Peter G. Peterson

The head of a newly established grant organization, the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, will be in attendance this week when President Barack Obama holds a summit on fiscal responsibility.

According to Park University’s Center for International Civil Engagement, “the Peter G. Peterson Foundation is dedicated to increasing public awareness of the nature and urgency of several key challenges threatening America’s future.”

Financing financial education

Among the grants that the Peter G. Peterson Foundation gave out when it was first established was $500,000 for opinion research and citizen engagement organization Public Agenda. The money is intended for Public Agenda’s program Facing Up to the Nation’s Finances.

The $500,000 grant will fund a two-year program called Students Face Up to the Nation’s Finances. Park University says the grant money will be used:

To refine and disseminate a package of learning materials designed to raise college students’ awareness of our national fiscal challenges and engage college students across the nation in a discussion of the solutions.

Use money wisely

I hope part of the program will be teaching students about no teletrack payday loans and how to use them wisely. That’s something students should learn about before they finish college.

Ideally, students should be informed about all of their financial options, with stress placed on making sure to always use money responsibly. They should also be well versed on the consequences of misuse.

Background on Peter G. Peterson Foundation

The Peter G. Peterson Foundation was started by and named after the senior chairman of the Blackstone Group. Peterson started the foundation last year using profits from Blackstone’s IPO.

According to Wikipedia, Blackstone “is an alternative asset management and financial services company that specializes in private equity, real estate, and marketable alternative investment strategies, as well as mergers and acquisitions (M&A), restructuring, and fund-placement advisory services.”

Background on Peterson

“In 1971, Peterson was named Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs” during the Nixon administration, according to Wikipedia. Before that he worked in market research, advertising, ran a movie-equipment making company and was chairman of the Commission on Foundations and Private Philanthropy, which later became known as the Peterson Commission.

After working for Nixon, he was chairman of Lehman Brothers, and he started the Blackstone private equity fund in 1985.

Dissenters question agenda

According to A Pakistan News:

Mr. Peterson has never been shy about using his Wall Street wealth to try to cut Social Security and Medicare, and he recently stepped up his efforts. … Peterson’s main story is that these programs are bankrupting the government and will impose an unbearable burden on future generations.

The same opinion article also says:

Mr. Peterson is known as one of the top beneficiaries of the (Blackstone) fund managers’ tax break, through which he personally pocketed tens of millions of dollars.

Beneficiaries

According to Wikipedia:

To date, the Peterson Foundation has awarded nearly $11 million in grants. Recent grant recipients include the Center for the Study of the Presidency, the Institute for Advanced Policy Solutions at Emory University, the Institute of Medicine, and the Common Good Institute.

For those f you who just have to know, the G. is for George.

I was a bit surprised to see the large title “Conservative Viewpoints” splayed across the top of this article about payday loans legislation.

See, all this time I had thought that “conservatives” were all about small government and individual responsibility. Apparently not when it comes to payday loans.

What’s all the fuss about payday loans?

Virginia lawmakers are all up in a tizzy because after they imposed limits on payday loan lenders that would essentially drive them out of business, those lenders found a way to keep their businesses afloat.

Virginia allows “open-end” loans, in which lenders can charge any interest rate they choose after a 25-day grace period. They are now seeking to ban payday loan companies from offering open-end loans. I should think conservatives would balk at the idea of placing such heavy-handed regulations on businesses.

I can take care of myself, thank you

Lawmakers in many states, including Virginia, harp on the payday loans industry, calling it “predatory lending.” They say that by offering open-end loans, payday lenders are “preying on” borrowers.

Excuse me, but those borrowers agree to specific terms beforehand. And payday loans are meant to be short-term. As long as borrowers keep up their end of the agreement and pay back the loan within 25 days they have nothing to fear. Why is it that all of a sudden these lawmakers don’t want people to have consequences for defaulting on an agreement?

An ounce of prevention

Conservatives’ argument against welfare is basically that if you help people too much they won’t help themselves. Why don’t they feel the same way about fiscal responsibility? If we set people’s limits for them, doesn’t that mean they won’t learn responsibility for themselves?

The best idea I’ve seen out of this whole recession ordeal is that financial education should be taught in public schools. I think education is the key, not creating laws that strip responsibility away from people when it comes to payday loans.