exceed 10 percentage points, inclusive of all finance charges,” the proposal stipulates.
Responding to a post on X that labeled Luna and her left-leaning compatriot “strange bedfellows,” the GOP congresswoman noted, “I would argue it isn’t strange at all. Most people agree insane credit card interest rates are predatory.”
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Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., put the proposal forward in the Senate last month.
Trump floated the idea of a temporary cap on credit card interest during a campaign speech last year.
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“And while working Americans catch up, we’re going to put a temporary cap on credit card interest rates. We’re gonna cap it at around 10%. We can’t let them make 25 and 30%,” he said.
“We’re making that pledge more than a talking point by introducing legislation to protect working people from remaining trapped under mountains of debt,” Ocasio-Cortez said of Trump’s pledge, according to the congresswoman’s press release about the proposed legislation.
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“For too long, credit card companies have abused working class Americans with absurd interest rates, trapping them in an almost insurmountable amount of debt,” Luna said, according to the press release. “We need a fair solution – and that means getting rid of the status quo and putting a reasonable cap on interest rates.”
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