Bailed-Out Banks Face Probe

Populist outrage has been on low boil in recent weeks. Will this turn up the heat? The Wall Street Journal reports that the Congressional Oversight Panel will investigate bailed-out banks, which have “boosted charges on a wide range of routine transactions, hiked rates on credit cards and continued making loans criticized as predatory by consumer advocates.” Last week, for example, Bank of America doubled interest rates on credit cards to 14 percent and imposed fees of at least $10 on many transactions. "The people who are subsidizing the activities of the banks through their tax dollars are the same people who are furnishing the high profits through consumer lending," said Elizabeth Warren, the COP’s chairwoman. "In a sense, we're asking taxpayers to pay twice."