SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Payday Loan Sharks Have Good Friend in Government: Democratic Party Chair
In backing bill to delay or block payday lender regulations, DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Shultz is aligning herself with the Republican Party
Mar 01, 2016
Sketchy payday loan sharks, whose short-term, high-interest loans trap millions of Americans in a cycle of debt, have a new ally on Capitol Hill--Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz is reportedly pushing a bill that would "gut" forthcoming industry regulations.
According to a memo seen by the Huffington Post, Rep. Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) is co-sponsoring legislation (pdf) to delay new rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), meant to crack down on abusive payday lending that profits off deceptive terms, automatic "rollovers," staggering fees, and interest rates averaging over 300 percent annual percentage rate (APR).
The so-called "Consumer Protection and Choice Act" would delay those rules for two years and "permanently block them in any state that enacts the sort of ineffectual, industry-crafted regulatory sham Florida adopted in 2001," ThinkProgress reports.
In December, 265 civil rights, labor, and consumer advocacy groups signed a letter opposing the legislation, which they decried as "an attempt to codify industry-backed practices that do little to protect consumers."
In backing the bill, the HuffPo notes, Wasserman Shultz is aligning herself with the Republican Party, which has "assailed the agency from every conceivable angle--going after its budget, attempting to tie its hands with new layers of red tape, fomenting conspiracy theories about rogue regulators illegally shutting down businesses and launching direct attacks on payday loan rules themselves."
She is also going against public opinion. Last year, a poll by Americans for Financial Reform and the Center for Responsible Lending showed that nearly two in three voters have a negative view of payday lenders. The same survey showed respondents viewed payday lenders as predators rather than resources by a margin of more than 3:1.
The move also puts Wasserman Schultz--who has come under fire for the DNC's perceived pro-Hillary Clinton bias--at odds with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who conceived of and established the CFPB and who has denounced payday lending schemes for targeting the poor.
As Eric Levitz of New York Magazine's Daily Intelligencer said Tuesday--his tongue firmly in his cheek: "With such brave legislators leading the Democratic Party, it's difficult to understand how Bernie Sanders can get so mad at the 'Establishment'."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
capitol hillconsumer financial protection bureauconsumer protectiondebbie wasserman schultzdemocratic national committeedemocratic partydncelizabeth warrenhillary clintoninequalityinterest ratespovertypayday lending
Sketchy payday loan sharks, whose short-term, high-interest loans trap millions of Americans in a cycle of debt, have a new ally on Capitol Hill--Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz is reportedly pushing a bill that would "gut" forthcoming industry regulations.
According to a memo seen by the Huffington Post, Rep. Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) is co-sponsoring legislation (pdf) to delay new rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), meant to crack down on abusive payday lending that profits off deceptive terms, automatic "rollovers," staggering fees, and interest rates averaging over 300 percent annual percentage rate (APR).
The so-called "Consumer Protection and Choice Act" would delay those rules for two years and "permanently block them in any state that enacts the sort of ineffectual, industry-crafted regulatory sham Florida adopted in 2001," ThinkProgress reports.
In December, 265 civil rights, labor, and consumer advocacy groups signed a letter opposing the legislation, which they decried as "an attempt to codify industry-backed practices that do little to protect consumers."
In backing the bill, the HuffPo notes, Wasserman Shultz is aligning herself with the Republican Party, which has "assailed the agency from every conceivable angle--going after its budget, attempting to tie its hands with new layers of red tape, fomenting conspiracy theories about rogue regulators illegally shutting down businesses and launching direct attacks on payday loan rules themselves."
She is also going against public opinion. Last year, a poll by Americans for Financial Reform and the Center for Responsible Lending showed that nearly two in three voters have a negative view of payday lenders. The same survey showed respondents viewed payday lenders as predators rather than resources by a margin of more than 3:1.
The move also puts Wasserman Schultz--who has come under fire for the DNC's perceived pro-Hillary Clinton bias--at odds with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who conceived of and established the CFPB and who has denounced payday lending schemes for targeting the poor.
As Eric Levitz of New York Magazine's Daily Intelligencer said Tuesday--his tongue firmly in his cheek: "With such brave legislators leading the Democratic Party, it's difficult to understand how Bernie Sanders can get so mad at the 'Establishment'."
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
Sketchy payday loan sharks, whose short-term, high-interest loans trap millions of Americans in a cycle of debt, have a new ally on Capitol Hill--Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz is reportedly pushing a bill that would "gut" forthcoming industry regulations.
According to a memo seen by the Huffington Post, Rep. Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) is co-sponsoring legislation (pdf) to delay new rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), meant to crack down on abusive payday lending that profits off deceptive terms, automatic "rollovers," staggering fees, and interest rates averaging over 300 percent annual percentage rate (APR).
The so-called "Consumer Protection and Choice Act" would delay those rules for two years and "permanently block them in any state that enacts the sort of ineffectual, industry-crafted regulatory sham Florida adopted in 2001," ThinkProgress reports.
In December, 265 civil rights, labor, and consumer advocacy groups signed a letter opposing the legislation, which they decried as "an attempt to codify industry-backed practices that do little to protect consumers."
In backing the bill, the HuffPo notes, Wasserman Shultz is aligning herself with the Republican Party, which has "assailed the agency from every conceivable angle--going after its budget, attempting to tie its hands with new layers of red tape, fomenting conspiracy theories about rogue regulators illegally shutting down businesses and launching direct attacks on payday loan rules themselves."
She is also going against public opinion. Last year, a poll by Americans for Financial Reform and the Center for Responsible Lending showed that nearly two in three voters have a negative view of payday lenders. The same survey showed respondents viewed payday lenders as predators rather than resources by a margin of more than 3:1.
The move also puts Wasserman Schultz--who has come under fire for the DNC's perceived pro-Hillary Clinton bias--at odds with U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who conceived of and established the CFPB and who has denounced payday lending schemes for targeting the poor.
As Eric Levitz of New York Magazine's Daily Intelligencer said Tuesday--his tongue firmly in his cheek: "With such brave legislators leading the Democratic Party, it's difficult to understand how Bernie Sanders can get so mad at the 'Establishment'."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.