I appreciate the fact that credit card companies are now required to disclose the true measure of their lending practices on our bill each month. Thanks to consumer advocates, companies like CapitalOne now have to reveal to me that if I choose to pay only my minimum balance at their usury rate of 18% interest, chances are new life forms will have emerged before I make a dent in my debt.

There’s even a whole new federal agency in charge of stopping, or at least acknowledging, financial piracy — the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

And as important as this issue is, I have to wonder why Congress is not addressing another issue of disclosure, or perhaps more accurately “dis-clothes-ure.” The mail order catalogs started to arrive even before the vernal equinox, reminding me that it’s time to buy a 2012 swimsuit or seven.

Athleta sends me this …

which would be completely inspiring if, like these girls, I had been doing crunches since the 2011 catalog arrived.

And then there’s this curious pose…

which got me thinking about the credit card industry and misleading practices.

The Center for Disease Control reports that the average American woman is a little less than 5’4″, she weighs almost 165 pounds, and her waist line is 37″. I’m proposing legislation that would authorize a newly created Bathing Suit Protection Bureau to mandate predatory companies like Athleta feature an inset photo of women who are 5’4″, 165 pounds attempting this beachfront maneuver.

More mature companies, like Lands End, obviously already see this coming. They portray their summer line-up minus the buff models making judgmental faces at us…

These swimsuits would look just as good on my blank wall as they look in the catalog. Now that’s truth in advertising.