Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar (D) introduced a bill to congress today that would restrict the amount cell phone carriers could charge for early termination fees when consumers choose to terminate their cell phone contracts early. Klobuchar’s bill would mandate that termination fees be pro-rated from the date of the contract start through the end of the contract.

“Changing your wireless provider shouldn’t break the bank,” Klobuchar said. “Forcing consumers to pay outrageous fees bearing little to no relation to the cost of their handset devices is anti-consumer and anti-competitive.”

Personally, I really like this senator. She has been on the front lines of consumer protection and her legislative efforts have been ramped up since the financial crisis that started in October 2008, pushing for a full and complete accounting of the unpopular TARP bill (troubled asset relief program). She’s a “populist” and that’s what I like about her. However, there’s a decent argument to be made for consumer choice and the intervention of government in the private sector. In the comments section of the article link below is an impassioned reader comment that presents a reasonable argument.

‘Forcing consumers to pay outrageous fees bearing little to no relation to the cost of their handset devices is anti-consumer and anti-competitive.’ This is absolutely disgusting.1. No one forces consumers to pay “outrageous fees.” Consumers incur those “fees” when they voluntarily breach their contracts with their service providers. And they aren’t fees. They’re penalties. More akin to damages for the consumer’s failure to live up to his end of the bargain. Quit playing the victim. No one’s forcing you to dump your Verizon plan for an ATT plan.2. And the “outrageous fees” have an absolute and direct relationship to the cost of the handset.

Now, there’s nothing in this reader’s statement that indicates a political party, though one would have to conclude a conservative, market-based paradigm of the world. It should be noted that the previous administration also investigated this issue last year and held hearings on the matter.

This isn’t Klobuchar’s first mention of this issue. She previously sent letters to Verizon Wireless chief executive Lowell McAdam and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski asking for a formal review of the ETF hike Verizon announced about a week after the Motorola Droid was debuted to the public.

Verizon Wireless’ decision shows us once again that the wireless industry cannot police itself and will not, on its own, make its practices more competitive and consumer-friendly. [snip] To that end, I urge the FCC to review the recent Verizon Wireless decision as well as the competitive and economic impact of ETFs on wireless consumers.

Check out the article here.

Verizon hikes ETFs shortly after Droid debut