July, 03 2015, 12:00am EDT
During #SharkWeek 2015, National People's Action Demands an End to Predatory Payday Loan Shark Lending Practices
National grassroots network launches actions in 11 states and online and calls on the CFPB to issue a broad and strong small dollar lending rule this fall
WASHINGTON
Activists from California to Maine are focusing attention on a different kind of shark during the celebrated summer tradition of Shark Week this July. While marine sharks only injury a handful of Americans each year, payday loan sharks trap 12 million Americans in a devastating cycle of debt annually. These predatory lenders lurk online and in neighborhoods across the country leaving struggling families drowning in debt because of deceptive terms, automatic "rollovers", staggering fees and interest rates averaging over 300 percent annual percentage rate (APR). The Shark Week campaign calls on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to issue a strong, broad and effective rule on small-dollar loans that will put a stop to the worst of these abuses. Consumer advocates expect the CFPB to release its proposed rule sometime this fall
WHO: National People's Action members and allies including consumer lending justice
advocates, faith groups and grassroots community advocate
WHAT: Shark Week Campaign to Stop Predatory Lending Attacks featuring an online petition, memes, shark attack survivor stories and on-the-ground events in Alabama, California, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, and New Hampshire
WHERE: Online actions can be found throughout the week at https://npa-us.org/pay-day-loans; Events will take place in 11 states throughout the week. Contact Jacob Swenson-Lengyel for more information on local events at jacob@npa-us.org or 312-316-3973.
WHEN: Monday, July 6 - Friday, July 10, 2015
VISUALS: Payday "loan sharks" visuals including shark suits at local actions. Memes and additional visuals will be unveiled through the week at https://npa-us.org/pay-day-loans. For a preview of the week's online content visit https://npa-us.org/press-preview-shark-week-web-content
SOCIAL MEDIA: #Sharkweek #StopTheDebtTrap
To interview a payday loan "attack survivor" or for more information about the Shark Week and other anti-predatory lending campaign events, please contact Jacob Swenson-Lengyel at jacob@npa-us.org or 312-316-3973.
People's Action builds the power of poor and working people, in rural, suburban, and urban areas to win change through issue campaigns and elections.
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Despite the Pentagon's repeated failures to pass audits and various alarming policies, 81 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives voted with 200 Republicans on Wednesday to advance a $883.7 billion annual defense package.
The Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025, unveiled by congressional negotiators this past Saturday, still needs approval from the Senate, which is expected to vote next week. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Wednesday that he plans to vote no and spoke out against the military-industrial complex.
The push to pass the NDAA comes as this congressional session winds down and after the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) announced last month that it had failed yet another audit—which several lawmakers highlighted after the Wednesday vote.
Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), co-chairs and co-founders of the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus, said in a joint statement, "Time and time again, Congress seems to be able to find the funds necessary to line the pockets of defense contractors while neglecting the problems everyday Americans face here at home."
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Several of the 124 House Democrats who voted against the NDAA cited those "culture war" policies, in addition to concerns about how the Pentagon spends massive amounts of money that could go toward improving lives across the country.
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As Omar, a leading critic of the U.S.-backed Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, also pointed out: "The NDAA includes a provision that blocks the Pentagon from using data on casualties and deaths from the Gaza Ministry of Health or any sources relying on those statistics. This is an alarming erasure of the suffering of the Palestinian people, ignoring the human toll of ongoing violence."
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