The new California bill
March 29, 2010 | California, industry | Comments (0)Discussed over at PDLindustrynews.com.
They’re getting ahead of themselves
March 29, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)EconomyWatch.com calls for Elisabeth Warren to be named head of the CFPA.
It’s largely politics
March 29, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)The Huffington Post, which has been campaigning for financial reform, posts its millionth column today. Its seems to me that certain segments of the political Left have regulation imperative approach that drives their politics.
A sheriff?
March 29, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)That’s how the Miami Herald refers to the proposed CFPA. We have other words.
What’s this person talking about?
March 29, 2010 | Wisconsin, industry, regulation | Comments (2)From a letter in a Wisconsin newspaper:
The payday loan industry is the only part of our financial system that is unregulated.
We are, of course, regulated in 34 states.
Oh, so this is the strategy
March 28, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)Yet another reporter this he knows the strategy behind the Senate financial reform legislation:
Making It Dodd’s Bill
Shelby was convinced that offering amendments in committee would be a fruitless endeavor. He now may be seeking to work with Dodd to craft a broad bipartisan amendment to offer when the bill hits the Senate floor. If that happens, Shelby could potentially bring something like half of the Republicans in the Senate with him. From what I hear, the ideological divide between the two parties isn’t as great as you might think — nothing like it was with health care reform. If several changes are made, many Republicans could jump on board.
Dodd might really like this approach. It’s his final term in the Senate, and there’s little doubt that he’d love this to be his bill — not House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s bill. Remember, even if Dodd loses half-a-dozen liberal Democrats, if he gets 20 or so moderate Republicans, a bipartisan bill will easily pass.
And if he gets bipartisan support in the Senate, it would be very difficult, politically, if the House and White House reject his changes — even though they might be tempted to pull the bill further left. If they did, when the bill goes back to the Senate after conference, then those Republican votes would be lost and Dodd would have to hope a few decide to stick around.
Comment of the Day
March 27, 2010 | California, industry, regulation | Comments (0)In the comments section of this LA Times story about a bill being introduced in California to cap interest rates on loans to the unemployed at 36%, someone wrote:
It’s a “supply and demand” and a “risk” situation. Similar legislation was proposed in DC and the “Pay Day Loan Companies” moved out to Virginia and Maryland. It’s a sad situation when the State has to engage in private contracts between two individuals. The only thing that it resolves is that more people will be without money or short-term loans and there will be less revenue, in the form of income taxes, going to the State and business licensing fees to the local governments.
Instead of passing stupid laws like this to “control behavior,” how about passing appropriations that get people out of this pickle, like relevant job training programs?
Stupid laws by stupid people. Now you know why California is broke.
Can’t they give it a break?
March 27, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)It’s the weekend. The Payday Pundit needs his relaxation. Instead, I woke up to this drivel from columnist Bob Herbert in the New York Times:
The dragons lurking in the fine print of some credit agreements are enough to give you heart failure. Payday loans, for example, typically carry annual interest rates in the vicinity of 400 percent. Or look at the lineup of fees, penalties and interest rates on your credit cards and overdraft privileges. Don’t even start on mortgage abuses. That would take too long, and it’s too depressing.
What’s depressing listening to columnists and critics lump a $345 loan in with mortgages and credit cards.
Check it out
March 26, 2010 | alternatives, research | Comments (0)2010 Trend Survey over at PawnShopsToday.com
Now I get it
March 26, 2010 | federal legislation, industry | Comments (0)From a story in ConsumerReports.org:
As Professor Warren told us last year, a level playing field, accurate and understandable information, and good regulation are key toward ensuring that a debacle like the one that has recently forced so many people into bankruptcy and foreclosure doesn’t happen again.
If the so-called consumer groups get their way, they won’t have to worry about foreclosures because no one will be lending money anyway.
