Winning means losing some

A win for credit card consumers, but a devastating loss for gun control and wildlife supporters.

When the win is a devastating loss, the only option is to keep your head high and your hopes higher.

US consumers obtained a sweeping victory yesterday after the Senate passed the first credit card reform bill in decades to stop interest rate spikes and penalty fees, which hurt consumers.

The new credit card rules give consumers more transparent information to manage their debt. The bill represents the first regulatory steps the Obama Administration is taking to reform the financial system.

But this bill does not come without a price. The hidden agenda is the amendment to allow loaded and concealed weapons in national parks and wildlife refuge centers. Confused? Me too.

The amendment was added as a last action measure by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) despite every legislative trick in the book by Democrats to prevent a vote on gun rights. Champions of the gun proposal relish this victory on the fact that recent Democratic ranks include senators and House members who represent Western states and more rural areas where gun ownership is popular and almost sacrosanct.

But the clear outmaneuver here is that Republicans are beginning to regroup and even if the Obama White House is lukewarm about gun control issues, the majority of Democrats see this as a devastating loss for environmental activists and wildlife supporters.

When this bill comes to effect in 2010, states will be the ones to legislate on gun control and safety, and this would clear the way for Congress to reinstate the Bush policy, which will further strip off federal responsibility to protect wildlife.

The bigger question to consider here is not whether the constitutional right to bear arms is upheld by the Federal government, but whether carrying a concealed, loaded firearm really protects lives. The reality is that this bill offers sanctuary for criminals to commit their crimes and endangers wildlife even further.

Gun control and conservation groups have urged lawmakers to insist on a credit card bill without such politically charged proposals attached to it, as in the case of a bill that grants DC full voting representation in the House, but which Republicans have attached gun rights initiatives.

This is a dirty game, attaching unrelated legislative proposals to bills, which Republicans are good at playing. Government seems to move one step forward and two steps backwards.