Gearing up against the car dealers
June 7, 2010 | alternatives, federal legislation, industry | Comments (1)Seems to be a big fight brewing. From the story:
The bill passed by the House exempts auto dealers from the agency’s oversight, courtesy of an amendment sponsored by Rep. John Campbell (R-CA). The Senate bill does not include a similar exemption, but the upper chamber did pass a “motion to instruct,” sponsored by Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), directing the conference committee that will reconcile the two bills to defer to the House’s version.
Clearly, auto dealers have significant clout on Capitol Hill. There are 18,000 of them scattered across the country, and their lobbying arm, the National Automobile Dealers Association, threw its weight around in favor of the exemption. Since 2007, trade groups for auto dealers spent $12 million lobbying. Auto dealers, their employees, and political action committees donated $9.3 million to candidates during the 2008 election cycle.
Notice how they dredge up the campaign contributions and lobbying efforts?
Comments»
We all the know the payday loan industry’s lobbying budget and campaign contributions are significantly less than those of the automobile dealers. As a result, we face the wrath of Congress.
In an ideal world we would join forces with the lobbying efforts of car dealers, finance companies, banks, credit card companies, the pawn industry and more. However, the majority of these industries would rather we assume the role of a sacrificial lamb and take the brunt of regulatory reform.
There’s just one thing Congress and our competitors overlook. Consumers by the millions need our small, non-collateralized, no hassle, short-term loans! Consumers literally DEMAND them.
So… as long as we remain flexible and inventive, we’ll be around. I’ve said this before, “We are a very creative industry with a product consumers cannot do without.”
Embrace the changes necessary and support the industry!