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Millions of the Americans who are struggling with credit card debt may start to finally see some relief on Thursday, as the first phase of President Barack Obama’s reform of the the credit industry is  put into place.

As of August 20th, credit card companies are now required by law to mail bills a full 21 days in advance of their due date, giving consumers ample time to budget and avoid the high cost of late charges. The former law allowed the companies to mail statements as late as 14 days before they were due, meaning by the time they made their way through the mail some consumers had just a few days to get payments in before being slapped with late fees.

The new law also changes the way credit card companies make changes to the basic contracts that they hold with their credit customers. They will now have to give 45, not 30 days notice of any major changes to an individual contract, including any changes to the interest rate that consumers are charged.

Consumers will now also be allowed the right to reject proposed changes to their contract, being given the chance to pay off their outstanding balances at their current interest rate within five years.

Although money experts applaud the changes in the billing period rules they warn that those who choose to pay off balances in five years may face much higher monthly minimum payments as they will have effectively significantly limited the amount of time they have to pay off their debts.

There are more and perhaps more significant changes to come. The second phase of Obamas’s plan is due to go into effect in February 2010 and promises even more radical changes.

Under that phase anyone under the age of 21 who applies for a credit card must have an adult co-signer and even then their credit limits will be restricted. Currently it is not difficult for college students to obtain credit cards when enrolled in formal education and many get into serious credit card debt very quickly.

The February changes will also prohibit credit card issuers from raising interest rates on existing balances unless the card holder falls more than 60 days behind on their scheduled minimum payments. This could potentially provide a boon for a great many households as as they will not end up paying more for money they have already borrowed in the past.

Malia and Sasha’s Summer Vacation – It’s not all about Disney and Ice cream

Two of the most famous tweens in the world – Malia and Sasha Obama – are enjoying the long summer break from school just like millions of their peers across the country.

As the children of the President of the United States of America it is perhaps inevitable that their summer activities will be just a little more exciting than the average kid’s summer holiday. They have indeed spent long summer afternoons lounging around at Camp David, swooned over the Jonas Brothers, and spent time taking in the splendors of the Eiffel Tower. But typical of the style of parenting First Lady Michelle Obama prefers their long vacation is not all about fun and games.

On a recent trip to Ghana the Obamas took their daughters to see an old slave port and according to the President used the opportunity to educate their girls about both sides of the slave trade. He said that he asked them to imagine how they might feel if they were suddenly snatched away from Mom and Dad to be sent to a strange land, but he also encouraged them to imagine the life and motives of the slave traders as well. The exercise Mr. Obama said was to “make sure that they are constantly asking themselves questions about whether they are treating people fairly and — and whether they are examining their own behavior and how it affects others.”

Other learning opportunities for the girls have included a meeting with the Pope and a visit to Moscow.

Not everybody is cheering the Obamas on in their efforts to provide a meaningful first summer in the White House though.

Last month a Republican Senator, Charles E. Grassley suggested that President Obama had “some nerve” taking his family on a sightseeing tour of Paris when he should be at home focusing on health care reform issues.  A Philadelphia Daily News columnist John Baer was similarly disapproving, writing a piece in which he pondered how families forced to cancel their summer vacations because they had lost their jobs felt about the Obama’s plans to vacation in the tony Martha’s Vineyard area at the end of August.

White House officials are quick to point out that the Obama’s cover the costs of all personal travel out of their own pocket and that the everyday stress of Presidential life makes such breaks almost a necessity.

Henry Louis Gates “happy to oblige” as Obama suggests a meeting with Sergeant Crowley

Barack Obama Suggests a Meeting with Sergeant Crowley

Henry Louis Gates

In attempt to quell the controversy in which he has become reluctantly embroiled, President Barack Obama has suggested that Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates and Massachusetts police Sergeant James Crowley  meet  at the White House “for a beer”, and for his part Gates says he would be “happy to oblige”.

On the website TheRoot.com Gates writes of his phone call with Obama that discussed his July 16^th arrest and the resulting fallout. According to the post “I am pleased that [Obama] is eager to use my experience as a teaching moment, And if meeting Sgt. Crowley for a beer with the President will further that end, then I would be happy to oblige”

This comes at the end of a week when President Obama was drawn into the kind of debate he went to great lengths to avoid while on the campaign trail in 2008 – a discourse on race and racial profiling.

The Gates story began on July 16^th in conservative Cambridge, Massachusetts when the much decorated Harvard stalwart was arrested outside the home that he rents from the college after a neighbor had called police under the misguided impression that an intruder was breaking into the two story home. In actuality the “burglar” was Professor Gates himself, attempting to open a door that had become jammed shut . When police arrived a confrontation arose between Gates and veteran Cambridge police office Sergeant James Crowley, resulting in the black professor’s arrest for disorderly conduct.

The charges were quickly dropped, but not before a national debate had been ignited about the continuing practice of “racial profiling “by law enforcement officers in “Obama’s America.”

The President himself joined the fray when he told reporters that in his estimation the police officers had “acted stupidly.” A group of enraged police officers went on the offensive in support of Sergeant Crowley and on Friday President Obama admitted that he regretted how he had chosen to phrase his opinion, but has not issued the full apology that the Cambridge officers had demanded on their colleague’s behalf.

Sergeant Crowley has yet to comment upon the White House invitation but he too has spoken with the President via telephone, a conversation during which Crowley says he apologized that the arrest and its fallout had distracted from far more pressing issues, such as Obama’s continuing battle to pass his health care reform measures.