Which Consumers Does "Consumers Rights League" Represent?

A group calling itself the Consumers Rights League ran a full-page advertisement July 17 on page 5B of USA Today arguing against a bill before Congress it says will "pickpocket consumers" at the gas pump. A compelling topic these days, right? The ad implies the bill, H.R. 5546, called the Credit Card Fair Fee Act by its sponsors, is anti-consumer (the same public position taken, incidentally, by Visa International). The "Consumers Rights League" doesn't say on its Web site, however, that it was started by Terry L. Kibbe, a former chief fundraiser for the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Cato Institute. A March article in Forbes mentions the group's origins and Kibbe, but no details on her resume, while noting her criticism of Self-Help Credit Union, the North Carolina-based relative of the Center for Responsible Lending, which advocates against payday loans. The Consumers Rights League Web site also contains several examples of anti-consumer-group rhetoric, but discloses no information about the group's funding, the site's origins or who runs it. A June research report on the site appears to argue on behalf of the credit card industry: "Most importantly, credit cards can provide inexpensive access to credit for low-income Americans, many of whom take advantage of 0% and low-interest rates to pay down debt," is one example.
-- A Full Frontal Scrutiny original report