Bank of America plans to announce today that it is eliminating $35 overdraft fees on debit-card purchases as the bank tries to stay ahead of a sweeping round of regulations. The move means that any customer who attempts a purchase with insufficient funds will be denied at the point of sale. That will affect people who get nicked on small, everyday transactions such as coffee, groceries or subway passes without knowing their account is temporarily running a deficit. The policy will begin for new customers June 19 and in August for existing debit-card holders. Citigroup has a similar policy in place. Overdraft fees are an important source of revenue for banking institutions, which earned $36.7 billion in 2008 for service charges on deposits even as U.S. banks got massive infusions of taxpayer-funded aid.
Israel apologized today for disrupting the visit of Vice President Biden with its announcement of 1,600 new homes in disputed East Jerusalem but made clear it had no intention of reversing the order that has cast a shadow over the latest U.S. push for Mideast peace. As Biden held talks with top Palestinian leaders in the West Bank, Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai, whose office announced the construction on lands Palestinians claim for a future state, said the problem was about timing, not substance. "We had no intention, no desire, to offend or taunt an important man like the vice president during his visit," Yishai told Israel Radio. "I am very sorry for the embarrassment. We need to remember that approvals are done according to law even if the timing was wrong. ... Next time we need to take timing into account." Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said the Israeli announcement was "damaging" and posed a "great challenge" to restarting peace talks.
Americans have come to detest Congress ever more deeply as it nears the end of a nasty fight over health care. But more than half still back President Obama, a bright spot for a Democratic Party counting on its leader to help stave off expected losses in elections this fall. The latest Associated Press-GfK poll finds that fewer people approve of Congress than at any point in Obama's presidency. Support has dropped significantly since January to 22% as the health care debate has roiled Capitol Hill. Neither Republicans nor Democrats are safe; half of all people say they want to fire their congressman. Conversely, Obama's job-performance standing is holding fairly steady at 53%. The president has gained ground on national security issues, specifically the subsiding Iraq war and the escalating Afghan war.
Also in the news...
- A top Muslim cleric in Egypt dies.
- Scientists recover DNA from extinct birds.
Trolling the websites: The BBC says China's exports surged 46% in February, raising hopes of a strong recovery in global trade. Bruce Riedel writes in The Daily Beast that if the Pakistanis keep up their push against the Taliban, "NATO will find the job easier, although still bloody and expensive." Ed Kilgore writes in The New Republic that although the GOP seems poised to make big gains in congressional races in the South, the Dems have a decent chance of retaking the Deep South governorships in Alabama, South Carolina and Georgia.
Then there's the papers: The Philadelphia Daily News, right,quotes an ex-boyfriend of a woman arrested as "JihadJane," as saying she never spoke about international events or Muslims to him and calls the case "very strange." The Boston Globe says the Archdiocese of Boston is using radio spots and a website to try to lure Catholics back to confession. The Wall Street Journal that Royal Dutch Shell no longer plans to sell gasoline to Iran in the latest oil company move during threats of tougher sanctions against the Islamic republic. The Austin American-Statesman says changes in Texas' textbook purchasing practices could mean that the state will no longer be the controversial arbiter of content it has been in the past.
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