Usury Laws? In the 21st Century? Seriously?

It's now thirty years since that well-known right-wing firebrand, Justice Brennan, handed down the Supreme Court's decision in Marquette National Bank v. First of Omaha Service Corp. For the past decade, Elizabeth Warren has been castigating Marquette because the decision lets South Dakota impose Shylockian credit conditions on the innocent and unsuspecting American middle class. The middle class's reaction to this Cassandra of Credit has largely been a collective yawn, followed by a trip to the store to buy a big-screen TV or to take an extra vacation in the Bahamas, all financed by the creditors who are allegedly fleecing them and laughing all the way to the bank.

Now, up until now, I had generally thought of Elizabeth Warren as basically similar to my mother: well-intentioned but something of a killjoy. Yes, Mom, I did just sign up for another credit card - I'm sure I'll be able to pay it back someday, and if not I'll just get a new credit card and take a cash advance on it to make my credit card payments. Carpe diem - you only live once, so you might as well live it up.

Well, it now turns out that Elizabeth Warren has caught the ear of the Junior Senator from Illinois. Yes, it looks like Obama can cut another notch in his hyper-liberal belt, since he is now considering re-regulating the credit card industry. So that we can all relive the economic utopia that prevailed in this country before Justice Brennan handed down Marquette in 1978. I seriously don't get why Obama and the Democrats want to return this country to the 1970s. From my study of American history, it seems like the 1970s were pretty much the worst decade of the postwar era, and not one that most Americans look back on fondly. After the mean 1980s, the mean 1990s, and the mean 2000s, it's time to get back to the 1970s. Oh well, maybe after the country elects the neo-Carter, it'll elect a neo-Reagan in 2012.