Yesterday’s DC Council meeting
June 3, 2010 | alternatives, industry | Comments (2)As a DC resident, the Pundit assures you that watching a DC City Council meeting will make you lose faith in democracy. From the story:
Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh has proposed legislation that would limit the amount check-cashing companies can charge to 2 percent of all checks, or a minimum of a $4, whichever is greater. Currently, companies can charge up to 10 percent to cash personal checks and 5 percent for government-issued checks.
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But capping the rates would only lead check-cashing companies to close their doors and leave the District, said Eric Norrington, vice president of ACE Cash Express.
ACE has 14 stores in the District, Norrington said, and its customers depend on the store not only to cash checks, but also to pay bills. At a committee hearing Wednesday, Norrington played a video of ACE customers extolling the convenience of using the store instead of a bank.
Comments»
Why doesn’t she just tell her constituents to go to Wal-Mart where the fee is only $3.00? We already have competition that offers lower prices. People choose FSCs because they like the service better and are willing to pay the higher price. This moron/councilwoman needs a brain.
What, in the Constitution, gives government – at any level – the right to tell independent merchants and service providers how much they can charge for their products or services? Isn’t the right of entrepreneurs to set their own prices, in accordance with market conditions, one of the freedoms which we supposedly cherish in this country? If we allow some prices to be capped, won’t that eventually lead to all prices being capped by politicians who want more and more power?
Perhaps it’s time to look at what these politicians, and those who support them, are making. As Jesus probably said, “Those who would control the prices of others shall have their prices controlled!”