About time

Far too often, when politicians get around to stepping into a situation, the average person has already decided that they've had enough. So it should come as no surprise to learn that government is finally considering stepping into another potential mess of a situation. And once again, their focus is internal, within our own borders.

More to the point, though, it's towards an institution that they're already very familiar with. It seems that Congress isn't too keen on the overdraft fees charged by banks.

Admittedly, this is a Congress that took the credit card companies to task for their business practices, and attacked mortgage lenders for being predatory, so it only makes sense that banks would find themselves on the short list. By the same token, people should really do a better job keeping a better eye on their own accounts, so as to hopefully avoid said charges. Obviously if people don't go negative with their accounts, they can't get charged.

That being said, it's probably for the best that there's at least consideration being given to someone stepping in, hopefully to start advocating for the consumer. Whether that stepping in is a more real-time example of people's financial situations, or just changing the order in which charges are applied remains to be seen. After all, while banks do need to see some sort of a profit, it probably shouldn't be coming entirely from people making mistakes with their money.

Of course, without the charges, imagine how bad the bailout might have been. And it's not like the government could charge $35 each time the bank made a mistake.