I like his moxie....my clients have been treated like garbage by Check into Cash and other payday lenders for too long.

Good riddance.

I'm against usury as much as anyone, and I applauded the leg's move to rein in those crazy interest rates. But something doesn't sit right about am elected official showing up to celebratethe closing of businesses in Oregon. People DO need short term loans, and that can be a valuable service. Access to credit is how people get ahead in this country, for better or worse. I would rather the Speaker talk seriously about finding a way to make fair loans profitable, rather than cracking smile and champagne when otherwise innocent people lose their jobs.

I'm against usury as much as anyone, and I applauded the leg's move to rein in those crazy interest rates. But something doesn't sit right about am elected official showing up to celebratethe closing of businesses in Oregon. People DO need short term loans, and that can be a valuable service. Access to credit is how people get ahead in this country, for better or worse. I would rather the Speaker talk seriously about finding a way to make fair loans profitable, rather than cracking smile and champagne when otherwise innocent people lose their jobs.

I'm against usury as much as anyone, and I applauded the leg's move to rein in those crazy interest rates. But something doesn't sit right about am elected official showing up to celebratethe closing of businesses in Oregon. People DO need short term loans, and that can be a valuable service. Access to credit is how people get ahead in this country, for better or worse. I would rather the Speaker talk seriously about finding a way to make fair loans profitable, rather than cracking smile and champagne when otherwise innocent people lose their jobs.

agh, CRAP! Sorry folks.

It's kind of a sorry story all around. People can't get credit who couldn't before and yet they also can't get ripped a new one by insane interest rates. Of course, if you needed a loan so bad that you'd go through this type of service, you're also probably in the bind of your life and feel the need to gamble on something like this.

Something rubs me wrong about a champagne bottle wielding politician with balloons celebrating this for some reason, but I'm not sure why.

Companies like "Check into Cash" are financial tapeworms. Sure the belly feels full but you're slowing being starved to death while a parasite is enriched at your expense.

Access to credit at 300 to 500% interest is not how people get ahead in this country. Anyone suggesting otherwise is positive that you, the reader, are stupid. Sorry to be so blunt about it but that's about as self-evident as these sorts of things get!

It'll be a boon to his Senate campaign, that's for sure

Over thirty years of inner-city mission work has convinced me that public policy which slashes its social safety net, and simultaneously deregulates financial services to the point that allow profiteers to prey on the poor with predatory business practices needs to be addressed. The closing of these purveyors of misery is indeed cause for celebration, and the fact that Oregon is blessed with leaders like Jeff Merkley who recognize that fact should be celebrated as well.

I can understand why those who wish to undermine his receiving credit for having tirelessly worked to stop predatory lending in Oregon as the centerpiece of his legislative service would grasp at straws to cast it in a negative light. In defending charging poor people as much as 500% annual interest which can only serve to keep them stuck even deeper in poverty, however, they relinquish any claim they might make as promoters of the cause of economic justice. Or for that matter, simple decency.

When asking for bread, the victims aren't just given a stone, it's tied to their ankle, and they're charged for the rope!

Good riddance. Now pass me a glass of that sparkling cider.

yeah, but where's his awesome hook hand?

...i thought so.

Gee, TJ.

It wasn't so long ago that you knew how bad predatory payday loan shops really are for Oregon.

Now you're concerned that nice people can't get a little gosh-darn money?

Full disclosure: My company built Jeff Merkley's campaign website, but I speak here only for myself.

Congratulations, Merkley attack squad! Way to rally around a common rebuke to a position you made up for me! Let's review where I:

--declare my opposition to usury, which is what the previous rates were
--suggest a search for FAIR loans that are structured in a way that is still profitable, as opposed to the previous UNFAIR loans...since microloans are not exactly a foreign concept (oh wait, that's exactly what they are)
--focus on the optics given the collateral damage of businesses closing and Oregonians being put out of work, when there actually is a market for small loans done with proper disclosure and capped rates.

I wonder, did you each respond to a different iteration of my comment? :)

Usury was the problem. Payday loan shops, per se, were not. Celebrating their death takes a policy issue and makes it personal, in my judgement. And sadly that's something I've seen more and more from the Speaker recently.

I would like to hear the Speaker's thoughts on improving the quality of jobs so we get away from a minimum wage economy which provides a fertile environment for predatory lending. People living hand to mouth, paycheck to paycheck, generally have no savings and no credit. When a financial emergency comes up, loansharks, legal or illegal, or often their only option.