The Louisville Courier News editorial writers weigh in with what they call a “solution”: 

Consumer advocates promote the federal solution — a 36 percent limit on the annual percentage rate charged for short-term payday loans. That approach also has been adopted by 15 states.

Wrong.  Fifteen states have NOT adopted a 36% rate cap.  And the only thing 36% rate caps solve is diminishing competition and reducing jobs.

Not sure what to make of this editorial out of Kentucky:

At the industry’s request, the Senate State and Local Government Committee last week approved a 10-year moratorium on new payday loan outlets opening in Kentucky.

The effect would be to protect the companies that are already here from new competition and preserve their market shares.

It does nothing for consumers, who turn to the short-term lenders when they need cash to, for example, keep the lights and heat on or avoid a bounced-check fee.

Data base bill moving.  

An employee at a payday lending story in Kentucky has a letter in the Louisville Courier Journal today:

It isn’t even a fair measurement to calculate payday loans using APR, anyway. Using that logic, bank overdraft fees and credit-card late fees would seem astronomical, too.

The fees our stores charge pay for my salary and benefits, taxes and rent, just like any other business. Payday advance lenders provide short-term loans to people who need help and are good members of the local business community. Lowering the limit on what we can collect for our service will hurt families, and that’s not right.

A payday lending store manager speaks out in Kentucky:

Short-term loans carry high risk and low rewards for a lender. That’s why very few banks offer a similar service. In today’s economy, many families turn to us for short-term credit, and we are glad to help them in their time of need.

Payday loans are not for everyone; they’re not intended to be and they aren’t marketed as long-term products.

They are for people truly in need of short-term credit, and critics shouldn’t try to put payday lenders out of business simply because they don’t understand what we do or haven’t taken the time to research the industry’s best practices.

As we’ve point out in this space many times.  The payday lending industry makes modest profits which proves that the service is priced a low as it can get.