An excerpt from the article posted on Blogger News Network:

Ohioans who believe in consumer choice, and that government should not meddle in the affairs of citizens, must vote NO on Issue 5.  This referendum seeks to overturn portions of HB 545, legislation that unreasonably caps short-term loan rates.

Who came up with this misguided, paternalistic legislation?  State Rep. Chris Widener, a pandering Republican who believed that by cracking down on a product that tens of thousands of Ohioans use annually, that he could score points with the electorate.  He vomited forth this abomination despite being an alleged “free market” advocate, which alone demonstrates the putrid depths he was willing to sink to in order to make himself look good. 

Watch the ad.

Text of ad:

“Ohio lost thousands of social security numbers… stolen from the back of an intern’s car.”
“Then, the Police and Fire retirement accounts were compromised by an employee.”
“Now the government has created another massive statewide database to track and limit the number of emergency loans you can take out.”
“Why would we let government get its hands on our private records…on Election Day, it’s in your hands to say ‘no’”
“Vote ‘no’ on Issue 5.”

For immediate release:

Thursday, Oct. 9, 2008

 

 

National Taxpayers Union Says Driving Ohio Payday

 Lenders Out of Business is Bad for Taxpayers

 

 

Columbus, Ohio—Ohioans for Financial Freedom today welcomed the educational efforts of the National Taxpayers Union (NTU), which recently published a guide highlighting growing public concerns over H.R. 545, the law that would effectively eliminate the payday lending industry in Ohio.  NTU is the latest in a long line of organizations that have recognized that H.R. 545 is bad for taxpayers.    

 

The NTU issued a ballot guide which says specifically:

 

–Issue #5 asks voters to approve a law that effectively puts payday lending services and their employees out of business in Ohio by making it unprofitable to offer these loans. If payday loans are driven out of existence, there could be additional political pressure to boost government assistance programs when Ohioans can no longer help themselves because the most common – and often only – method to help cover unplanned expenses has been eliminated.

 

Kim Norris, spokesperson for Ohioans for Financial Freedom, said, “We’re grateful that the nation’s most respected taxpayers’ organization is informing Ohioans about the drawbacks of Issue 5.  NTU recognizes that denying citizens financial choice ultimately hits taxpayers. “Ohioans are concerned about jobs, privacy, and access to short-term credit.   A ‘No’ vote on Issue 5 is in the best interests of taxpayers and consumers.” 

 

Join with thousands of Ohioans, consumers, businesses at www.Ohioans4FinancialFreedom.com for a Vote No on Issue 5. 

 

 

 

 

Maggie Thurber does a great job speaking against Issue 5 in Ohio:

Since when is it the role of the government to track what you borrow, when and how much? Since when is it the role of government to tell you how you can use the money you borrow? Since when is it the role of the government to decide whether or not you need or should take a class in finances? Since when did Ohioans think it was okay to grant government this kind of intrusion into our daily lives?

Even if you think payday lenders should be restricted by state law to certain interest rates, how can you possible approve of giving the government such authority over peoples’ lives?

COAST (Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending & Taxes) today launched a state-wide campaign in Ohio to encourage voters to “Vote NO on Issue 5 to stop our “Big Brother” State Government from tracking and regulating personal financial decisions of Ohio wage earners.”

According to COAST:

Issue 5 is a repeal of a bad and unnecessary law limiting lending choices for Ohio wage earners, according to COAST.  Even worse, the legislation that Issue 5 will repeal contains utterly Orwellian privacy violations and Soviet-style mandated state re-education camps for certain consumers.

“Anyone who cherishes traditional American liberties will be outraged when they understand what our legislature has done,” said COAST Chairman Jason Gloyd.  “This weird law takes state government to a new level of creepy interference with our lives.”

If Ohioians vote Yes on Issue 5, 6,000 hardworking payday loan employees will find it difficult to keep their lights on.  Not to mention the customers who turn to payday loans when they find that this month’s electricity bill was higher than expected. 

Read MORE

 

Kim Stevens likes making her own financial choices and eloquently argues why Ohioans should want them too in today’s Mansfield News-Journal.

I was at the grocery store last night and took a spin down the bottled water aisle.  I counted over ten different brands of water. TEN! That was just for still water, not fizzy fancy mineral water or ultra pure distilled or raspberry flavored “performance” water…just plain old water that you can get for pennies out of the tap.  Why does my grocery store carry ten different brands of plain old water?  Because consumers like choices, they might like the image that goes with drinking a fancy French fizzy water, they might choose bottled water over a soda or their tap water might taste like bog water (as mine does) and prefer drinking water that has been purified elsewhere.  In the end, no one forces consumers to buy bottled water, but if they want it the option is there.

That’s what Ohioans for Financial Freedom are fighting for.  You don’t have to take out a payday loan if you don’t want to.  There are alternatives, someone with an unexpected expense can take a cash advance on their credit card, ask their employer for an advance on their payday, ask their family for help, they could pawn a valuable item, some credit unions offer loans or they could just go ahead and pay overdraft or late fees.  These are all perfectly good options, as is taking out a payday loan and that option should remain available to those that want it.

It didn’t take 241,365 valid signatures to put over 6,000 hardworking Ohioans out of a job and shutter over 1,000 tax-paying businesses.  Payday lending opponents know that Ohioans prefer to make their own financial decisions, which is why they are using whatever low and underhanded tactic they can to contest the petition.  For the third time this morning, whining and moaning about signature gathering.