Obama scolds credit card companies, opponent

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama took aim today at credit card companies that charge exorbitant – and sometimes hidden – fees to economically scrapped consumers, saying the companies “have been crossing the line to boost their bottom line.”

Charging that his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain, “has been part of the problem” by opposing legislation to protect consumers from deceptive practices, Obama said: “We cannot let the rules of the game continue to be rigged against ordinary Americans.”

The Illinois senator’s attack came during a discussion in Chicago with three people who have run up credit card debt, part of his two-week tour of battleground states to focus on the economy.

Obama noted that credit card companies have spent millions of dollars to finance political campaigns – including one industry group that spent nearly $800,000 on lobbying – “to get laws written to their liking.” He vowed that as president, he would “look out for the interests of hard-working families, not just their big campaign donors and corporate allies.”

Obama, saying he wants to ensure that credit card debt doesn’t become “the next subprime crisis,” proposed a five-star rating system of companies. While urging Americans to “pay what we owe,” he said he would push for a credit card bill of rights to ban interest on late fees and unilateral changes to card agreements so consumers “pay the rate you signed up for.”

McCain, speaking at a town hall meeting in Pennsylvania, also talked about the economy. Arguing for a reduction in taxes and in federal spending, the Arizona senator chided Obama for proposing an increase in capital gains taxes.

“Why in the world would anyone raise taxes on capital gains?” McCain said. “Why would you to take more of the people’s money and send it to Washington” so lawmakers can indulge in pork-barrel spending,” he asked.

Saying he respects Obama, McCain said the two have fundamental disagreements on a series of issues from taxes to healthcare. “He wants the government to make decisions for the American family,” McCain said, “and I want the American family to make those decisions.”

Seeking to deflect charges that he is running for a third Bush term, McCain said that his opponent is running for Jimmy Carter’s second term, “dusting off the old policies of the ’60s and ’70s that failed.”

McCain, who has recommended a series of 10 town hall meetings with Obama, claimed that he has yet to hear back on the idea from the Democrat’s campaign, which said Tuesday that it had written to the McCain camp with an alternative suggestion.

“People are sick and tired of sound bites, the spin room, media personalities,” said McCain. “They want us to stand before them” and debate the issues.

 johanna.neuman@latimes.com