Just over half of U.S. adults (51%) fear that Congress will make it harder for some people to get approved for new credit cards if it forces credit card companies to reduce the interest they charge.

Twenty-three percent (23%) do not believe it will be harder to obtain new cards, but slightly more (26%) are not sure in a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Fifty-three percent (53%) of investors say congressional action aimed at protecting consumers will make it more difficult for some people to get new credit cards, compared to 49% of non-investors. In general, higher-income Americans are more concerned about this than those earning less per year.

At the same time, 80% of adults say credit card companies take unfair advantage of consumers with the interest rates they charge. Only 11% disagree, with nine percent (9%) unsure.

Investors are less suspicious of the credit card companies than non-investors. Just 76% of investors believe the companies take unfair advantage of consumers versus 84% of non-investors. Women (83%) are more critical of the companies’ interest rates than men (77%).

Eighty-seven percent (87%) of African-Americans think the credit card companies take unfair advantage, compared to 80% of whites. Democrats are more critical than Republicans by five points, with unaffiliated voters in between.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? Sign up now. If it's in the news, it's in our polls).

Eighty-five percent (85%) of adults also say credit cards tempt people to buy things they cannot afford, although 10% do not agree. Five percent (5%) are undecided.

Eighty-eight percent (88%) of whites see credit cards as a temptation, but just 77% of blacks agree. Again, generally speaking, those who earn the most annually are the ones who tend to view credit cards more critically on this question.

The Rasmussen Consumer and Investor Indexes both reached their highest readings in nearly two weeks on Tuesday but are still hovering around record lows.

Federal regulators last week announced new rules for credit card companies, including limits on interest rate increases and late fees, but they don’t take effect until July 2010. Several prominent Democrats in Congress want the rules to kick in sooner and, with their party’s expanded majorities in both the House and Senate, may push for that in the upcoming session. It’s unclear how successful their effort will be, however, given the condition of the U.S. banking system, which in early October received a $700-billion taxpayer-funded bailout.

Americans now reportedly have 1.2 billion credit cards and nearly $1 trillion in credit card debt. Synvote, a market research firm, estimates that Americans will receive roughly 4.2 billion offers for new credit cards in 2008, down 20% from the year before. But it also estimates that, among households that carry a card balance, the average balance is up to $7,539 from $7,008 in 2007.

In findings released just before Christmas, 21% of adults said they are carrying more credit card debt than a year ago, and 11% said their credit limit on one or more cards has been reduced in the past 12 months.

Sixty percent (60%) of adults rate credit cards important in terms of the U.S. economy, with nearly one-quarter (23%) saying they are Very Important. Just 10% say credit cards are not at all important to the economy.

Thirty-one percent (31%) of investors say credit cards are Very Important to the economy versus 15% of non-investors. Women, married adults and Republicans view credit cards as more important than men, unmarrieds and Democrats.

Sixty-two percent (62%) of whites say cards are important to the economy, compared to 40% of blacks. Again, higher-income adults tend to regard credit cards as more important than those who earn less annually.

Twenty-five percent (25%) of adults say they do not have any credit cards, but 38% say they have three or more cards. Nearly one-out-of-10 American adults who earn less than $20,000 a year (9%) say they have more than four credit cards.

Please sign up for the Rasmussen Reports daily e-mail update (it’s free)… let us keep you up to date with the latest public opinion news.

See survey questions and toplines. Crosstabs are available to Premium Members only.