Check out the payday lending study by Brian Melzer of the Northwestern Kellog School of Management. The study is called "The Real Costs of Credit Access: Evidence from the Payday Lending Market:".
Here's the abstract:
"I estimate the real effects of credit access among low-income households by exploiting geographic and temporal variation in the availability of payday loans. The empirical design isolates variation in loan access that is uninfluenced by store location decisions and state regulatory decisions, two factors that might otherwise correlate with economic hardship measures. I find no evidence that payday loans alleviate hardship. On the contrary, I find that loan access leads to increased incidence of difficulty paying mortgage, rent and utilities bills; moving out of one's home due to financial troubles; and delaying needed medical care, dental care and prescription drug purchases. Through further analysis of differences in loan access - over time and across income groups - I rule out a number of alternative explanations for the estimated effects."
Here is another great quote from the report: "In the main analysis, I find no evidence that payday loan access mitigates financial distress along the dimensions that I observe. In fact, I find that loan access leads to important real costs, as reflected in increased likelihood of difficulty paying bills, moving out of one's home due to financial difficulties, and delaying needed medical care, dental care and prescription drug purchases. The magnitudes of these effects are considerable. I estimate that among families with $15,000 to $50,000 in annual income, loan access increases the incidence of difficulty paying bills by 25 percent and moving out of one's home by 60 percent. I also find that among adults in these families, loan access increases the delay of needed medical care, dental care and prescription drug purchases by roughly 25 percent."
So, it seems yet again that payday lending only exacerbates financial distress for families and when our economy is in turmoil, a 391% APR payday loan is just about the last thing we need! That's why a YES vote on Issue 5 is so important. We need to ensure that families and individuals who need access to short-term credit aren't burdened with excessive interest rates that make it much more difficult for them to meet other important needs.
You can read the entire report here:
http://home.uchicago.edu/~bmelzer/RealCosts_Melzer.pdf
Vote yes on issue 5!
Much has been written about John McCain's anger problems, his anti-women voting record, and general erratic behavior of late. I would like to address his marriage to Cindy because I am a Values Voter.
John McCain is 17 years older than his wife. Personally, I find this repulsive. If I had a daughter, I wouldn't want her to marry a man who was a generation older -- even if he was a war hero.
I've got no problem with voting for a divorced President -- just don't give me this "marriage is a sacred institution" blather.
Secondly, John McCain had a daughter named Sidney with his wife Carol who was 12 years old at the time John McCain cheated on Carol and started dating Cindy.
Sidney McCain is 41 years old now and reportedly is a music recording industry executive living in Toronto.
I don't know how we can get through the election without asking Sidney: How did it feel when you found out your dad dumped your mom for a much younger woman?
In my values system, these issues matter.
In a video made by the Ohio Farm Bureau, called "Ohio Farm & County," spokesman Joe Cornely blasts payday lenders for their "blatant attempt to hijack their good reputation."
Cornely mentioned a recent meeting of the Ohio Farm Bureau, where many members expressed being insulted by the payday lenders' first commercial depicting an Ohio farmer asking voters to protect his "financial freedom," so that he can buy a new $100 belt for his truck. In the video, Cornely says "Spur of the moment, high interest loans aren't part of a farmer's financial strategy." Further, he notes: "Farmers don't even have paydays. Payday comes sporadically for the farmer, throughout the year when crops or livestock or sold."
Finally, Cornely brings it home: "By the way, when someone tries to misuse our good name, we have another official position - we're officially ticked off!"
Watch It:
The Cornely piece starts 5 minutes and 55 seconds in. It's a beautiful thing!
The Ohio Farm Bureau's official position on Issue 5 is "VOTE YES!"
It is a sorry fact of American political life that campaigns get ugly, often in their final weeks. But Senator John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin have been running one of the most appalling campaigns we can remember.
They have gone far beyond the usual fare of quotes taken out of context and distortions of an opponent’s record — into the dark territory of race-baiting and xenophobia. Senator Barack Obama has taken some cheap shots at Mr. McCain, but there is no comparison.
Despite the occasional slip (referring to Mr. Obama’s “cronies” and calling him “that one”), Mr. McCain tried to take a higher road in Tuesday night’s presidential debate. It was hard to keep track of the number of time he referred to his audience as “my friends.” But apart from promising to buy up troubled mortgages as president, he offered no real answers for how he plans to solve the country’s deep economic crisis. He is unable or unwilling to admit that the Republican assault on regulation was to blame.
Ninety minutes of forced cordiality did not erase the dismal ugliness of his campaign in recent weeks, nor did it leave us with much hope that he would not just return to the same dismal ugliness on Wednesday.
Ms. Palin, in particular, revels in the attack. Her campaign rallies have become spectacles of anger and insult. “This is not a man who sees America as you see it and how I see America,” Ms. Palin has taken to saying.
That line follows passages in Ms. Palin’s new stump speech in which she twists Mr. Obama’s ill-advised but fleeting and long-past association with William Ayers, founder of the Weather Underground and confessed bomber. By the time she’s done, she implies that Mr. Obama is right now a close friend of Mr. Ayers — and sympathetic to the violent overthrow of the government. The Democrat, she says, “sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he’s palling around with terrorists who would target their own country.”
Her demagoguery has elicited some frightening, intolerable responses. A recent Washington Post report said at a rally in Florida this week a man yelled “kill him!” as Ms. Palin delivered that line and others shouted epithets at an African-American member of a TV crew.
Mr. McCain’s aides haven’t even tried to hide their cynical tactics, saying they were “going negative” in hopes of shifting attention away from the financial crisis — and by implication Mr. McCain’s stumbling response.
We certainly expected better from Mr. McCain, who once showed withering contempt for win-at-any-cost politics. He was driven out of the 2000 Republican primaries by this sort of smear, orchestrated by some of the same people who are now running his campaign.
And the tactic of guilt by association is perplexing, since Mr. McCain has his own list of political associates he would rather forget. We were disappointed to see the Obama campaign air an ad (held for just this occasion) reminding voters of Mr. McCain’s involvement in the Keating Five savings-and-loan debacle, for which he was reprimanded by the Senate. That episode at least bears on Mr. McCain’s claims to be the morally pure candidate and his argument that he alone is capable of doing away with greed, fraud and abuse.
In a way, we should not be surprised that Mr. McCain has stooped so low, since the debate showed once again that he has little else to talk about. He long ago abandoned his signature issues of immigration reform and global warming; his talk of “victory” in Iraq has little to offer a war-weary nation; and his Reagan-inspired ideology of starving government and shredding regulation lies in tatters on Wall Street.
But surely, Mr. McCain and his team can come up with a better answer to that problem than inciting more division, anger and hatred.
It's not just our economy and our government that needs fixing, it's the election debate format as well.
Climbing into the ring in Nashville, John McCain and Barrack Obama circled each other cautiously during the first 70 of the 90-minute debate before Obama finally landed a real punch. But Obama first had to fight his way through the "referee," debate moderator Tom Brokaw.
What finally ticked off the usual unflappable Democrat was McCain's fight strategy of using bogus charges to take little chops at Obama's gut and then dancing away scot-free as Brokaw called time out. When McCain admonished his opponent to follow Teddy Roosevelt's advice -- "speak softly, but carry a big stick" -- Obama had had enough.
Overriding Brokaw's timekeeper objections, Obama demanded a minute to respond which he got -- and which he did, effectively, reminding voters that it was Sen. "Soft Talk" McCain who had chanted "Bomb, Bomb Iran" during a campaign rally, called for the "annihilation" of North Korea and boasted after the invasion of Afghanistan, "Next up, Baghdad!"
The whole "town hall" format in Nashville was a joke.
Did you ever see a town hall meeting where organizers not only told the "audience" to shut it's collective pie-hole for 90 minutes -- and, in addition, show no emotion or reaction to what the candidates said? Unless those audience members on stage were one of the lucky few to ask a question, they sat like zombies, part of the stage furniture for all they contributed.
Remember your history about the Lincoln-Douglas debates? They shared the stage for hours, going at each other without a fussy timekeeper or "agreed" restrictions on audience participation. And the best man won and saved the nation.
Once again, all the post-fight pundits pronounced last night's debate interesting (for policy wonks at least), but not a game-changer. Nobody was sure who won.
In any case, here's the bits I found interesting:
---McCain's best moment: Running as Sen. "Big Stick" (when he wasn't being Sen. Soft Talk), McCain vowed to get Bin Ladin "but obviously I'm not going to telegraph my punches." NOTE: The last candidate with a secret plan to end the war was Richard Nixon.
---Obama's best moment: Other than that cited above, it had to be his light response to the question, "What don't you know and how will you learn it?" Obama answered, "Michelle can give you a long list," drawing the only laugh of the night from the zombies.
---McCain's favorite phrase: tie, between "My Friends,..." and "Look at the record."
---Obama's favorite phrase: "fundamental change."
---Oddest accusation: McCain, not once but twice, sought to impale Obama on earmarks by citing $3 million the Democrat sought - (but never got) - for projection equipment for the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. McCain keeps referring to this as an "overhead projector," kind of like the one Miss Smith used in junior high. But these night-sky projectors are fantastic pieces of high technology. Hasn't McCain ever been to a planetarium?
---Body language: Both candidates couldn't sit still on their debate stools, feeling they needed to stand and sometimes strut about even when their opponent was speaking. McCain especially had a case of nervous leg syndrome, always avoiding eye contact (again) with Obama while practically bear-hugging an audience questioner who happened to be a veteran.
Winner? Who knows. Ask me on Nov. 5.
Ohio Christian Alliance Apparently "Didn't get that memo!"
According to an article in yesterday's Columbus Dispatch, the Ohio Christian Alliance (OCA) has decided to sell out and endorse the usurious lending practices of Ohio's predatory payday lending industry! Despite the overwhelming support for passage from the Ohio Council of Churches, the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church, the Catholic Conference of Ohio, and the Vineyard Church of Columbus, among others, the OCA is urging their supporters to vote against one of the most pro-consumer lending bills in the country.
See press release regarding Faith Leaders press conference from IS 391% TOO HIGH? VOTE YES ON 5 COMMITTEE: http://www.yesonissue5.com/documents/Faith%20Leaders%20Release.pdf
From the Columbus Dispatch:
"The Christian Alliance has produced a voters guide advocating a "no" vote on the referendum and the continuation of the 391 percent annual interest rate ($15 per $100 on a two-week loan) charged by payday lenders."
The reasoning for their endorsement of predatory lending is puzzling:
"Job loss is not mentioned in the alliance's voter's guide. Instead, it says Issue 5 would eliminate a valued credit choice for Ohioans, infringe on personal privacy by requiring that borrowers' names be put into a database, and limit consumers to four payday loans a year."
It appears the Ohio Christian Alliance hopes to ensure that Ohio consumers and their parishioners are trapped in a never-ending cycle of payday loan debt and has the wonderful "choice" of 391% APR interest. According to the trustworthy Merriam-Webster dictionary, usury is defined as "an unconscionable or exorbitant rate or amount of interest."
The Ohio Christian Alliance apparently believes that 391% APR doesn't fit into that category.
To read more about the Christian Alliance's decision, click here: http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/10/06/payday.html?sid=101
Memo to the Ohio Christian Alliance:
There are over 300,000 Ohioans trapped in payday loan debt EACH year!
Payday lending strains our social services sector and strips wealth from our families and communities.
Payday lenders charge usurious interest rates most often equaling 391% APR.
Payday lending was enabled by a legislative exemption from Ohio's usury laws in 1996.
Over 1,130 of Ohio's 1,600 predatory payday-lending shops have applied with the Ohio Department of Commerce to operate under the new law, suggesting that the "jobs" argument is a con job of its own!
Payday lenders use an UNSECURED database that contains unnecessary and invasive information about their consumers.
Vote YES on Issue 5!
Congressman Pat Tiberi and David Robinson square off on the BAilout and Economy
*Note: NO! photo or video is available for this story. Please see “Pat Tiberi Seeks to Silence the Free Press” for details.
On Monday, September 29 Representative Pat Tiberi and Democratic challenger David Robinson faced off in their first debate. This was following at least four previously held events where “Our Congressman” had disappointed the 12th District electorate by being unable to attend while the Democratic challenger David Robinson maintained perfect debate attendance.
The Delaware, Ohio debate was held in a local vocational school. Tiberi flew in from Washington just hours after he went “His Own Way” and said NO! to the $700 Billion bailout package.
That evening, Tiberi confidently addressed the audience of approximately 150 Delawareans saying:
“We had a vote today that I told the President, 'NO!'
"Some say I can't tell the president, 'NO!'
"But I told my party leadership, 'NO!'
“Because at the end of the day, when I look into my daughter's eyes, it's about her.
"It's about the next generation of Americans. It's not about party. It's about doing the right thing.”
Based on his opposition to the bill, The Liberty Voice posted our support on our website saying, “We salute Pat Tiberi on this choice.”
The Delaware Gazette reported, “Tiberi felt the bill didn’t adequately protect consumers and was jammed through Congress.”
According to Tiberi on Monday, his NO! vote represented the will of his constituents. He said,
“Main Street wasn't protected in that bill. That's who I got the phone calls from.
"The phone calls from Central Ohio were AGAINST it!!!
“We've got to deal with the reality of what we can do, cause at the end of the day, guess who's going to pay for it--WE ARE!”Read More »
No better example is the current 12th District House race where incumbent Pat Tiberi, R-Delaware County, is challenged by Columbus businessman David Robinson, a first-time candidate for public office.
Despite his lack of accomplishment outside of being a loyal foot soldier for the Bush White House, Tiberi is pursuing re-election with hundreds of thousands of dollars of support from the financial, insurance and real estate lobbies plus the endorsement of the Dispatch.
Robinson, given his disadvantage in terms of money and media attention, has been running an energetic grassroots campaign which has caught the attention of many Democrats and Independents in Franklin, Licking and Delaware county. But it hasn't attracted much notice from the local political press.
The Dispatch editorial page on Sept. 21 endorsed Tiberi, as expected. What wasn't expected was the lack of any mention of Robinson in the editorial, leaving the reader to conclude the congressman was running unopposed. Typically, Dispatch endorsements will at least name both candidates and often give reasons why they favor one over the other.
Then, last evening, on WOSU's "Columbus On The Record" (ch. 34), a panel of area journalists and party consultants got around to discussing Tiberi's flip-flop on the Wall Street bail-out bill and how it might affect his re-election prospects.
They concluded that since Tiberi's opponent - again, never named - didn't have much money for television or direct mail, the congressman's indecision on one of the most important votes in U.S. history probably wouldn't hurt him on Nov. 4.
And they're probably right. If the Dispatch editorial writers and WOSU's panel of political experts can't even bother to mention Tiberi's opponent one month before the election, Tiberi doesn't really have to worry too much about being swept out of office by all this talk of "change."
This demonstrates how campaign cash has become the only measure of candidate viability. And why the political system is wide open to corruption but shut down tight to any challenger who doesn't bring a personal fortune to the game.
In this regard, this site reported earlier on the decision by the national Sierra Club not to endorse or give financial support to Robinson, despite his green-chip environmental record, including his work as a volunteer speaker for Al Gore's global warming initiative. Again, the decision was made on the basis of Robinson's perceived lack of fund-raising prowess. See earlier post at:
http://www.progressohio.org/page/community/post/licopac/CHj9
We now hear that local Sierra Club members, who had recommended a Robinson endorsement to the national, have been so embarrassed by the decision that they're making a concerted effort to help Robinson by other means.
"We are supporting him in every way we can through our field program," said MacKenzie Bailey, a member of the national field staff working the election in Ohio.
So far, this takes the form of recruiting volunteers for Robinson, having club members show up at his events and doing everything just short of giving money, which would depend on a formal club endorsement.
Local club members and staffers should be commended for this initiative. But it remains disturbing that, at least at the national level, this usually progressive environmental group would turn its back on an environmental candidate just because he hadn't hit their dollar benchmarks.
So if somebody tells you the political game is rigged, they just might know what they're talking about. And until we get some combination of limits on campaign contributions and public financing of Congressional elections, "change" is just another slogan, easily ignored unless you can take it to the bank.
Economic collapse brings together the strangest bedfellows: Michael Moore and RINO Pat Tiberi.
Despite Pat Tiberi's voting record which has handed taxpayer money over to no-bid contractors and often supported corporate welfare, Pat Tiberi decided to actually "go his own way" (despite a 93% lock-step record with President Bush).
This is ironically the same choice of Michael Moore. We salute Pat Tiberi on this choice. I guess with $830,000 already in the Tiberi's WAR chest from financial and security companies over the past eight years, Tiberi would rather finally side with his voting block (and just in time for the election!) rather than again rewarding bad behavior. It remains to be seen however if the voters of Ohio's 12th Congressional District will have amnesia of the trillions of no-bid appropriations and corporate bailouts Tiberi has already approved.
Here is an excerpt from Michael Moore's proposal:
Read the rest of Michael's proposal here.The richest 400 Americans -- that's right, just four hundred people -- own MORE than the bottom 150 million Americans combined. 400 rich Americans have got more stashed away than half the entire country! Their combined net worth is $1.6 trillion. During the eight years of the Bush Administration, their wealth has increased by nearly $700 billion -- the same amount that they are now demanding we give to them for the "bailout."
Why don't they just spend the money they made under Bush to bail themselves out? They'd still have nearly a trillion dollars left over to spread amongst themselves! Of course, they are not going to do that -- at least not voluntarily.
George W. Bush was handed a $127 billion surplus when Bill Clinton left office. Because that money was OUR money and not his, he did what the rich prefer to do -- spend it and never look back. Now we have a $9.5 trillion debt. Why on earth would we even think of giving these robber barons any more of our money?
I would like to propose my own bailout plan. My suggestions, listed below, are predicated on the singular and simple belief that the rich must pull themselves up by their own platinum bootstraps.
Sorry, fellows, but you drilled it into our heads one too many times: There... is... no... free... lunch. And thank you for encouraging us to hate people on welfare! So, there will be no handouts from us to you.
Republicans won't have to get up early tomorrow to slap a strip of duct tape across the "PALIN" on their McCain yard signs.
Democrats can wake up feeling pretty confident that nothing much has changed in respect to the momentum of the race, which has been tilting strongly of late towards Barack Obama.
If a ballgame could end in a tie, the fans would go home mad. But in the circumstances of this race, both Sarah Palin and Joe Biden are willing to accept a draw.
The devilish details?
PALIN'S BEST MOMENT: "You voted for the (Iraq) war before you opposed the war," she said to Biden, making the point that U.S. senators don't think or talk like the rest of us. Flip-flop always works, particularly when your opponent doesn't remind voters of your own flops on things like earmark$ and the infamous Bridge to Nowhere. But overall, Palin made good use of her out-of-the-Washington-loop, hockey mom, small-town simplicity and lack of sophistication. If you voted for Bush because he seemed like an average Joe, you'll vote for Palin.
BIDEN'S BEST MOMENT(S): From a human standpoint, his choking up when referring to the difficulty of raising two sons following the death of his wife. From a policy standpoint, no real zingers but Biden made a strong case for his brand of change through relentless repetition of the "fundamental" facts on the ground, McCain's history of votes against things like alternative energy and government regulation and the lack of policy distance between Bush and "McBush."
PALIN'S WORST MOMENT: "Your plan is the white flag of surrender in Iraq." This came across as a cheap partisan shot, and not something you'd hear from a candidate truly interested in bringing bipartisanship to Washington.
BIDEN'S WORST MOMENT: Sen. Joe almost disappeared behind his podium when asked to explain why he voted last year for a consumer-unfriendly bankruptcy bill when his running mate, Obama, voted NO.
PALIN BODY LANGUAGE: Gov. Sarah beamed that sunny smile, even when she was on the attack, and my wife swears she caught her frequently winking at the camera.
BIDEN BODY LANGUAGE: Smiled indulgently like a long-suffering Dad when Sarah got particularly aggressive. But he remained courtly, never patronizing, and in his own turn conveyed an attitude of seriousness and competence.
STUPIDEST STATEMENT OF THE NIGHT: Sarah Palin, "I'm encouraged to know we both love Israel!" Is there any politician, this side of Tehran, that doesn't profess undying love and support for spunky little Israel?
ANCESTOR WORSHIP: Palin tried gamely to raise the ghost of Ronald Reagan, wishing not only for that "shining city on a hill" but at one point admonishing Biden, "There you go, Joe, pointing back again (to the record of the Bush administration." Nice try, happy warrior princess, but reruns are never as good as the original.
BIGGEST SURPRISE(S): What happened to the so-called "Hot Button Issues?" Roe vs. Wade was only mentioned once, and then by Biden, referring in passing to why he opposed Robert Bork's appointment to the US Supreme Court. And it turned out that Biden and Palin (and presumably, McCain and Obama) can all hold hands on the issue of gay marriage, opposing use of the "M" word but supporting the right of gays to couple up without being denied the legal rights of married folks.
Racism in the United States has been a major issue since the colonial era. Historically, the country has been dominated by a settler society of religiously and ethnically diverse whites.
Major racially structured institutions include slavery, settlement, Indians reservations, segregation, residential schools (for Native Americans), and internment camps. Racial stratification has occurred in employment, housing, education and government.
Racial discrimination was largely criminalized in the mid-20th century, and it became socially unacceptable or morally repugnant as well, but major inequalities still persist and racial politics remain a major phenomena.
Watch It:
Bush hits 70 percent disapproval in ABC News' poll.
That's never happened in the history of the poll since 1938.
George Bush: Worse than Nixon!
“I, Pat Tiberi, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”
Amendment I
“Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…”
As the publisher of The Liberty Voice, I had made preparations to record the September 29th public debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters, The Delaware Gazette and the Farm Bureau. This forum for local, state and federal candidates was held in a publicly-funded local school. As I am not able to write every word live, it is necessary that I record such events so that I may accurately transcribe what is said.
This was an especially important service to perform this evening, as “our Congressman” Pat Tiberi has repeatedly refused to answer our questions concerning his voting record which illustrates his gross and repeated violations of the US Constitution.
Lately, I have recorded similar debates sponsored by two of the above-mentioned organizations without incident, so what changed?
Incumbent Pat Tiberi was there.
In the past four debates–all of which had invited “our Congressman” to come, he never bothered to make an appearance. However, it was anticipated that this would be a widely-attended debate, so there was great pressure for him to make a showing. Judging by what happened later in the evening, as a condition for Tiberi’s long-awaited participation in the debates and unbeknownst to me, Tiberi pressured the sponsoring groups to forbid the use of any recording devises–without exception granted even to the press.
As I was setting up my equipment before the debate began, I was asked to put my video recording devise away, as it was an event rule that all involved had agreed to in advance. When I challenged this, the organizers–in order to “prevent making a scene” –which most definitely did make a scene, reluctantly agreed that I could record.
Read More »
Ohio gives special tax treatment to payday lenders and mortgage brokers – they pay a lower state tax rate than banks under an outmoded tax unique to Ohio. Lobbyists and debt collectors don’t have to bill their clients for sales tax. The state recently made it much easier for high-income retirees who spend part of the year out of state to avoid paying Ohio income tax.
These tax breaks, which together cost the state more than $65 million a year, are among those that are squeezing the state budget even as it is feeling more stress from the weakening economy.
They are among 12 tax breaks identified in this September 2008 report whose elimination or limitation would both make the state tax system fairer and generate up to $270 million annually in revenue for needed investments. These tax breaks are unwise in good times and unaffordable now, when important state services are being cut because of budget problems.
In this report, Policy Matters has only begun to identify tax breaks that should be scrapped or limited. Beyond closing these loopholes, the report recommends that the state conduct a regular review of all the tax breaks embedded in Ohio law. It also calls for the state to review which services should be covered by the sales tax.
Apparently last week's belligerent "Big Brother" ad wasn't enough. In light of the tanking economy and the fears of ordinary Ohioans about their job security and stagnating incomes, the payday lenders have started spewing unintelligible nonsense about Issue 5.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer has given the payday lenders their second "2" out of 10 on the truthfulness scale in just as many weeks. Touting Ohio's high unemployment rate, the lost of jobs in the poor economy, the payday lobby suggests, "Your job could be next."
The Plain Dealer's analysis notes: "This ad, sponsored by the payday loan industry, seeks to piggyback on our fears of a looming economic crisis." " The ad producers never tell us what is covered by Issue 5, a proposal aimed at the statewide ballot on November 4. They just want us to follow their directions and vote no."
What the Astroturf/industry front group Ohioans for Financial Freedom fails to mention yet again is that Issue 5 addresses payday lending and that a 'no' vote means the continuation of payday loans provided at 391% APR. They fail to mention that a 'yes' vote lowers interest rates to 28% APR.
Again, the payday lending industry wants Ohio voters to think that the reforms passed in a bipartisan fashion in the legislature will result in the closure of payday loan storefronts. However, as the Plain Dealer reminds us, "In recent days, Ohio Department of Commerce officials said that 1,130 of the 1,500 stores that held payday lending licenses have applied for small-loan licenses." So, the industry plans to stay open to offer loans under the new law or other service, but is confident that voters will simply buy the message being broadcasted statewide with the millions of dollars in revenue already extracted from hundreds of thousands of those same voters!
To read more of the analysis from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, please click here: http://blog.cleveland.com/openers/2008/09/_the_ad_no_on.html#preview
Don't fall for their lies and deceptions! Keep the reforms of the predatory payday loan industry! Vote yes on issue 5!
Update:
The original story posted at Fox News was scrubbed.
See Brad Blog for the full story on that:
Exclusive: Fox 'News' Spikes Story on Conservatives 'Questioning Palin Heft'
What mavericky move will the McCain Campaign pull before Thursday?
Conservatives Begin Questioning Palin’s Heft
A growing number of Republicans are expressing concern about Sarah Palin’s uneven - and sometimes downright awkward - performances in her limited media appearances.
Conservative columnist Kathleen Parker, a former Palin supporter, says the vice presidential nominee should step aside. Kathryn Jean Lopez, writing for the conservative National Review, says “that’s not a crazy suggestion” and that “something’s gotta change.”
Tony Fabrizio, a GOP strategist, says Palin’s recent CBS appearance isn’t disqualifying but is certainly alarming. “You can’t continue to have interviews like that and not take on water.”
“I have not been blown away by the interviews from her, but at the same time, I haven’t come away from them thinking she doesn’t know s-t,” said Chris Lacivita, a GOP strategist. “But she ain’t Dick Cheney, nor Joe Biden and definitely not Hillary Clinton.”
See Also:
The New York Times
The drip, drip, drip of bad reviews keeps falling this week against Gov. Sarah Palin, whose two-day segments of interviews with CBS’ Katie Couric have weakened conservatives’ initial embrace of and enthusiasm for the vice-presidential nominee. As if Senator John McCain already hadn’t faced a rough week, which started with conservative columnist George Will bemoaning the Republican candidate’s positions on the economic bailout and suggesting Mr. McCain may be unfit to be president.
Republican vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin on Thursday told CBS that the United States must not let Iran think it would allow a second Holocaust to occur.
Pressed by the TV network's Katie Couric to explain her often-repeated comment that the U.S. should not "second guess" Israel's stance on Iran, the Alaska governor said: "We shouldn't second guess Israel's security efforts because we cannot ever afford to send a message that we would allow a second Holocaust."
Palin was apparently referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's many calls for Israel's destruction.
Haaretz reported earlier this month that the U.S. denied Israel a security aid package out of concern that Israel would use it to attack nuclear facilities in Iran.
Palin added that Israel is "our closest ally in the Mideast? We need them. They need us. And we shouldn't second guess their efforts."
However, when Couric followed up on the governor's statement and asked whether she means that America should not express its position to Israel, Palin qualified her comments, saying: "No, we need to express our rights and our concerns."
"It is in their country and their allies, including us, all of our best interests to fight against a regime, especially Iran, who would seek to wipe them off the face of the earth. It is obvious to me who the good guys are in this one and who the bad guys are," she said.
Central Ohio residents were treated to yet more of the Columbus Dispatch Printing Company’s (CDPC) ‘fair and balanced’ judgment; Pat Tiberi, a republican currently holding the 12th Congressional seat at the People’s House, has gotten the local daily printing company’s endorsement for Congress.
Hopefully, CDPC readers will remember the past ‘judgment’ of the company’s endorsements–including George W. Bush for president in both 2000 and 2004, when shortly before the 2004 election, even the CDPC seemed to know better. In the midst of this latest fill-in-the-blank-shock-and-awe crisis, that presidential endorsement has shown where the loyalties of the Wolfe family media empire really LIE. Much like Washington serves its lobbyists, the CDPC likewise serves the corporations who pay for thier ads.
The fact that a local printing company’s public informational monopoly would find it within their job description to endorse a candidate before even informing the population of where all candidates stand on the issues that affect them most, is discrediting to not only to the endorsement, but raises questions as to the credibility of the CDPC itself.
The CDPC wrote, “Tiberi [is a] moderate Republican, reasonable in [his] approaches to policy issues and capable of the nitty-gritty legislative work that’s required.”
The most glaring omission in this statement is that Tiberi has never sponsored and passed even one piece of legislation in his nearly eight years of [dis]service.
By this same CDPC standard, Tiberi’s voting record indicates that he is as “moderate” as he is “capable”!
Let’s look at his “moderate” and “reasonable approach” from his congressional voting record, for as even the CDPC noted, “most candidates are fiscal conservatives during the campaign season; the proof is what happens when they get to Capitol Hill.”
Exactly.
The question is, why didn’t the CDPC look at that “proof” and relate that to their readers? The [t]reason is that Tiberi’s record is far from moderate.
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