Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the vote we are about to take on this Van Hollen resolution, S.J. Res. 15, is a bipartisan opportunity for us to show people whom we serve that we are on their side. States all over the country--red and blue States, States in the South and Midwest, on both coasts--have all recognized that people need protections from predatory lenders. That is why nearly every State and the District of Columbia have passed laws to limit, to cap the interest--the amount of interest--that can be charged on payday and other loans. In the late 1990s, payday lenders were desperate to find a way to evade State laws that limited them from charging exorbitant interest rates that trap people in a cycle of debt they can't get out of, no matter how hard they work. They came up with what the Comptroller of the Currency called ``rent-a-charter''--what we now know as a ``rent-a- bank'' scheme. Because banks are generally not subject to these State laws, payday lenders funneled their loans through a small number of willing banks. It looked like the banks were making the loans, when it was really the payday lenders. Federal regulators in both parties--Republicans and Democrats--saw through this very obvious ruse that hurt low-income people who were forced to get credit any way they could. Federal regulators cracked down.…”