Dems, incumbents get wake-up call

John F. Harris, Jonathan Martin: POLITICO

RICHMOND, Va. — Eager to drain the 2009 elections of drama and import, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs claimed Tuesday night that President Barack Obama was “not watching returns.”

You can be sure that he is studying them closely now:
The off-year elections were, in two big races, an unmistakable rebuke of Democrats, reshuffling Obama’s political circumstances in ways likely to have severe near-term consequences for his policy agenda and larger governing strategy.

Editorial: “Predatory lending made easy”

By Dan Casey

Dan Casey is The Roanoke Times’ metro columnist.

dan.casey
@roanoke.com
981-4423

Sooner or later I will leave this job at The Roanoke Times.

And lately, I’ve been thinking about the future after a long and fun newspaper career. I will go into business for myself. It will be a consumer lending (ahem) store. I’ll call it “Casey’s Rip-off Loans.” The motto will be “The Loan Shark You Will Love.” And our advertising slogan will be, “We cheat you honestly, unlike those other chiselers.”

Loan-Shark Lenders Have Date With Hangman: Jane Bryant Quinn

. “The consumer-credit industry can dream up any sneaky product it wants and no one polices it for harm.”

Commentary by Jane Bryant Quinn

June 3 (Bloomberg) — Pity the neighborhood loan shark.

The credit-card companies have stolen his customers by taking a softer approach to charging outrageous interest rates. During the subprime lending boom, mortgage banks shouldered into shark territory, too.

Loan sharks are called mobsters. Thieving legitimate lenders are called capitalists — free to impose any terms short of kneecapping on their troubled borrowers. Washington treated capitalist sharks as role models and beloved campaign contributors — that is, until the economy collapsed and debtors (aka voters) emitted a collective scream.

Virginia House Panel Gives Its OK to Predatory Loans

The News & Advance
Published: February 12, 2009

A House of Delegates committee has endorsed car title loans with exorbitant interest rates that can exceed 300 percent annually.

Editorial: Cast out the predators

Lawmakers miffed that payday lenders took advantage of them should seek more than ‘reform.’

Payday lenders couldn’t leave bad enough alone. Last year, lawmakers “reformed” the industry just the way it wanted. As a way to say thanks, the usury lenders rolled out a “new” product — larger, open-ended loans with unlimited interest rates — that is even worse than the last.

Payday sharks circle in the VA General Assembly

Published on HamptonRoads. com | PilotOnline. com

Even when predatory lenders are forced to play defense, they still call the shots at the state Capitol.

After legislators adopted modest consumer protections for payday loans last year, some companies simply circumvented the spirit of those reforms by offering a new kind of loan.

Letter to the Editor: Payday Loan Became Vicious Hook

We, the people of this great commonwealth, owe ourselves freedom from exploitation by payday lenders. This must not be just a problem for lower-middle- class workers.

We each have different needs. So we each seek different solutions. The solution should not turn into a bigger problem, as payday loans have.

Editorial: The True Miracle of the Day: The Peaceful Transfer of Power

By Peter Roff
Conservative Commentator/Former Senior Political Writer for United Press International

Inauguration Day 2009 is as important as everyone says it is. There’s no escaping it. It is, as most of those covering it have already observed, an historic day, full of meaning for people all across the world. That a mere half-century after a time when blacks in parts of America were routinely prevented from voting we inaugurate an African-American president of the United States is a time of celebration for us all. It is a tangible symbol of how far the nation has come on race, one of the thorniest issues we as a nation have ever had to confront. We must not, however, lose sight of the fact that this is a subtext of the real story.

Today’s the Day…Tomorrow’s the question

Today America ushers in the 44th President of the United States. With that, a promise of a better America for all
Americans will be put to the test, not in the first 100 days, but in the first 100 hours.

Fiancial Crisis: Calm is what is needed now

The sky is falling….and the people get it. What is needed now, however, is for common sense and historical precedence to supersede panic and hysteria.