What The Congress Is Doing Right (Yes, There Is Something)

I'm distressed by the lifting of the ban on offshore drilling, and the bailout bill is still fluid. But at the end of this session, the Congress is getting some good bills across the line.

After much wrangling from Senate hold king Tom Coburn, the Senate finally dislodged the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Act and got it passed. This would set up a cold case unit to investigate crimes and injustices of the Civil Rights era.

The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity Act passed the House by overwhelming margins yesterday. This would prohibit insurance agencies from limiting benefits for mental health ailments. Right now only 1/3 of all Americans suffering from mental illness receive adequate treatment, and this bill would go a long way to altering that. More here.

In addition, the House passed a credit card holder's bill of rights, which would accomplish the following.

Ends unfair, arbitrary interest rate increases, by requiring ample notice before rate hikes and permitting lenders to raise rates on existing balances only if minimum payments are more than 30 days late (except for increases caused by changes in stated variable and introductory offers)

Ends penalties on cardholders who pay on time, like charging interest on already repaid debt

Protects consumers from due date gimmicks by requiring credit card companies to mail bills 25 days (instead of 14) before the due date

Ends the credit card practice of applying consumer payments to lower interest debt first

This also passed overwhelmingly.

I'll withhold judgment to see what they do with this piece of garbage bailout bill, but Congress is not entirely useless.