SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) speaks to a reporter on Capitol Hill. (Photo: Susan Walsh/AP)
Turns Out "Spooky 'Socialist' Proposals" Are Popular, Says AOC, As Poll Shows 70% of GOP Voters Back Plan to Cap Credit Card Rates
Progressive proposals are "winning over vast majorities of GOP voters because they are common-sense, humane policies," said the New York congresswoman
May 15, 2019
A survey released Tuesday found that nearly 70 percent of Republican primary voters support a proposal by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders to cap credit card interest rates at 15 percent.
Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders introduced the bicameral Loan Shark Prevention Act last week, vowing to tackle the greed of credit card companies that are turning a major profit by hitting Americans with exorbitant interest rates.
According to the Business Insider survey, 68 percent of respondents overall, and 73 percent of Democratic primary voters, said they either support or strongly support the legislation.
In response to the poll, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted: "Oh, what's that? All these spooky 'socialist' proposals are winning over vast majorities of GOP voters because they are common-sense, humane policies? Ya don't say."
The bicameral bill would establish a 15 percent federal cap on credit card interest rates while allowing states to set a lower maximum rate.
"There is no justifiable reason that a person--no matter their background--should be charged an interest rate higher than 15 percent," Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement after the legislation was introduced last week. "Rates higher than 15 percent are predatory debt traps, designed to keep working families underwater and allow predatory companies to enrich themselves off the misfortune of others."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
A survey released Tuesday found that nearly 70 percent of Republican primary voters support a proposal by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders to cap credit card interest rates at 15 percent.
Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders introduced the bicameral Loan Shark Prevention Act last week, vowing to tackle the greed of credit card companies that are turning a major profit by hitting Americans with exorbitant interest rates.
According to the Business Insider survey, 68 percent of respondents overall, and 73 percent of Democratic primary voters, said they either support or strongly support the legislation.
In response to the poll, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted: "Oh, what's that? All these spooky 'socialist' proposals are winning over vast majorities of GOP voters because they are common-sense, humane policies? Ya don't say."
The bicameral bill would establish a 15 percent federal cap on credit card interest rates while allowing states to set a lower maximum rate.
"There is no justifiable reason that a person--no matter their background--should be charged an interest rate higher than 15 percent," Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement after the legislation was introduced last week. "Rates higher than 15 percent are predatory debt traps, designed to keep working families underwater and allow predatory companies to enrich themselves off the misfortune of others."
A survey released Tuesday found that nearly 70 percent of Republican primary voters support a proposal by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders to cap credit card interest rates at 15 percent.
Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders introduced the bicameral Loan Shark Prevention Act last week, vowing to tackle the greed of credit card companies that are turning a major profit by hitting Americans with exorbitant interest rates.
According to the Business Insider survey, 68 percent of respondents overall, and 73 percent of Democratic primary voters, said they either support or strongly support the legislation.
In response to the poll, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted: "Oh, what's that? All these spooky 'socialist' proposals are winning over vast majorities of GOP voters because they are common-sense, humane policies? Ya don't say."
The bicameral bill would establish a 15 percent federal cap on credit card interest rates while allowing states to set a lower maximum rate.
"There is no justifiable reason that a person--no matter their background--should be charged an interest rate higher than 15 percent," Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement after the legislation was introduced last week. "Rates higher than 15 percent are predatory debt traps, designed to keep working families underwater and allow predatory companies to enrich themselves off the misfortune of others."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.