Iowa Senator Tom Harkin (D) proposed capping automated teller machine (“ATM”) fees at 50 cents. Why not cap soda dispensing machines at 75 cents? Better yet, shouldn’t Congress mandate the maximum fee charged by the candy machine in the break room at work?
What is wrong with our legislators? How much time, energy, and money do they waste on trying to legislate things that they should simply stay out of?
It’s really very simple. If you need cash and don’t want to pay the stated fee at the ATM then don’t get the cash from that machine. You have many ways of accessing your cash without paying ATM fees. Is the concept of taking responsibility for one’s actions so difficult to understand?
Regulating ATM fees is in fact telling a private business how much money they can charge for a product or service. Did Senator Harkin give any thought to the cost of the ATM machine? Did he think about the annual maintenance required to operate the machine? No, merely cap the fee and limit the potential profitability of the bank that provides this service.
Survey question of the day – when will capitalism return?
