Re: "
Mr. Durbin and politicians like him must live under the absurd notion that the citizens of the U.S. no longer have freedom of choice.
First, unless I read all the wrong newspapers, I don't recall that the retail merchandising sector dragged the country into recession because consumers found it too expensive to use their debit cards to purchase goods and services.
Second, in my experience, almost all merchants will still accept cash or a check as payment for their wares.
It seems to me that if interchange fees are so egregious as to stop commerce we would see more merchants refuse to accept debit cards in lieu of cash or checks. It doesn't appear that the "market" has made any such shift, and so I wonder what problem Mr. Durbin was really trying to solve. Apparently he doesn't believe that merchants or their customers can decide when a price is fair, so the Fed should? When will the Fed get to decide the price of stocks traded on the exchange, or at what price a farmer can sell produce or their farm?
Scott Yeoman
Chief Executive Officer
Central Bank & Trust
Colorado Springs, Colo.
