, visa and mastercard establish what these fees are going to be.they impose them on the merchants who many times have -- are told late in the game how much the fee s they don't bargain them. they can't shop. there is no competition when it comes to the establishing of interchange fees. this will end this inefficient subsidy that visas have a and mastercard have created. the amendment directed the fed to implement regulations. the federal issued draft regulations in december. it is now working on final regulations to be completed in april and take effect in july. you know what they found, mr. president? their initial cut on thsm the average interchina fee is in the range of 40 cents and the average cost to use a debit card is about 10 cents. think of the overcharge that's going on with every single transaction. the next time you're standing in an airport and somebody hands a debit card to the cash year to pay for a pack of gum, think about that retailer just having lost money -- the only one who made money in the transaction was visa, mastercard and

i don't place my trust in visas and mastercard, and i'm not alone. last year a strong bipartisan majority in congress said, we better stand up for congress and retailers and consumers. and we passed this law. and now the banks and credit card companies are pulling out all the stops. i learned yesterday that chase, which is one of the major issuers of these debit cards across america, sent a letter to their customers in a number of states and said, you know, if you don't repeal the durbin amendment, we're going to end up in a position where we won't be able to give you all of the rewards which we're offering you on your debit and credit card. well, first, this just relates to debit cards, which don't carry the big reward programs. and, secondly, this kind of veiled threat from these credit card companies should not be taken seriously by any consumer across america. the last time we had credit card reform, we unfortunately waited months before it became law. the credit card companies saw it coming. so what did they do? they dramatically raised their in

jerry's flower shop doesn't have a fighting chance over visas or mastercard. they have to pay it or else. that is transferred to the customers. sheer another story. "my business has been in operation for about 35 years. we're just a small enterprise with five employees. the economic situation has taken a toll on my business but also on companies all across the country. i believe that swipe fees are hindering the struggling businesses even further. if these fees keep rising, they will eventually place such a strain on us, we may be forced to close our doors. please continue your efforts to regulate the debit swipe fees." here is a comment from a cull began water business in mccomb. he said, "we really cannot afford to keep hitting hit with unnecessary fees. please seek to get the proposed rule implemented quickly so that debit swipe fees will be lowered and small businesses will get some breathing room." i hope my colleagues understand these small businesses need relief right now. thethey need to understand that delaying swipe fee reform would give visa and mas

let's not let visa, mastercard and the banks fix prices for lack of competition. you know what the early analysis showed? the average interchange fee was 40 cents per transaction. the actual cost -- the actual cost closer to 10 cents. maybe even less. they were charging three to four times as much over the cost of actually clearing the transaction to merchants and retailers across america, which, of course, diminishes their profitability, diminishes their ability to expand their small businesses and large alike. and it it's -- it's passed on to the consumer. you would think even "the wall street journal", this bastion of conservatism and defender of the free market would know the obvious, the obvious is small businesses an large businesses are overcharged by credit card companies and banks without restraint. that's not a free market. that's imposing a cost. what is it worth? what is it worth in terms of interchange fees which they refer to kind of dismissively as small and not to be concerned about? what is it worth to the credit card industry and the major banks

a loose connection of tech savvy hackers, credited with bringing down the websites of mastercard and visa last december. retaliation, they say, for cutting off service to wikileaks. >> we sent a message, we don't appreciate you working with the feds. >> reporter: the feds, the fbi is now investigating anonymous for those attacks. raiding homes and issuing dozens of subpoenas. >> it's amusing, though. >> reporter: a self-described anarchist, brown proclaims he's policing wrongdoing, at least as anonymous defines it. and promoting the free flow of information. >> you may not know that wikileaks is protected by a global hacker nerd brigade known as anonymous. >> reporter: joked about by some, but very serious. they call themselves hacktivists. communicate via secure internet chatrooms, and in public protests, they hide their identities behind masks. >> when we break laws, we do so in service of civil disobedience. we do so ethically, we do it against targets that have asked for it. >> reporter: targets like h.b. gary, a major cyber security firm some agencies rely on to keep their compu

in yo dlyif you know, one of the best ways to make your pledge is by charging it to your visa, mastercard or american express. that makes it easyorou and makes it easy for this atn to save money. that allows us to put more of your contribution into the programming you enjoy. one of the best reasons to make your pledge is that you're not only indicating your approval of this program, you're also supporting plitevion dedication to relevant public affairs shows, programs that tell the story of america, that take the time to show you thbrdtanbety of culture and the arts. shows that care about kids and all the amazing things that make up the schedule for this puicelisn atn in a year's time. the most important and reliable form of support for this station has always been viewers like you - coming through with individual contributions. call the number on your screen to make your pledge right now. and don't forget the wonderful thanyogis. one more time - the dvd can be yours for a pledge of $75, the book, emotional freedom, for $90, and the otnafrdocoo t for $200. don't let anything stand in your

we saw something in fixing fees that there was a wonderful day when mastercard stock prices collapsed. what caused it? the implementation of dodd frank, allocations of humans between those -- basically the debit card fees. and what struck me about it is the legislations requires a sharp reduction in those going to banks, preliminary judgment was -- preliminary ruling was even stronger than the market had expected. the fed got flooded with all sorts of arguments. i don't know how that will come out. i do know this is the tip of the iceberg. the way to see it, failure to understand secondary consequences of what we are going to do. and remember that one of the aspects to respond to your question, one of the aspects of the process of determining capital investment is what type of finances are available. how refinancing goes on and so it is not a simple one shot deal. to the extent that there is uncertainty, it raises issues which would affect the capital investment to cash flow ratio. by how much i have no way of measuring. the fact that it does in my experience over the years, it is sig

maybe just a visa or mastercard should do the trick.eally want. >> the atm card as well as a credit card. >> yes. >> have both of those things on hand. at least you have a fallback plan if one of those fails. >> exactly. >> so jason character ron, who never fails to give us good advice. and all economics. thanks, jason. we appreciate it. have a great weekend. >>> coming up next, rocket man elton john gets an invite to the royal wedding. find out who else made the guest list. new details on prince william and kate's big day right after this. you're watching "the early show" on cbs. [ female announcer ] all you need for sensitive skin. all you expect from the number-one recommended detergent by dermatologists. all free clear is free of dyes and perfumes. and has powerful stainlifters to help get your whole wash clean. it's all good. dinner with the girls tonight. i really want dessert. i better skip breakfast. yep, this is all i need. [ stomach growls ] [ female announcer ] skipping breakfast to get ahead? research shows that women who ea

a report today by mastercard advisers spending pulse says consumers were buying in february.urchase increases in everything from clothing to furniture. clothing sales were up 6%. president obama may be putting government property up for sale. an official says the president will propose a board to review government owned real estate that could be sold or consolidated later today. any recommendations would be sent to congress for approval. according to the anonymous official, it could save $15 billion in the first three years. those are some of the latest headlines on c-span radio. >> we provide coverage of politics, public affairs, and american history. it's all available to you on television, radio, on line, and social media networking sites. find our content any time through c-span video library. we take c-span on the road with our digital bus, bringing our resources to your community. it is washington, your way. created by cable, provided by a -- provided as a public service. >> "washington journal" continues. host: jonathan allen, congressional reporter for "politico" and

just like when you get your credit line on your visa or mastercard and you go to charge something else, they say no. it is not beyond the realm of possibility that we will run up our credit line and i think that will be sooner rather than later. host: rep blake farenthold from texas. your first appearance on c-span. will you come back? guest: i love taking calls. you have a great view of the capital of. host: matt apuzzo will be joining us later. what does guantanamo bay mean for the detainees? that is coming up later in the program. coming up next, bernie sanders will be joing us. we will also be introducing you to our student cam winner. >> an international intelligence official says that nato forces have seized the most powerful iranian-made rocket ever smuggled into afghanistan for the taliban's upcoming spring campaign. the rockets can be fired up to 30 miles. iran has been supplying arms to the taliban since 2006. the united nations special investigator for torture is confirming that he has opened a probe into allegations of torture used by muammar gaddafi's forces. he tells repo

the provision in dodd-frank mou -- moot to read and we saw the fixing of fees with the site and mastercard stock prices collapsed. what caused it? it was an implementation of dodd-frank allocation and basically the debit cd basically the debit cards. what struck me about it is the legislation required the sharp reduction but the actual judgment was unless it is a poor minority rule was even stronger than the market that expected it was flooded with all sorts of arguments. i don't know how that's going to come up and i don't know the final rule on this is. i do know that this is the tip of the iceberg. we are going to be willing to see it meaning that to understand the secondary consequences of what the rules are going to do. and remember one of the aspects to respond to your question, one of the aspects of the process of determining the cabelas investment -- capital investment is what to expect and refinancing so it is not a simple ram shot deal. to the extent there is uncertainty in the financial structure, it raises issues which would affect the capitol investment to the cash flow ratio.

mastercard says that consumers really fill upd their tank a lot in the earlier part of the week in anticipationf higher prices amid the unrest in libya. more drivers pumped gas starting on wednesday. then the demand tapered off a bit by friday, scott, so an example of some of the hoarding we're seeing. how is that bicycle going for you? >> with the rain here, not very well. thank you. christina loren knows a lot about rain so i rushed to work and i beat the rain but then left my umbrella in the car. >> looks like you're going to do this as you leave later on this morning, scott. hey, that try sickle you have. things are looking good. we have clearing on the way. the bulk of the moisture has come through but it's still really windy in parts of the east bay, especially oakland. we've got wind gusts in excess of 40 miles per hour and sustained wind speed of 28 miles per hour so. enough to knock you around over the bridges this morning. you want to take it easy out there, we do have slick conditions in some spots but the wind has been so strong all night that the rain hasn't been able to accumulate