Townhall.com:

In 2005, Fortune Magazine wrote a powerful column comparing Fannie May to Enron.  The subtitle said it all: “This is not your ordinary accounting fraud. Yes, there’s the matter of $9 billion in overstated earnings. But the fight over Fannie is a nasty political showdown where everyone has his own agenda. And it’s not over yet.”

Of course, this wasn’t enough to bring about the necessary changes that might have prevented the housing meltdown.  And Fannie, of course, was aided and abetted by credible-sounding leaders representing “nice-sounding” organizations.  For example, in the past, I’ve written about the Center for Responsible Lending — a liberal organization that is largely responsible for the housing crisis.

It turns out that when others tried to sound the alarm about some of Fannie’s questionable practices back in 2005, Martin Eakes (the founder of the Self-Help Credit Union who was in the subprime lending business with Fannie) — defended Fannie and accused critics of conducting a ‘hatchet job’.

Price caps=wage caps

Consumer advocates held a rally.   Yawn.

And the Consumers Rights League is on the case.  Check out the video in the upper right side of the link. It would be great if the media would investigate the dishonesty of payday lending critics — ACORN, Center for Responsble Lending, Martin Eakes — but we won’t hold our breath.

Consumers want everything to be cheaper.  From a Center for Consumer Freedom survey:

Earlier this month a lobbying group called the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) released a survey purporting to show that most Americans support capping interest rates on short-term loans. But a recent survey conducted by CCF shows that many Americans support a price cap on nearly everything: 39% support the government limiting the price of a cup of coffee as well as new televisions!

CCF’s survey also showed that 57% of Americans support Congressional action to cap the cost of cell phones, 56% support capping interest on short-term loans, and 55% supported capping the price of automobiles.

The Payday Pundit just bought a new laptop for about $500 so some things are actually coming down in price.  My last laptop cost about $900.

From Fortune magazine in 2005 in a lengthy story about Fannie Mae:

There are plenty of people who still believe that what’s good for Fannie is good for home-ownership–and that the whole thing was little more than a political dirty trick. “They’re just not dishonest in any way,” says Martin Eakes, who runs the Self-Help Credit Bureau in North Carolina. “It’s a little hard for me to swallow that what appears to me to be a hatchet job by OFHEO has basically been validated by the SEC…. You mark my words, you will not find scandal there or fraud.”

Maybe he’s sucking up because The Self-Help Credit Union was in the subprime lending business with Fannie Mae.

We’d thought we’d post savemypawnshop once again.

A Massachusetts town is printing its own money. Read about it on Walletpop.

Not really.  As we said before, stories about contributions to politicians are ridiculous.  But it is interesting to point out that pawnshops contributed more than payday lenders to Congressman Gutierrez.   Neither industry contributed significant amounts.

From the Sheknows blog:

Payday loans are often the only choice available to their primary users, other than rounding up personal possessions and heading out to the pawn shop. The fact is, most of the people using payday loans do not have the option of going to a bank and getting a personal loan to cover an immediate cash need. The standard complaint among lawmakers and advocate groups is the rates and fees associated with payday loans. The claim is that payday lenders are predatory, and trap their lower income users into a cycle of debt.

Lawmakers and advocate groups that insist that the payday loan industry needs to be stamped out legislatively are behaving in in a manner that is, at best, a clear demonstration of the degree to which these typically financially comfortable people are out of touch with the needs of ordinary people. At worst, their behavior is insultingly paternalistic, insinuating that those of lesser means are not capable of making their own decisions, such as whether a fee of $15 per $100 borrowed, notably less than the usual bank overdraft fee, is worth the convenience of having it now. In some cases, it is. But, even if it isn’t, it is not legislators’ and advocacy groups’ decision to make.

Great name for a blog, and great opinions.