Obama Supports Payday Loans! Part III

Payday loans are OK with Obama.

If you missed the Part II of this article, click here.

So what have we learned? Banks and credit unions want payday loans out. They want the room to victimize customers in a jam with exorbitant overdraft fees that are truly predatory.

And those overdraft fees will be jacked up if banks and credit unions have their way and buy a law that bans payday advance loans. What incentive would they have to charge less when they have consumers over a barrel?

Obama supports civil liberties to minorities, to women and to everyone else. This includes the consumer’s right to make financial choices like taking out online payday loans. No matter what he says in his economic policy, he doesn’t want to take away choices for cash-strapped consumers in the current economy. He has voting patterns in the Senate that would appear to support this idea, but I’ll get to that in a moment.

First, let’s look at one of the ringmasters behind the whole bank and credit union drive to crush competition and reap in the overdraft protection extortion money: Martin Eakes.

He’s Subprime’s Mr. Clean

OK, when you hear the name “Center for Responsible Lending,” what do you think of? Consumer protection? A safe harbor for people to learn about the best places to receive fast payday loans? Or a superficial shell organization that is a front for predatory bank and credit union overdraft action?

Try the last one. That’s what Martin Eakes does. He runs Self-Help Credit Union in Durham, North Carolina, and he is poised to sop up business left by the state’s faxless payday loans ban. Today, it’s short-term consumer loans. Tomorrow, the standard overdraft protection trap that banks dangle in front of innocent consumers. How responsible are exorbitant overdraft fees, “Mr. Center for Responsible Lending?”

Here come da bills: Obama votes for your rights – and you have a right to payday loans

Admittedly, Obama has not voted on any matters that address payday advance loans specifically. But what follows are some examples of how he supports the personal and economic rights of citizens who are sometimes marginalized, from minority groups to women to lower income, etc. I’ve included his vote in front of each description

NO: Vote 309: S 1927 – The bill gives U.S. spy agencies expanded power to eavesdrop on foreign suspects without a court order

YES: Vote 42: H R 2 – This bill would increase the federal minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour

NO: Vote 363 – This bill cut nearly $40 billion over five years from the federal budget by imposing substantial changes on welfare, child support and student lending programs

NO: Bill S 256 – Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. This law made it harder for people to erase debt by declaring bankruptcy. The Washington Post reported that the “banking, credit card, and retail” industries, supporters of the bill, gave more than $56 million to candidates and parties during the 2004 elections, most of it going to Republicans.

YES: HR 1424 – To provide authority for the Federal Government to purchase and insure certain types of troubled assets for the purposes of providing stability to and preventing disruption in the economy

YES – Expressing Support for All Men and Women in the U.S. Armed Forces. Voted to adopt an amendment that opposes comments that criticize the honor, integrity, and patriotism of individuals serving or having served honorably in the United States Armed Forces.

Obama supports economic freedom, which includes payday loans

But he isn’t perfect. That U.S. Armed Forces bill sounds like thought policing and muzzling free speech to me, Obama. Even though I support the troops, I could never get behind that kind of legislation. Payday loans are a quick, affordable, discreet short-term lending option for consumers who need an emergency boost during tough times and the paycheck is a few days away. A man like Obama who supports financial rights for all can see the value in that.