This excerpt originally appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on March 28, 2012.

Congress, the White House and most of the news media describe CARD as "pro-consumer." At first glance this description seems accurate. After all, don't consumers benefit when the fees and interest rates they must pay are reduced?

Although the answer to this question is "yes," this isn't the correct question.

The correct question is, "Don't consumers prefer to have the option of paying higher fees and interest rates if the alternative is having no access to credit at all?"