Donald Trump has a new economic grenade to lob into 2026 politics: cap credit card interest rates at 10 percent. According to Vanderbilt University researchers, that one move would save Americans $100 billion every year in interest costs. Banks and credit card giants hate it, of course, but the paper makes clear they’d survive just fine – they’d lose some perks, maybe trim back on free airport lounges, but they’d still turn a profit. Ken Sweet of the AP lays out the numbers, the history of usury laws, and how the idea has already caught traction with Josh Hawley, Bernie Sanders, and AOC – strange political bedfellows if there ever were.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Vanderbilt study: a 10% cap = $100 billion in annual savings for American families.
- Banks whine it’ll “kill rewards” but research shows they’d still make money, just not Monopoly-money-level profits.
- Usury laws aren’t new – they’re biblical. Trump just dragged them back into the populist spotlight.
- Both left (Sanders, AOC) and right (Hawley) have filed bills echoing Trump’s idea. When that crew agrees on something, you know the banks are sweating.
- Average Americans are drowning in $1.21 trillion of credit card debt, with rates averaging 21 percent – a decade ago it was 12.
My Bottom Line
The left loves to screech that Trump is a puppet for “the rich,” yet here he is proposing something that would have Goldman Sachs choking on their artisanal cocktails. No tax on tips. No tax on Social Security. And now this? These are policies that scare the hell out of Jared Polis and Colorado Democrats because they actually help regular working people.
Sure, Americans “signed up” for high rates – but when inflation drives people to swipe plastic just to buy groceries, the blame doesn’t rest with families. It rests with the ruling class that lets banks turn into legalized loan sharks. Even if capped, banks will still make money – just not obscene bonuses for their executives.
This is populism at its finest. Common Americans don’t want another lecture about “social justice.” They want justice against a system that rewards predators and punishes workers. Trump’s idea gives them that. His banker buddies may hate it, but for families living off plastic just to keep the lights on, this could be the lifeline they need.
Meanwhile in Colorado… While Trump talks about cutting the weight on working families, Polis and Colorado Democrats keep finding new ways to add to it. No, they’re not capping interest rates to save you $100 billion nationally. They’re inventing “creative” little revenue streams called FEEEEEEEEs – like the $29 “Keep Colorado Wild” charge stapled to every car registration, whether you hike or not.
According to the Common Sense Institute, fee collections per Coloradan exploded from about $225 in 2000 to $4,322 in 2024. That’s a 3,400% jump while population and inflation only rose 196%. Translation: while Trump’s policies scare the banks, Polis’s policies fleece the people. One side is trying to relieve the squeeze, the other is figuring out how to wring another drop out of you before your next DMV renewal.
