My friend, and Manassas 7-11 owner Kashif Ghanzifar sent me this.
"Earlier this week, I
joined fellow 7-Eleven franchisees from across Virginia and Maryland to ask our
representatives in Congress to support commonsense swipe fee reform once and
for all. I was most eager to tell my Congressman how swipe fees hurt my
business. In a meeting with a staff member from Congressman Frank Wolf’s
office, he indicated the Congressman was still considering the issue and did
not have a position on efforts to delay swipe fee reform.
However, that same day,
Congressman Wolf signed on as a co-sponsor to a bill to delay swipe fee reform
for two years – a measure that would cost small businesses $33 million per day,
$1 billion per month, and nearly $14 billion per year. Needless to say, I
was deeply disappointed in my Congressman for supporting a bill that will
severely handicap my business, just hours after his staff indicated otherwise.
Why would they tell us
one thing, then go as far as to co-sponsor a bill saying the exact opposite?
A ‘swipe fee’ is the
cost that small businesses must incur each time a customer pays for a product
or service with a debit card. These fees have increased more than 500
percent in the last decade, and they have become one of my highest costs of
operating my business. If they continue to increase, my store’s survival
will certainly be at risk.
Congressman Wolf’s
deceptive move leads me to one of two conclusions: he either ‘forgot’ that he
said he would not take a position, or he is pandering to the big banks and credit
card companies who are desperately urging members of Congress to delay reform
to preserve their already deep pockets. I’ll go with the latter.
Members of the Senate
acknowledged the flaws in the swipe fee market last year and with a bipartisan
vote, passed Senator Durbin’s amendment 64-33. When this amendment was
passed into law, small business owners across the nation rejoiced – finally,
our voices were heard and we’d be able to get a fair chance to compete with the
Big Banks. Finally, there was light at the end of the tunnel, and small
businesses across America would be able to create
jobs, contribute to their local economies and offer better prices for their
customers. Unfortunately, the big banks and credit card companies had
different agendas, and they have used their deep pockets to derail reform on
Capitol Hill.
I took day off of work
to travel to his office in Washington, D.C., and ask Congressman
Wolf to support small business and protect swipe fee reform. Between 2009 and
2010, 7-Eleven franchisees, employees, and customers submitted over 1.6
million petitions nationally, and conducted dozens of meetings with members
of Congress and staff, urging members to support and pass commonsense swipe fee
reform. In Congressman Wolf’s district alone, 79 stores collected
and sent 19,454 petitions directly to Congressman Wolf’s office.
I’m not the executive of
a big bank, and I’m not asking for a multi-million dollar pay check. All
I’m asking for is for a fair chance. I thought that my representative
would at least listen to what I had to say, rather than tell me one thing and
do another the very next day. I believe that appropriate term is
“deceptive.” Yet, it appears that Congressman is pandering to the big banks,
rather than standing behind small businesses that were promised commonsense
swipe fee reform when it was signed into last year.
For small business owners
this fight is too important to give up. Swipe fee reform is critical for
our survival, and we will not let down. Small business owners have fought
for this issue for years, and we certainly aren’t going to let down now – even
if our own Congressman won’t listen."
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