Letter to the Editor

Published 1:34 am Wednesday, November 16, 2022

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Dear Editor,

 

With the recent midterm elections wrapping up and all eyes on the new Congress, it’s easy to forget that Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and the rest of the Democrats in power still have a few months left to impose their agenda on the country.

Analysts in Washington have reported that we can all expect a big fight over an appropriations bill before the new group takes control. Most likely, this will be Biden’s last shot to push legislation through a fully Dem-controlled Congress, so it’s safe to say that anything put forth will include all kinds of Democrat pet projects.

For instance, a provision that Democrats have been trying to tag on to almost every bill for the past year is Sen. Dick Durbin’s S.4674. This bill is a sweetheart deal for big corporations like Amazon, Walmart and other small business killers.

It would impose price controls on the payment processing market and pass the cost on to average consumers by raising banking fees on checking accounts and other financial products that average Americans use daily.

This provision might cut costs for big corporations, but American small businesses and consumers would have to pick up the tab — just another bad example of corporate cronyism that we must oppose.

But don’t just take it from me – The Hill reported earlier this fall that “the Durbin Amendment …generated benefits for large-box retailers, [but] imposed substantial net costs on the majority of consumers, especially those from lower-income households.” 

Not a great idea for a law at a time when low-income families are already struggling to make ends meet! We cannot let them slip this in at the end of the year.

Tell your legislators to keep their feet to the fire and fight back against pork-filled spending bills. Just because the newly elected Congress may be more sensible with the legislation they promote does not mean we can take our eyes off the ball.

Oppose the Democrats’ push to saddle us with Durbin’s anti-small business, anti-consumer legislation (S.4674.) in the eleventh hour.

 

DK Willard