Many Wisconsin legislators and residents have recently pondered why so many of the state's businesses were closing up shop.
We can suggest one thing that certainly isn't helping businesses keep the doors open and the lights on: credit card transaction fees.
Earlier this year, the president signed into law the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act, or CARD Act. The law is to correct the bad behavior of credit card companies. Rather than react responsibly and begin actions to comply with the new law, the industry has instead moved quickly to raise rates, increase fees and reduce available credit before the law goes into effect next year."
"In 2008, transaction fees in America topped $48 billion, the highest total in the developed world. They have escalated more than 300% since 2001.
In the U.S. Bankruptcy Court's Eastern District of Wisconsin, there have been almost seven times as many Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings in the first nine months of this year than in the same period in 2008.
Chapter 11 allows troubled businesses to reorganize. Many small business owners have used up their retirement savings and the equity in their homes in hopes they could ride out the recession and rebound in time. But many have run out of time and money."
