Dear Congress and the Credit Card Companies, this is an open Love Letter to You, you filthy greedy sons of bitches:

The Senate has screwed us, the American people, again. The banking and credit card industry has used our taxpayer money in the millions of dollars to lobby (that's the polite word for bribe) our Senators. And our Senators, way too many of them jumped through the hoop and voted down a bill that would have limited credit card interest rates to 15 percent.

The banks are charging as high as 30 percent and more. It used to be that this kind of rate was illegal and was practiced by guys we called loan sharks, who would come around and break your legs if you didn't pay. The banks don't do anything nearly that crude if you don't pay. They just take away your house, and ruin your credit and your marriage. And they do everything they can to make sure you live in a Kelvinator carton down on Skid Row.

But the banks are engaged in the same kind of criminal enterprise as those old mob guys we called loan sharks. So the next time you see your friendly neighborhood banker, what you are really seeing is a local goombah, whose allegiance is to the consigliore, the big mobster whor rnss the show, courtesy of the United States Congress, the best Congress money can buy.