On the recordApril 29, 2010
The bottom line here is that usury and loan-sharking is immoral, it is wrong, and it has got to be prohibited. I know Senator Whitehouse and Senator Merkley are more than aware, there are even Biblical references in both the Old and New Testament to the immorality and the condemnation of usury. We know as a Nation, people look askance at loan sharks. Let's be honest. What are we talking about here? If a financial institution is charging people who are desperate enough to be buying their groceries, in many cases their basic necessities, on their credit card, 25- or 30-percent interest rates, if that is not usury, if that is not loan sharking, then I don't know what is. We have introduced legislation that would cap credit card interest rates at 15 percent. But the bottom line is that we have to deal with the absurd Marquette ruling which essentially nullifies what every State in the country has done.
