A Consumer Bill Gives Exemption on Payday Loans

[ShockediSay]

Source: NYTimes

Senator Bob Corker, the Tennessee Republican who is playing a crucial role in bipartisan negotiations over financial regulation, pressed to remove a provision from draft legislation that would have empowered federal authorities to crack down on payday lenders, people involved in the talks said. The industry is politically influential in his home state and a significant contributor to his campaigns, records show....

Late last month, Mr. Corker pressed Mr. Dodd to scale back substantially the power that the consumer protection agency would have over such companies, according to three people involved in the talks....

Asked whether the industry’s campaign contributions to him had shaped his thinking about the issue, he replied, “Categorically, absolutely not.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/business/10regulate.html

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Absolutely not? His district might believe that, but not the rest of the free world, which will take this statement for what it is, Grand Corruption.

IMHO, Corker doesn't represent the people in his district, but his corporate fundies, made all the more powerful in our March toward Fascism, by Roberts, Alito and the Lobbyists.

[AllentownJake]

1. This congress and administration will not pass any meaningful Financial Reform

That is the one thing I can bank on.

[RKP5637]

3. Quite true, not with the money and kickbacks they get from corps. and lobbyists. n/t

[RKP5637]

2. This is pure BS to exclude payday loans!!! n/t

[Mithreal]

4. +1 "The fundamentals of our economy are strong."

[BrklynLiberal]

5. Duh..Thanks for nothing...What is the next exemption?

[unblock]

6. i believe him when he says it didn't shape his thinking on the issue. his thinking always was:

"i'll pay off anyone who bribes me!"

[n2doc]

7. Again, bipartisan means "piece of shite"

Really, why aren't we running ads like "When we try to work with republicans like Corker, all they bring to the table are plans to help the crooks and banksters who are screwing us"

[Turbineguy]

8. What that tells us

is that Payday lenders cannot possibly function under normal banking rules. There's a clue there. On the other hand, they are an improvement over loan sharks who break your legs.

[Mithreal]

12. Elaborate on there's a clue there, please.

[Turbineguy]

17. The interest

rates are very high. It's a business that thrives on the working poor. They do a public service but I'm not sure it's a "good" public service.

I became concerned about the long-term health of the US economy when these places started proliferating in the 1990's. Canary in the coalmine thing.

[Mithreal]

18. Yep, and on Hartmann, think he mentioned more of these than McDonald's in the US.

could have misheard

I would guess there are some DU'ers unfamiliar with this particular canary and what it means.

[Turbineguy]

20. I don't think they are "evil".

I just think the large number of them tells a story. If you go to a town and every other business is a saloon, it's safe to conclude that people there spend most of their time drinking. Driving in safety might be an issue. If you want to put in a factory in this town, hiring sober people might be difficult.

A population that supports these businesses would mean a large or at least growing population of working poor.

These businesses exist of people who don't have much disposable income and what little they do have is siphoned off as interest. So if you are thinking of selling some product there you have to stand in line.

It's like the difference between a Walmart and a Hospital. The Walmart employs a bunch of people who are poorly paid. A hospital employs a bunch of people who are well-paid. Both take up about the same amount of real estate.

[Mithreal]

21. +1

[brewens]

9. I can just imagine the half-wits in his state hearing that Obama

is takin' away their payday loans! How will we ever pay our bills? Next they'll tell us Walmart can't cash our checks. That $3 Walmart charges was saving us money just like them people on the TV said!

[4_TN_TITANS]

13. "the half-wits in his state"?

The other choice in his election was Harold Ford Jr. - think he would be any better? That said, Corker is getting schooled very well by the Sr. Senator on how to take care of the corps instead of the people.

[brewens]

15. I wasn't implying everyone in his state is a half-wit. I was referring to

teabagger types that would find something wrong with cracking down on payday loan businesses.

[Metta]

10. Jesus, happy freaking karma, Bob.

You bring the weight of this suffering upon yourself. Hurting those who suffer perpetuates suffering which you reap and increases the dues you have to pay. Is the Senate where smart people go to die?

[KoKo]

11. Corker is always on CNBC yukking it up with the anchors there...

He's also a favorite of Tweety Matthews. He needs to be called out about this.

[Cobalt-60]

14. If we cant get these sharks regulated

Perhaps we need to burn them out.

[pundaint]

16. Effective policy may be seen as unreasonably violent - at least until that's all that's left.

[Mithreal]

19. You got sharks right. Plenty of alternatives to violence.

Could hold out carrots for community banks to do this sort of lending, though as I understand it, many poor communities even lack banks. This is all the fault of conservative economic policies. These places aren't to blame, they are a symptom.

[2Design]

22. so they support legalized mafia - too bad

[TomCADem]

23. Tea Partiers Direct Their Anti-Wall Street To The GOP Who Are Pro-Wall Street

It would be like anti-war Democrats voting for Dick Cheney to send a message to Barack Obama.