Who knew?
March 2, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (3)The Huffington Post has a big article today about the industry’s lobbying efforts. My take? Yes, the industry has an effective, well organized lobbying effort and puts a lot of money behind it. While the article is not intended as a compliment, why don’t we all take it that way? From the article:
Lobbyists swayed not only conservative, free-market-minded “Blue Dogs” but liberals from poorer, urban districts where payday lenders are often most active. At least one of the liberals threatened to vote with Republicans against the financial reform bill if it restricted payday lenders.
“The payday lenders have done a lot of work,” House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said in an interview. “They’ve been very good at cultivating Democrats and minorities.”
Now the industry has turned its attention to the Senate and the reform bill being assembled by Senate Banking Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), who is offering to abandon the quest for a new independent agency to protect consumers, instead giving the Federal Reserve new policing powers that could extend to payday companies.
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Update: Payday Lobby Turns to the Senate…
Fresh signs surfaced today of the influential payday loan industry’s muscle in Washington, where lenders’ attempts to stay out of the reach of federal regulators may be bearing fruit in the U.S. Senate. Read more »…
[...] Fund’s story on its tactics, the industry’s “Payday Pundit” blog notes: “Yes, the industry has an effective, well-organized lobbying effort and puts a lot of money [...]
[...] Fund’s story on its tactics, the industry’s “Payday Pundit” blog notes: “Yes, the industry has an effective, well-organized lobbying effort and puts a lot of money [...]