The Thursday morning line on the network morning shows was unanimous: President Obama, the popular and populist consumer activist, would be rhetorically spanking those gougers at the credit card companies. It’s almost like a local-news feature. Call it “President On Your Side,” perhaps:

LISA MYERS, NBC: Good morning, Matt. Bailed out banks and their credit card operations are about as popular these days as Somali pirates. Now the President is taking them to the woodshed over recent increases, in rates and fees that are hitting millions of Americans.
JAKE TAPPER, ABC: He’ll tell them that he supports greater protections for consumers, such as banning unfair rate increases, abusive fees and penalties….He told the bank officials that he was the only thing standing between the bank officials and the pitch forks.
BILL PLANTE, CBS: In today’s meeting, the President will urge the credit card and bank executives to change their practices. But he will also tell them that it’s going to happen with or without their cooperation.

None of the so-called opponents of “stenography” at the networks seemed to read the Wall Street Journal editorial-page take to consider that the politicians have both hugged and then spanked the Princes of Plastic:

But then this week’s credit-card dog-and-pony show isn’t about helping consumers. It’s about once again blaming the bankers for what ails the economy, even if the political class is partly responsible. Our politicians spend half of their time berating banks for offering too much credit on too easy terms, and the other half berating banks for handing out too little credit at too high a price. The bankers should tell the President that they’ll start doing more lending when Washington stops changing the rules.