The country is mired in debt and people are having an increasing difficulty in paying it off. This has both been a symptom and cause of the horrible economic situation that stands before us. Credit card companies, needing more money too, have resorted to adding all sorts of fees and charges as well as changing the contracts and interest rates of their cardholders.

One way credit card issuers make money, besides the extremely high interest rates they charge, are to assess penalties on late payments and to raise rates on those that are delinquent. The way things have been is that those folks who have problems paying are most likely just going to get into more trouble as they get slammed with other fees and charges levied on them by their card companies. So, it is clear that some Obama debt relief is needed but is that what we are getting?

The Obama credit card debt relief reform has halfway kicked in now in an attempt to give people a fighting chance against their creditors. Starting in August 2009, some changes were made that will make things a bit better for consumers. Additional measures will also begin in February 2010 that will lay down a few more new rules. The question is though, are these new reforms really enough?

Right now, instead of the 30 day notice credit card issuers had to give before they changed your contract and raised your rates, they now have to give you 45 days notice with these new laws that just started. If you don’t want to sign a new contract with a higher interest rate you don’t have to and you will automatically have 5 years to pay off your balance at your old rate. If you refuse to sign the new contract though, you will have your credit card terminated.

Another new thing that has gone into effect with Obama’s credit card debt relief program is that you will be getting your bill sooner than you did before. Creditors must put their bills in the mail 21 days before the due date instead of the old 14 days and this will give consumers more time to get their payments in on time. Hopefully this will cut down on those late payments and those extra charges that credit card companies love to hand out.

Starting in February of 2010 there will be even more rules that the credit card companies have to comply with. No longer will they be permitted to raise interest rates on existing balances of their customers unless it is an account that is more than 60 days late paying or it is specifically written into the contract. This is beneficial to the masses out there who are concerned that their credit card issuers might raise their interest on the balances they have outstanding which would be devastating to some.

So, those are some of the changes that have and will result from the new Obama credit card relief reforms that have been pushed through Congress. There is no doubt that they will help some, but are these measures really enough and do they address the real problem? It seems the real problem is the outrageously high interest rates these credit card companies are charging.

While we the regular people are getting bank CD and Treasury bill interest rates of 1% to 3%, these credit companies are charging anywhere from 18% to 30%. It is almost like a license to steal and the people it hurts the most is the poor people who have no money to begin with! It is a difficult situation because it is rarely a good idea to have government regulation and the free market should always prevail. But if you really want to get to the root of many people’s problems, it is these high interest rates that are driving them to bankruptcy.

Obama’s credit card debt relief measures seem to skirt around the real issue of these high rates that would make many loan sharks happy. All the creditors are going to do with these regulations now are to change their contracts so that anything going forward will specifically lay out that rates can be changed. It seems like this new legislation is meant in the right spirit but like most things the government does, it doesn’t fix the problem. The people who really are in trouble will remain in trouble and they will continue to search for anyway out including Obama stimulus grants. At least that’s my take on the subject.