In an article titled "Rising Credit Card Losses Are Next Challenge for Banks" in Monday's New York Times, Eric Dash and Andrew Martin write about the rising credit losses ahead for US credit card issuers. They write that "credit card lenders are bracing for the worst year [2009] in the industry’s history."

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David Sarasohn's column in today's Oregonian from Portland is about Senator Jeff Merkeley and his involvement in trying to get Senate passage of credit card reforms in the week or two ahead. Prior to being elected to the Senate, he tried to pass legislation as a member of the House in state of Oregon - saying "I tried to write a bill in Oregon and was told that states could not legislate on credit cards."