A long overdue bill regarding credit card fees was passed on Tuesday by the Senate and is expected to be signed by President Obama.

Here are some of the bill's key provisions:

• Starting in 2010 charging consumers who pay by phone would be banned.
• Sudden surges in interest rates would also be banned.
• For consumers, it would clarify the cost of big ticket items by forcing consumers to recognize how much they are paying in interest.
• Card companies would also have to provide information on consumer counseling and debt management.

Being in the credit card business is getting more unattractive by the day. Economists think that the consumer default rate on plastic will move up at the same rate as unemployment. In other word, figures could move over 8%.

Now the federal government is getting ready to issue a bunch of consumer-friendly rules that could cut margins at issuers. According to Reuters, "The Federal Reserve is to vote on credit card reforms that may bring some relief to customers who face a variety of ways for being hit with late fees, universal defaults, shorter payment periods and confusing payment allocations for different balances."

Is that fair to banks and other card issuers? Probably not. A lot of their customers are deadbeats who know the day that they get their cards that they will not pay-off card balances. Some people run up balances on a dozen cards knowing full well that the can't cover those sums with their current incomes. Other grifters pay for their mortgages and food for their children when they lose jobs. Why shouldn't the money go to the companies that gave them their plastic?

Credit card companies are up against a lot of canny and dishonest customers. They should be able to do whatever they want so that they can make a profit.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.