Congress pretends to take on credit card industry

Ah ... it's that wonderful time of the political cycle again: After years of rolling over and playing dead, the folks in Washington are realizing that they're coming up on an election year. Quick! Better take on some issue that'll make it look like you're sticking up for the little guy!

In the midst of the subprime fallout, taking a stand against the consumer lending industry is definitely the way to go. Senator Barack Obama has unveiled his plan for a credit card bill of rights. To his credit, it's ambitious and really takes shots at predatory lenders. It also has no chance of passing in its current form, but hey.

Now we are gearing up for the ultimate in political grandstanding and populist posing: congressional hearings! As our own Lita Epstein wrote earlier, a panel led by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn.,are questioning executives from Discover, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and Capital One Financial (NYSE: COF) today to learn more about some of the industry's most perfidious techniques for separating customers from their money.

True: Some companies have made token changes in their treatment of consumers in response to Congressional hearings, but that's more to help the politicians they give money to look good, and the industry isn't paying millions to lobbyists for fun.