Colorado: Tara Trujillo

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a credit-card holders protection act — a version of an idea first introduced in the House more than four years ago by then-Rep. Mark Udall.

The bill that passed the Senate — and which will be reconciled with a House version this week — clamps down on the freedom of banks and credit-card companies to sharply increase rates even on consumers with good credit.

Sen. Udall, a Democrat from Eldorado Springs, hatched the idea in 2005 after watching a staff member's experience with a credit-card company that boosted his interest rate to 21 percent even though he had never missed a payment.

Members of Colorado's congressional delegation on Monday started to receive their allotments of nearly 2,200 inaugural tickets and began distributing them to both the lucky and well-connected.

But how many of the recipients are staffers, family members, business associates, campaign donors or in-state residents is almost entirely unknown. While aides to President-elect Barack Obama have pledged inaugural transparency, the delegation isn't talking.

All nine of Colorado's elected officials declined a request from The Denver Post to disclose the names of ticket recipients. The seven Democrats in the delegation also passed on providing breakdowns of tickets distributed to family, friends and campaign donors.

In a sign national Democrats are confident about Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Mark Udall's chances on Nov. 4, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee will stop its television advertising in Colorado by Tuesday, the Denver Post reported Wednesday.

The DSCC, which has spent nearly $4.6 million on advertising in support of Udall against Republican opponent Bob Schaffer, will focus instead on U.S. Senate races in other states, according to the Post.