The Identity Theft Double Whammy

The New York Times reports that MasterCard now admits that "more than 40 million credit card accounts of all brands might have been exposed to fraud through a computer security breach at a payment processing company." If you are worried about this, you should be: Amazingly, Mastercard and other credit card companies will be able to legally profit off this error because of Congress.

What am I talking about? Back in March, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) offered legislation to prevent credit card companies from taking advantage of you if your financial troubles are caused by identity theft. The measure was voted down, thanks to credit card industry-bought politicians. That means MasterCard can lose your information, and be responsible for your identity being stolen and finances ruined. And then - that's right - MasterCard can legally seize on the situation by charging you excessively high interest rates because your credit has been ruined by their negligence.