This pro-consumer choice piece in the Long Beach, CA newspaper has many great quotes, including:

…But as unwanted as they are by {the city council}, {payday loans} are popular with their customers..

{Payday lenders} must be doing something right, or it could be that conventional banks aren’t always better.

…100 years ago many people would prefer to go to a pawn shop rather than sit through a lecture on personal finance to qualify for a charity’s lower-interest loan.

…it’s not the job of the council to regulate how people spend their money.

Very eloquent.  

Referring to the Ohio legislature’s session,  Senator Ron Amstutz said today, “I’d say it’s an average session in a lot of ways.”  

Reminds the Payday Pundit of that old quote, “There are no small battles; for the soldiers that fight it, every battle is one hell of a battle.”   For the 6,000 payday lending employees in Ohio whose jobs have been jeopardized, it was an hell of a legislative session, Senator Amstutz. 

Tom Jackson in the Sandusky Register thinks throwing thousands people out of work while Ohio goes through very tough time is a bad idea.   From the piece:

In May, the state unemployment rate hit 6.3 percent (compared to 5.5 percent nationally). The state’s jobless rate in May was the highest it has been since July 2003. In May 2007, Ohio’s unemployment rate was 5.6 percent.

The governor’s reaction to this has been to sign a bill to throw thousands of people out of work.

The bill’s ostensible purpose is to cap the annual interest rate on “payday” short term loans at 28 percent. In reality, it’s a bill to abolish the industry. Unless the law is somehow overturned, the governor’s signature will leave 6,000 Ohio residents unemployed.

The Progressive Index newspaper of Virginia.   Where do we begin? How about with:

A payday lender might also require you to pay an additional service or processing fee of as much as $25, making the cost of the $100 loan even higher.

We know of no payday lending that charges processing fees.  We don’t believe they are discussing payday loans here.

Payday lenders are illegal in many states.

Payday lenders aren’t “illegal” anywhere.  Some states make it unprofitable.

Vote coming on Tuesday on a one-year moratorium.  Here’s the story.

The City Council struck a deal with payday lenders.  Lenders will fund a financial literacy program.  Here’s the story in the Alexandria Times. 

From the Chicago Tribune.

That’s what this article predicts. 

After suffering through six anti-payday lending screeds in the Aniston Star newspaper (we only posted one because they all seemed redundant), the payday lending industry is finally heard: 

The writers of this series have talked about moral obligations, and our moral obligation is to stand up for the thousands of hard-working Alabamians who choose to use our services. We are committed to treating them with respect and to protecting their right to govern their own lives — a right they’ve earned as Alabamians and Americans.

This prediction should be taken with a grain of salt as it comes from one of the key proponents of the rate cap legislation, Senate President Bill Harris.  Given Ohio’s flailing economy and the population’s general predisposition to protect freedoms, the referendum will resonate once more Ohioans become aware of it. 

In fact, this Zogby Poll is proof that Ohioans want to preserve financial choice.