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in New HampshireBusiness as Usual, Worlds Apart
In Afghanistan, we had to be wary of a common tactic of warlords providing us information on Taliban/Al Qaeda positions, in hopes we would attack them; when actually these were merely the positions of rival warlords. We were often unwittingly used too settle petty scores among tribes with faulty intelligence. Since then, my whole outlook has changed, because this goes on the world over. When you hold the power, you may be tricked into the bidding of parties which may not have your interests at heart.
To show how global this phenomenon is, we can look no further than our own New Hampshire. Notice, for example, the issue of payday lending in NH, a hot topic lately. Opponents are calling for a 36% rate cap on the industry. They feel this industry preys on is customers by forcing them into a cycle of debt.
Then I came across several articles, in Forbes, in CNBC, and in our own local press, about the industry here in NH which claimed of the 160,000 payday loans made over a year, less than a dozen had complaints of predation. Think of any consumer transaction that numbers in the hundreds of thousands; you’re bound to have a handful of unhappy campers. I’ve been in that handful myself with Verizon for one.
What scares me is how a powerful lobby can come in and make a tsunami out of a puddle of problems like they have here, and use our representatives for their own purposes. I don’t know exactly who these payday loan opponents are, but they certainly have an urgent interest in running them out of business. They’ve taken .01% of dissatisfied consumers and made them into the industry standard. With a 36%APR rate cap—and who’s going to say no to a rate cap on anything—payday lenders will only be able to charge $1.50 on every $100 loan, down from $20. I don’t know of any business that can sustain that sort of drastic reduction in income.
It is disheartening to see how easily special interests can bend our government to its will. Just as much as it was disheartening to see our forces used to settle scores on the ground in Afghanistan, thus weakening our alliances and strengthening our enemies. I’ve never used payday loans, and even while in the military, I never knew of anyone who did. The payday loan cap is not an issue affecting most of us. But think about the issues that do affect our communities, what chance will we have against a well-connected opposition whispering false intelligence into the ears of the General Court?
To show how global this phenomenon is, we can look no further than our own New Hampshire. Notice, for example, the issue of payday lending in NH, a hot topic lately. Opponents are calling for a 36% rate cap on the industry. They feel this industry preys on is customers by forcing them into a cycle of debt.
Then I came across several articles, in Forbes, in CNBC, and in our own local press, about the industry here in NH which claimed of the 160,000 payday loans made over a year, less than a dozen had complaints of predation. Think of any consumer transaction that numbers in the hundreds of thousands; you’re bound to have a handful of unhappy campers. I’ve been in that handful myself with Verizon for one.
What scares me is how a powerful lobby can come in and make a tsunami out of a puddle of problems like they have here, and use our representatives for their own purposes. I don’t know exactly who these payday loan opponents are, but they certainly have an urgent interest in running them out of business. They’ve taken .01% of dissatisfied consumers and made them into the industry standard. With a 36%APR rate cap—and who’s going to say no to a rate cap on anything—payday lenders will only be able to charge $1.50 on every $100 loan, down from $20. I don’t know of any business that can sustain that sort of drastic reduction in income.
It is disheartening to see how easily special interests can bend our government to its will. Just as much as it was disheartening to see our forces used to settle scores on the ground in Afghanistan, thus weakening our alliances and strengthening our enemies. I’ve never used payday loans, and even while in the military, I never knew of anyone who did. The payday loan cap is not an issue affecting most of us. But think about the issues that do affect our communities, what chance will we have against a well-connected opposition whispering false intelligence into the ears of the General Court?
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