Fixing The Interest Rate Mess-- Bernie + AOC vs Biden + GOP

"Today’s loan sharks wear expensive suits and work on Wall Street, where they make hundreds of millions of dollars in total compensation by charging sky-high fees and usurious interest rates."
-Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez

This morning must have been horrible for Status Quo Joe. He had to bite his tongue as Bernie and AOC went on the offensive with their new consumer-protection proposal, the Loan Shark Prevention Act, that targets the people and industries that have underwritten Biden's entire slimy career as a devoted servant to the banksters. The AOC/Bernie bill would cap interest rates on all consumer loans at 15%, effectively eliminating the payday loan industry and save Americans significant money on their credit card debts. Biden is generally considered the credit card industry's #1 political ally and he's was serving their interests before AOC was born!

The usury cap has been introduced by Bernie for over a decade but Republicans, working with slimy corrupt Democrats like Biden, have managed to kill it each time. Remember, banks borrow from the Fed at a 2.5% rate and their credit cards charge as much as 23%, sometimes more when they are branded with department stores and airlines. Payday charge annual rates as high as 667%, so this would be curtains for them. Politicians like Biden and the GOP in general will squeal like stuck pigs that the effect of the proposal would be to reduce access to credit for low-income families, since they have to turn to the modern day loan sharks because of poor credit.

The hope is that revived postal banking (which ended in 1967)-- being pushed by Elizabeth Warren, Bernie and even a confused Wall Street ally like Kirsten Gillibrand-- will thrive in the space occupied by payday lenders.

Wednesday, Norman Solomon wrote what many low-info Democrats don't want to hear: Joe Biden Might as Well Be a Republican. Why? "Recent criticism of Joe Biden," he wrote, "for praising Dick Cheney as 'a decent man' and Mike Pence as 'a decent guy' merely scratches the surface of what’s wrong with the current frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination. His compulsion to vouch for the decency of Republican leaders-- while calling Donald Trump an 'aberration'-- is consistent with Biden’s political record. It sheds light on why he’s probably the worst Democrat running for president."

After several decades of cutting corporate-friendly deals with GOP legislators-- often betraying the interests of core Democratic constituencies in the process-- Biden has a big psychological and political stake in denying that the entire GOP agenda is repugnant.

At the outset of his Senate career, Biden lost no time appealing to racism and running interference for huge corporate interests. He went on to play a historic role in helping to move the Supreme Court rightward and serving such predatory businesses as credit card companies, big banks and hedge funds.

Biden’s role as vice president included a near-miss at cutting a deal with Republican leaders on Capitol Hill to slash Medicare and Social Security. While his record on labor and trade has been mediocre, Biden has enjoyed tight mutual alliances with moneyed elites.

The nickname that corporate media have bestowed on him, “Lunch Bucket Joe,” is wide of the mark. A bull’s-eye is “Wall Street Joe.”

With avuncular style, Biden has reflexively used pleasant rhetoric to grease the shaft given to millions of vulnerable people, suffering the consequences of his conciliatory approach to right-wing forces. Campaigning in Iowa a few days ago, Biden declared that “the other side is not my enemy, it’s my opposition.” But his notable kinship with Republican politicians has made him more of an enabler than an opponent. Results have often been disastrous.

“In more than four decades of public service, Biden has enthusiastically championed policies favored by financial elites, forging alliances with Wall Street and the political right to notch legislative victories that ran counter to the populist ideas that now animate his party,” HuffPost senior reporter Zach Carter recounts. Biden often teamed up with Senate Republicans to pass bills at the top of corporate wish lists and to block measures for economic fairness.

...Opposing measures for racial equity and economic justice, Biden’s operational bonds with GOP leaders continued. Carter reports that “on domestic policy-- from school integration to tax policy-- he was functionally allied with the Reagan administration. He voted for a landmark Reagan tax bill that slashed the top income tax rate from 70 percent to 50 percent and exempted many wealthy families from the estate tax on unearned inheritances, a measure that cost the federal government an estimated $83 billion in annual revenue. He then called for a spending freeze on Social Security in order to reduce the deficits that tax law helped to create.”

Biden came through for corporate power again in November 1993 when he joined with 26 other Democrats and 34 Republicans to win Senate passage of NAFTA, the trade agreement strongly opposed by labor unions and environmental groups. In mid-1996, when Congress approved President Clinton’s “welfare reform” bill, Biden helped to vote the draconian measure into law. It predictably had devastating effects on women and children.

Throughout the 1990s-- from tax-rate changes that enriched the already-rich to deregulating banks with repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act to loosening government curbs on credit default swaps-- Biden stood with the Senate’s Republicans and the most corporate-aligned Democrats. Carter sums up: “Biden was a steadfast supporter of an economic agenda that caused economic inequality to skyrocket during the Clinton years. . . . Biden voted for all of it.”

Biden led the successful push to pass the milestone 1994 crime bill, engaging in racist tropes on the Senate floor along the way. By then, he had become a powerful lawmaker on criminal-justice issues.

In 1991, midway through his eight years as chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Biden ran the hearings for Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas that excluded witnesses who were prepared to corroborate Anita Hill’s accusations of sexual harassment. “Much of what Democrats blame Republicans for was enabled, quite literally, by Biden: Justices whose confirmation to the Supreme Court he rubber-stamped worked to disembowel affirmative action, collective bargaining rights, reproductive rights, voting rights,” feminist author Rebecca Traister writes.

Early in the new century, Biden wielded another weighty gavel, with momentous results, as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In 2002, congressional Democrats were closely divided on whether to greenlight the invasion of Iraq, while Republicans overwhelmingly backed President George W. Bush’s mendacious case for invading. Biden didn’t only vote for the Iraq invasion on the Senate floor in October 2002. Months earlier, he methodically excluded dissenting voices about the looming invasion at key hearings of the Foreign Relations Committee.

While his impact on foreign policy grew larger, Biden’s avid service to financial giants never flagged. One of his top priorities was a crusade for legislation to undermine bankruptcy protections. Biden was a mover and shaker behind the landmark 2005 bankruptcy bill. Before President Bush signed it into law, Biden was one of just 14 out of 45 Democratic senators to vote for the legislation.

The bankruptcy law was a monumental victory for credit-card firms — and a huge blow to consumers, including students saddled with debt. As happened so often during Biden’s 36 years in the Senate, he eagerly aligned himself with Republicans and a minority of Democrats to get the job done.

Now, running for president, Biden has no use for candor about his actual record. Instead, he keeps pretending that he has always been a champion of people he actually used his power to grievously harm.

In ideology and record on corporate power, the farthest from Biden among his competitors is Bernie Sanders. No wonder Biden has gone out of his way to distance himself from Sanders while voicing high regard for the wealthy. (I was a Sanders delegate to the 2016 Democratic National Convention and continue to actively support him.)

Biden’s ongoing zeal to defend and accommodate Republicans in Congress is undiminished, as though they should not be held accountable for President Trump even while they aid and abet him. Days ago on the campaign trail-- while referring to Trump-- Biden asserted: “This is not the Republican Party.” And he spoke warmly of “my Republican friends in the House and Senate.”

All in all, it’s preposterous yet fitting for Joe Biden to claim that Republicans like Dick Cheney and Mike Pence are “decent.” He’s not only defending them. He’s also defending himself.

Trump Is Bringing Back Predatory Lenders To Prey On Poor People

Last cycle payday lenders only handed out $1,302,189 to congressional candidates, mostly to incumbents. And mostly to Republicans ($1,054,081). The biggest players were Harpeth Financial Services, Advance America Cash Advance Centers, Advance Financial, Online Lenders Alliance, Select Management Resources and Moneytree, Inc. Since 1990 Payday lenders have contributed $11,754,614 to men and women running for Congress-- $4,214,274 to Democrats and $7,505,887 to Republicans. Most of the scumbags who took the most sewer money from the payday lenders are now gone from Congress-- Kevin Yoder (R-KS), Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Harry Reid (D-NV), Lynn Jenkins (R-KS), Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Spencer Bachus (R-AL), Kendrick Meek (D-FL). This was the list of people who did the bidding of the payday lenders and were rewarded with 6-figure bribes.

Now let's take a look at the 10 corrupt members of Congress who are still serving in the House and who were the biggest recipients of Payday lender bribes just in the 2018 cycle:

• Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)- Financial Services Committee- $50,600
• Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)- Appropriations Committee- $43,000
• Alcee Hastings (D-FL)- Rules Committee- $41,000
• Steve Stivers (R-OH)- Financial Services Committee- $40,400
• Tom Graves (R-GA)- Appropriations Committee- $39,800
• Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA)- Energy and Commerce- $32,600
• Patrick McHenry (R-GA)- Financial Services Committee- $23,500
• Ann Wagner (R-MO)- Financial Services Committee- $23,000
• Frank Lucas (R-OK)- Financial Services Committee- $20,000
• Roger Williams (R-TX)- Financial Services Committee- $18,150

I'm sure you've noted that 60% of them come from just one committee, Financial Services. That's not a coincidence. The Trump regime announced last week that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to roll back Obama-era restrictions on predatory payday lenders.

NBC News reported that critics worry that "payday lenders take advantage of impoverished Americans who often turn to them for small dollar loans in a pinch. These high-interest loans can force financially vulnerable people into a trap of loans, renewals and exorbitant fees that lead to more debt... Cordray said on Wednesday that the Trump administration's action favors the 'profits of payday lenders' over 'some of the hardest-hit consumers. The move to unwind the rule is based on a claim of protecting access to credit-- but credit that is offered without regard to the borrower’s ability to repay is irresponsible and often predatory,' he said in a statement. 'Extensive data analysis shows this is true for payday lenders. The Trump administration’s political efforts to roll back the rule will hurt those who are being abused and mistreated by ruinous loans. So today’s action should be and will be subject to a stiff legal challenge'."

Alex Horowitz, the senior research officer with Pew Charitable Trusts consumer finance project, warned that the rule change would leave the 12 million Americans who use payday loans annually unprotected from predatory interest rates, which average 400 percent.

"This proposal is not a tweak to the existing rule; instead, it's a complete dismantling of the consumer protections finalized in 2017," Horowitz said in a statement. "The rule was working. Lenders were making changes even before it formally took effect, safer credit was already starting to flow, and harmful practices were beginning to fade." Lending groups, however, celebrated the decision. Some even pushed for CFPB to rescind the rule in its entirety.

The Community Financial Services Association of America, a group that sued the CFBP over its rule against payday lending, said that it was pleased with the announcement, but added that it did not think the current director’s decision went far enough.

Critics of the new policy said this fulfilled their fears that the Trump administration was working to undo consumer protections and would put financially vulnerable Americans at risk.

“[CFPB Director] Kathy Kraninger is siding with the payday loan sharks instead of the American people,” said Rebecca Borné, senior policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending. “The CFPB, under a previous director, spent five years developing these consumer safeguards, taking input from lenders, faith leaders, veteran and military organizations, civil rights groups, consumer advocates, and consumers from across the country.”

Because of the Democratic takeover of the House-- and the restructuring of the House Financial Services Committee-- crooked banisters and payday lenders can only depend on Trump to give them license to steal. Last year the committee was run by 34 Republicans-- all crooked-- and among the 26 Democrats, over half were slimy Blue Dog/New Dems. This time 34 Democrats run the show and, although there are still quite a few slimeballs and bankster allies-- Gregory Meeks (New Dem-NY), Lacy Clay (MO), David Scott (Blue Dog-GA), Ed Perlmutter (New Dem-CO), Jim Himes (New Dem-CT), Denny Heck (Dem Dem-WA), Josh Gottheimer (Blue Dog-NJ), Vicente González (Blue Dog-TX)-- new members include fighting reformers: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Katie Porter (CA), Rashida Tlaib (MI) and Ayanna Pressley (MA). And the new ranking member is one of Congress' most corrupt and dishonest members, Patrick McHenry (NC).

Indiana Republicans Take On Religious Leaders-- To Give Their Loan Shark Donors The Right To Rip Off Their Own Constituents

Ever notice that corrupt conservatives always seem to support payday lender schemes while progressives fight against them? As soon as Trump appointed Mick Mulvaney acting head of the CFPB-- the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau-- one of his first moves was to stop protecting consumers from predators in the payday lending world. (They were big donors to his political career.) Florida reporter James Elmore from the Palm Beach Post pointed out how Mulvaney is working to destroy all the regulations that have kept the payday lenders from stealing borrowers blind. Elmore wrote that "A consumer agency taken over by an appointee of President Donald Trump who took more than $62,000 in contributions from payday lenders while in Congress said it will suspend landmark rules aimed at alleged predatory abuses in that industry." The 3 members of the House who have taken the biggest reported bribes from payday lenders all work hard to repeal regulations that protect consumers:

• Kevin Yoder (R-KS)- $313,009
• Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)- $266,400
• Pete Sessions (R-TX)- $226,999

Brent Welder is the Democrat running against GOP crook Kevin Yoder. This morning he told us that "Payday loan con artists gleefully get rich by trapping hardworking people who find themselves in a pinch. Then corrupt politicians do their bidding to make sure they can keep the scam alive. I am running against these con artists’ biggest bootlicker, Kevin Yoder. I don’t take any corporate PAC donations because I will aways serve hardworking people, and never the payday scammers." And the same kind of crap is happening on a state level-- of course in that states where Republicans control the state Senate, the state House and the governor's mansion... like Indiana:

Payday lenders could charge interest on small loans at rates more than triple what Indiana law currently defines as criminal loansharking under a bill the Indiana House approved this week.

The House on Wednesday narrowly passed House Bill 1319, which would allow storefront lenders to offer three to 12-month loans of $605 to $1,500 with annual percentage rates up to 222 percent.

Under current Indiana law, rates of more than 72 percent are considered felony loansharking. Payday lenders can offer higher rates, but only for smaller loans.

The House passed the measure after Speaker Brian Bosma, who rarely votes on legislation, joined 52 other representatives in supporting the bill, despite his own church's opposition. The bill now moves to the Senate.

"Some (GOP lawmakers) had had political concern about it, that it had some political ramifications for them in their home districts and occasionally I will cast a vote on something like that so they’re not left dangling in the wind themselves," Bosma said.

The vote comes after intense lobbying by payday lenders, who have hired several lobbying firms including those of two former Republican lawmakers who served with Bosma-- Matt Whetstone and Matt Bell.

The payday loan industry argues that the new, unsecured loans will fill a niche not served by conventional lenders, helping customers short on cash and credit who have nowhere else to turn.

But opponents argue that such high-interest loan products are predatory, ensnaring cash-strapped borrowers and sending them into a death spiral of debt.

Those opponents include social service charities, the state's four largest veterans organizations and a large number of religious groups-- including Grace Church, where Bosma attends and sometimes serves as an usher.

Opponents have managed to kill bills in the past that would have created additional high-APR loan options. But this year, opponents say it seems like there is more lobbying power from the payday loan industry.

"It feels like this year it’s like an army," said Erin Macey, a policy analyst for the Indiana Institute for Working Families. "Anytime we push out one narrative, they’ve found another one."

Four large payday lenders, including Advance America and Check into Cash, spent more than $186,000 on lobbying at the Statehouse last year, according to lobby registration records.

Industry representatives argue there is a greater need this year for a new type of loan because of new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules created during the Obama administration.

"The net efect of this is that payday loans will become obsolete in most part when it becomes effective next summer," said Sabra Northam, representing the Community Financial Services Agency. "The impact of this rule is that the consumers that our association serves today will have to turn to the unregulated market.

"The future of those rules, however, have fallen into limbo under President Donald Trump, who has been critical of the CFPB. The agency announced last month it's rethinking the rules, which would have required lenders to determine upfront whether people can afford to repay their loans.

Bill author Rep. Martin Carbaugh, an accountant and Fort Wayne Republican, said the new loan product would provide borrowers with an additional avenue to build up their credit score.

“We have a demand problem and we have a need for these things," Carbaugh said.

Supporters say the bill includes some protections as well. For example, the proposal prohibits the loans if the monthly payments exceed 20 percent of the borrower's monthly income.

Opponents say those terms would trap low-income Hoosiers into borrowing money they can't easily pay back.

That means borrowers would have to earn about $23,800 a year to qualify for a six-month, $1,500 loan. By the end of the loan, that borrower would end up paying $2,378, according to an analysis by the Indiana Institute for Working Families.

"I’m all for helping people, but this bill is helping no one but the companies that are going to benefit from these high interest rate," said Rep. Robin Shackleford, D-Indianapolis.

Bosma stood by his vote and said he was unaware that his church had taken a position on the matter.

"Our church family of course has to take a position that they think is appropriate, and I have to do what I believe is comfortable as a policy maker," Bosma said Wednesday. "It wouldn’t be the first time that I’ve disagreed with the folks at my church before."

Blue America's only endorsed candidate in Indiana is Dan Canon and we asked him about how this could happen. "In Indiana, you can see class warfare being openly waged every day," he said frankly. "Here, as in most of middle America, we've got a situation in which poverty is steadily climbing and wages are steadily dropping. The cost of living is always increasing, and the availability of decent-paying jobs is falling. The response of the legislature has been to cut corporate taxes, institute draconian work requirements for Medicaid recipients, and jack up hidden regressive taxes on the working classes (like toll roads and gas fees). The latest insult is a return to the days when predatory lenders could effectively own the working poor. It's barely a secret that our elected officials would like nothing more than to make most of us into a class of serfs who exist to make the rich even richer. We should get rid of as many of these plutocrats as possible in November, and support candidates who will push for progressive taxation, a nationwide usury law capping interest rates at 15%, a living wage, and protections for organized labor."

Like Dan, Hawaii legislator/congressional candidate, Kaniela Ing, is fully woke-- and fighting strong and hard for the working families he represents. Payday lenders are not his cup of tea, to put it mildly. "Payday lenders," he told me this morning, "always happen to be placed in high profile locations within the most vulnerable and indigent communities, preying on the poor. I’ve been in hard times before and was tempted to walk in and fall into the trap. We need major reforms and alternatives for folks just scraping by."

What do I mean when I call these day pay lenders crooks and the politicians who take bribes from them corrupt? I found an interesting story last week about by Bradley Brownell about Scott Tucker. Never heard of Scott?

American Le Mans Series champion and Le Mans veteran Scott Tucker is now more likely to be known as payday lending scam artist and convicted felon Scott Tucker. Through nefarious means, primarily deceptive undisclosed payday loan fees, was able to amass a fortune, some of which he used to fund his Level 5 Racing program for years of top-flight motorsport, and win multiple national championships.

In the new Netflix series Dirty Money, episode two takes a deep dive one-hour look into Scott Tucker’s business history and how the scheme ended with him receiving 16 years and 8 months in federal prison, plus a $1.26 billion judgement. Part of the reason Tucker received so much time in prison for his misdeeds was the absolute lack of remorse.

Sort of like Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Kevin Yoder-- and the Republicans in the Indiana legislature.

Do Trump Voters See Government Allowing Payday Lenders To Rip Off Consumers For Bribes As Swampy?

When Trump voters went to the polls, how many of them were voting to end the rules to keep blood-sucking payday lenders from ripping them off? Probably not many-- but that's what they're getting. As you know, Trump appointed OMB director Mick Mulvaney acting head of the CFPB-- the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Neither Trump nor Mulvaney has any interest whatsoever in protecting consumers and Mulvaney has moved quickly and forcefully to wreck the CFPB from within. Last week James Elmore from the Palm Beach Post pointed at how Mulvaney is working to destroy all the regulations that have kept the payday lenders from stealing borrowers blind. Elmore wrote that "A consumer agency taken over by an appointee of President Donald Trump who took more than $62,000 in contributions from payday lenders while in Congress said it will suspend landmark rules aimed at alleged predatory abuses in that industry." It's only fair to mention that the payday lending scams in Florida were also supported by 3 extremely corrupt congressmembers who also took massive bribes from the industry-- particularly Alcee Hastings, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Patrick Murphy.)

Florida consumers paid more than $2.5 billion in fees that amounted to an average 278 percent annual interest rate on payday loans over a decade, groups calling for regulatory changes said in 2016.

...“As a Congressman, Mick Mulvaney took thousands of dollars from the payday industry,” said Karl Frisch, executive director of Washington, D.C. -based Allied Progress. “Now, as ‘acting director’ of the CFPB, he is returning the favor by sabotaging these important protections that would have guarded against predatory lenders and protected struggling consumers from falling into the cycles of debt with sky-high interest rates.”

The consumer bureau said in a statement Tuesday it will engage in a rulemaking process to “reconsider” the “Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans” rule. That rule would have started Tuesday, though some provisions would not kick in until August.

Payday lenders gave more than $62,000 in campaign contributions to Mulvaney when he was a congressman, according to gift-tracker opensecrets.org. That included more than $31,000 in the 2016 election cycle, when the South Carolina Republican ranked among the top 10 congressional candidates in contributions from the sector. Also in the top 10 in that cycle: Florida Democrats Alcee Hastings and Patrick Murphy, though GOP candidates got about 70 percent of the giving nationally.

While in Congress, Mulvaney called the CFPB a “sick, sad” joke. Trump made Mulvaney his budget director and then asked him to serve as acting director of the consumer bureau last year.

Improper influence or conflict of interest? “I don’t think so, because I am not in elected office anymore,” Mulvaney said in December. He noted different administrations often diverge on key issues.

Industry groups have fought against the rule they slam as a prime example of over-stepping by the CFPB, the consumer agency created by financial reform laws passed during the administration of former president Barack Obama.

“Millions of American consumers use small-dollar loans to manage budget shortfalls or unexpected expenses,” Dennis Shaul, CEO of the Community Financial Services Association of America, said in October. “The CFPB’s misguided rule will only serve to cut off their access to vital credit when they need it the most.”

Payday loans often run between $200 and $1,000, due when a borrower receives the next paycheck. Borrowers average a $15 fee for every $100 borrowed, industry officials have said.

Officials in the Obama administration said payday lenders collected $3.6 billion a year in fees on the backs of low-income people who frequently became trapped in endless cycles of debt. About four out of five borrowers soon took out additional loans with mounting fees, officials said. For many, costs soon approached the equivalent of a 390 percent annual interest rate, they said.

The proposed rules would have required lenders to take greater pains to “vet” borrowers, limit how many loans they could take out in succession and cap penalty fees.

As Frisch sees it, “The CFPB thoroughly and thoughtfully considered every aspect of this issue over the course of several years. There is no reason to delay implementation of this rule-- unless you are more concerned with the needs of payday lenders than you are with the interests of the consumers these financial bottom-feeders prey upon.”

This is a list of the worst of the payday lender bribe-takers still in Congress:

• Kevin Yoder (R-KS)- $313,009
• Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)- $266,400
• Pete Sessions (R-TX)- $226,999
• Alcee Hastings (D-FL)- $166,950
• Lynn Jenkins (R-KS)- $165,300
• Carolyn Maloney (R-NY)- $157,050
• Gregory Meeks (New Dem-NY)- $148,000
• Steve Stivers (R-OH)- $143,575
• Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)- $134,900
• Patrick McHenry (R-MO)- $132,599
• Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)- $101,300
• David Scott (Blue Dog-GA)- $91,630
• Debbie Wasserman Schultz (New Dem-FL)- $83,100
• Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN)- $69,060
• Ed Royce (R-CA)- $67,600

On Tuesday, Josh Keefe, writing for International Business News, reported that Mulvaney closed a 4-year investigation into World Acceptance Corporation, a payday lender headquartered in Mulvaney’s home state Monday. The company previously donated to the former congressman’s political campaigns. Keefe explained that "While payday lenders say that their products-- short-term loans of a few hundred dollars lent at high interest rates-- allows low-income Americans to access credit, critics say the industry captures poor people in a cycle of high-interest loans they can’t pay back. A 2014 CFPB study found that four out of five payday loans are given to borrowers who already have an outstanding payday loan. The study also reported that half of all payday loans are part of a series of loans that are at least 10 loans long."

Rick Neal is the progressive Democrat running against bankster shill Steve Stivers in a horribly gerrymandered district that cut out most of Columbus and now stretches incongruously from the exurbs northeast of Cincinnati into a handpicked few of Columbus' neighborhoods and suburbs-- Upper Arlington, Victorian Village, Grandview Heights, Short North, German Village, Grove City and Hilliard-- then heads east to Athens almost to Parkersburg, West Virginia. Hilariously, I reached out to an old friend-- accidentally Jim Neal-- and asked him for a comment on the payday lender fiasco. He isn't running for Congress. He ran for the U.S. Senate in North Carolina against a conservative Democrat, Kay Hagen, a pointless one-termer, who was beaten in 2014 by Thom Tillis. This is his perspective on the payday lenders, not Rick Neal running against Steve Stivers.

Let's face it, Citizens United upended any chance that political decision-making could operate independently of pay-to-play politics. There is not a member of Congress who does not routinely make decisions based upon filling their campaign coffers instead of fulfilling their pledges to serve the public good. That's the reality of campaign finance today. Buying political support is one of the lowest-cost, high-return investments a corporation can make.

But-- that does not mean that an elected representative has to jump in bed with every mangy dog in America. There are degrees of depravity between the business and behavior of industries and their executives. Companies that disavow any responsibility for environmental stewardship come to mind. As do payday lenders.

I can not think of a more debased industry than payday lending. It's business model is simple: prey on the vulnerabilities of  the poorest people in America. It's a profitable enterprise- that's why there are more payday lenders than McDonald's or Starbucks in the US. Charging annual rates as high as 600% with very little default risk is legalized loansharking by any measure.

GOP Rep. Steve Stivers of Ohio is a case in point of a congressman who sets no bounds in filtering his contributors. From his perch as a member of the House Financial Services Committee Stivers has raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars from the payday lending industry while being a staunch advocate for dismantling regulations of payday loans by the CFPB. Pimping for the payday loan industry and calling it a "win for low-income Americans" defies gravity and decency. As a candidate for the US Senate a decade ago, I chose not to accept PAC donations to back-up my opposition to the corrosive influence of money in politics. My opponent in the race-- former Senator Kay Hagan-- called me "naive" for turning down PAC money. She was right: it's impractical for other-than self-funding candidates to swear-off accepting corporate and special interest contributions in today's high-stakes Congressional derbies.

However a candidate does own accountability from whom he or she accepts campaign contributions. Loans from payday lenders are dirty money from the coffers of the scourge of the financial services industry on a massive scale: an industry that rapes, pillages and plunders from the poorest and least-educated Americans every day, every minute. I don't know how Representative Stivers looks himself in the mirror. I look at him and see a pig feasting at the trough table set by the payday lending industry. As I do every member of the House Financial Services Committee who has accepted bribes from an industry that is every bit as predatory in its domain as Harvey Weinstein was in his.

Can The DCCC Screw Up CO-06 Again? They're Trying As Hard As They Can

CO-06 forms a large "U" around the southern, eastern and northern suburbs of Denver. Serial DCCC incompetence has kept it in a weird status as a blue district with a Republican congressman. Obama won the district against McCain 54-45% and against Romney 52-47%. Last year, Hillary won the district 50.2% to 41.3%. Meanwhile the DCCC has managed to screw up every congressional race since Coffman was first elected in 2008. Last year, while Hillary racked up her big win over Trump there, Republican incumbent Mike Coffman won with as big a margin against the DCCC canddiate-- 191,626 (50.9%) to 160,372 (42.6%). The only Democrat who ever came close to beating Coffman was the one the DCCC didn't recruit and didn't especially like, progressive Joe Miklosi who held Coffman to a 47.8% to 45.8% win (2012).

Blue America has been looking at the race so far and we've identified two excellent candidates-- Gabriel McArthur and Levi Tillemann. They're both the kinds of values-oriented progressives that would be good fits for this very diverse part of Colorado. But, needless to say, the DCCC has very different ideas. They recruited some slimy guy from outside the district, Jason Crow, the precise kind of candidate whose only chance of getting elected would be to be swept up in a massive anti-Trump tsunami. Crow is an embodiment of everything wrong with the DC version of today's Democratic Party.

As you know, we're not big fans of Blue Dogs around here. But you know what we hate even more? Scam artists. There’s a special place in hell for people who enable rich guys that victimize society’s most vulnerable. Unfortunately, some of these wolves in sheep's clothing are among Democrats. To continue the zoological metaphor, they are even lionized. These are the scumbags that give Democrats a bad name with working-class Americans and who have ruined the party's brand. Let me introduce you to top DCCC recruit Jason Crow.

Crow is one of the worst examples we’ve seen so far this year, the quintessential DCCC recruit. The DCCC want to present their puppet candidate as a veteran and a family guy. He has no issues page on his website, of course-- just a lot of identity politics bullshit and platitudes galore. Crow's a lawyer in Denver who spent his career rigging the system against the poor, the marginalized, the vulnerable, and the forgotten. The DCCC will never let on that they are completely aware that he profited by making sure that there’s one type of "justice" for rich, white, well-connected men, and no justice at all for those they harm.

For years, Crow’s marketing bio described him as an expert in everything from protecting abusive private medical groups and con men guilty of wire fraud to making sure bankers guilty of securities fraud and insider trading and business owners who bribed foreign governments got off the hook.

Then he decided to run for Congress.

Suddenly, with a little of that DCCC magic that has caused the Democratic Party to lose dozens and dozens of seats over the past decade-- including CO-06-- the guy is Captain America (and also Mother Teresa).

There are people out there who will argue that 'lawyers-gonna-lawyer' and will rightly point out that everyone is entitled to a legal defense. But let’s be clear: there are thousands of lawyers in this country doing good things for people in need. Jason Crow IS NOT ONE OF THEM. He wasn't some public defender providing people their 'right to a legal defense' or a guy standing up for those caught up in a rough system. Jason Crow got rich by siding with the big guys and against the little guys. Again and again and again, systematically and with a sense of purpose. The DCCC looks at that and sees only the capacity for self-funding and low ethics-- their top two requirements for recruitment.

Let’s stop apologizing for these bastards, OK? White collar defense lawyers choose their clients. The clients these lawyers-to-the-rich choose reflect the values they hold.

It’s kind of like Mitt Romney’s "vulture capitalism." Romney was (technically) fulfilling his fiduciary duty when he gutted good American businesses and destroyed thousands of jobs in the process. After all, he was "adding shareholder value." Same could be said of the CEO of Exxon-Mobile when he lies about climate change (one could argue). The 'lawyers gunna lawyer' defense is what lawyers tell you so they can feed at the trough of corruption while protecting the already rich from Justice. And then ask for your vote.

What’s left of the (carefully hidden) public record of Jason Crow’s clients is a laundry list of the worst our country has offer in white collar criminals: from frackers destroying the environment to executives stealing from their employees' pension funds. But rather than going into all of them, I want to look at the human costs of having lawyers like Jason Crow in power by talking about just one of his clients: Predatory Payday lender Western Sky Financial (WSF).

WSF was the notorious predatory lender that set up storefronts on tribal lands in order to target the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. The loans they provided were illegal under federal and many state laws, but they exploited Tribal Nations’ soverignty in order to abuse the poor. Many of their loans had interest rates over 300% and fees of as much as 50% of the loan value. For example, a $5,000 loan was supposed to be paid off in 84 monthly payments of $486.58.

That's $40,872.

On a $5,000 loan.

It’s disgusting.

As Virginia legal expert Rich Kelsey described it: "it was just another form of abuse piled upon what we have done to Native Americans . . . you’re talking about sophisticated fraudsters using a new version of fraud preying upon the poorest of the poor . . . it is beyond the pale."

But Jason Crow saw an opportunity to feed at the trough of corruption, and he went whole hog. This is a guy who couldn't care less about what happens to the Cheyenne River Sioux mother whose car breaks down and she needs some cash to fix it so that she can get to her two jobs and keep a roof over her kids’ head. He probably never even thought of her.

If Jason Crow could line his pockets by making sure that mom got screwed, he was happy to oblige.

Despite the cases brought by Elizabeth Warren’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the attorneys general of several states, Jason Crow made sure that nobody affiliated with Western Sky ever spent a day in prison and limited the penalties to a little over half a million dollars in a key case he defended. He also made sure that CashCall, WSF’s parent company, was able to continue most of Western Sky’s abusive practices under other names. Isn't one Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Congress more than enough? Do we need a male version of her too?

Given where we know he stands on this issue, does anybody really expect Jason Crow to strengthen consumer protections or the CFPB if Colorado Democrats give him the nomination and he gets sent to Washington? Not a chance in hell! Democrats shouldn't be nominating a champion of con men and payday lenders, an advocate for environmental destruction, a trusted advisor to millionaires and billionaires, and a key strategist in the war against America’s poor and vulnerable. Wrong for the brand; wrong for America, wrong for CO-06.

Everyone is supposed to be equal under the law. But lawyers like Jason Crow have been instrumental creating a legal system where the rich and powerful are free to exploit the poor and marginalized for pleasure and profit. It's disgusting and shouldn't be rewarded by a bunch of out-of-touch politicians at the DCCC.

And you know what-- this is just what we found on Google. If Crow has scrubbed his bio and done his best to hide his professional history from the public but a couple hours in google turned up that he is essentially Mitt Romney’s cold-hearted stepbrother with a client list that makes it look like he has a special grudge against the poor, the elderly, and communities of color... what else is he hiding? And what will Coffman find to use against him if he clinches the nomination? How many more shoes are going to drop? The Koch Brothers and the GOP spent over ten million dollars on CD-06 in 2016 to keep Coffman in office. If the DCCC manages to get Jason Crow the nomination, they'll be doing their job for them this cycle.

As progressives look to 2018 and how we can take America forward, the first critical step is making sure that the Democratic party is not represented by hucksters like Jason Crow. These corporatist tools of the already comfortable and the monied elite have spent their lives championing values that are not just contrary, but diametrically opposed to the cause of justice and progress. Time to tell the DCCC they work for us, not the other way round.

We need leaders with deeply held principles, new ideas, and a commitment help fix a rigged and broken system. In Colorado’s 6th District, either Levi Tillemann or Gabriel McArthur seem to fit that bill. Help them out. But Jason Crow is a non-starter. In the story of Robbin Hood, Jason Crow is the Sheriff of Nottingham. Or maybe even worse-- his scumbag lawyer. Jason Crow's career has been a disgrace and he hasn't earned the nomination, just the support of the like-minded crooks at the DCCC. Speaking of which... the DCCC found the perfect campaign manager for Crow, the same one they found for Josh Gottheimer, an especially contemptible Blue Dog from New Jersey who was elected last year and has voted for Paul Ryan's agenda more than all but 3 congressional Democrats.

How Many Corrupt Democrats Will Back Jeb Hensarling's And The GOP's Plans To Legitimize Crooked Payday Lenders?

Congress has written the bribery laws in such a way as to exclude their own habitual behavior of taking corporate bribes. There are many examples but one that always stands out is how members of congress relate to the predatory payday lenders whose business model is ripping off the public Congress is supposed to be protecting. Instead, the biggest recipients of payday lender bribes-- especially Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Pete Sessions (R-TX), Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Steve Stivers (R-OH), Grefgory Meeks (New Dem-NY), Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) and Debbie #DebtTrapDebbie Wasserman Schultz (New Dem-FL)-- have worked tirelessly to enable the payday lenders who were ripping off their own constituents. The payday lenders have handed out $10,081,111 in bribes to members of Congress since 1990, most of it ($7,341,549) to corrupt Republicans. But corrupt Democrats, primarily from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party have taken $4,630,982 and helped make this criminal enterprise look like it was bipartisan support, further muddying the Democratic brand and making Democrats look more like crooked Republicans. Here's a list of the 13 most corrupt current members of the House taking the biggest tit-for-tat bribes from the payday lender industry:

• Kevin Yoder (R-KS)- $278,709
• Jeb Hensarling (R-TX)- $228,400
• Pete Sessions (R-TX)- $218,499
• Lynn Jenkins (R-KS)- $165,300
• Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)- $157,050
• Alcee Hastings (D-FL)- $148,450
• Steve Stivers (R-OH)- $139,075
• Gregory Meeks (New Dem-NY)- $138,000
• Patrick McHenry (R-NC)- $132,599
• Patrick Tiberi (R-OH)- $104,250
• Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO)- $99,500
• David Scott (Blue Dog-GA)- $87,130
• Debbie Wasserman Schultz (New Dem-FL)- $83,100

The most dangerous of the payday lender whores in Congress right now is Jeb Hensarling, the banksters' designated hitter to destroy Dodd-Frank and especially the CFPB. Overall, Hensarling has gobbled up $7,372,690 from the Finance Sector. The only current member of the House who has taken more bribes from the sector is Paul Ryan, clocking in at $9,354,992. Last year alone, Hensarling took $1,283,695 from the banksters. Why do they like him so much? Easy: he's not just a true believer in corruption, he's the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. Hensarling represents a gerrymandered R+17 district that shoots south and east from East Dallas (White Rock Lake Park and Mesquite) all the way down through Athens, Jacksonville and Palestine to Wells. Trump won this backward poorly-educated district 62.7% to 34.3% and the people there are delighted to have someone like Hensarling represent them.

Last week CNN reported that his bill to repeal Dodd-Frank and replace it with something the bank lobbyists wrote, the Financial Choice Act, is moving along rapidly in Congress.

One political hurdle facing Republicans are efforts to overhaul the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is unlikely to win Democratic support. Another contentious issue up for debate is whether to keep a cap on credit card fees.

It's likely that Senate Democrats will block at least some of the worst aspects of Hensarling's bill, which is being championed by Trump's Goldman Sachs Swamp Contingent. AP reported that Hensarling and the other bribe-taking crooks on the House Financial Services Committee-- Congress' most corrupt entity-- are "emboldened by a business-friendly president... [and] are moving to unwind the stricter regulations that took effect after the 2008 financial crisis and Great Recession," defanging the tighter rules.

The 2010 Dodd-Frank law was enacted by Democrats and President Barack Obama to respond to the crisis, putting the stiffest restrictions on banks and Wall Street since the 1930s Depression. It clamped down on banking practices and expanded consumer protections to restrain reckless conduct by financial firms and prevent a repeat of the 2008 meltdown.

The sweeping legislation rolled out by Rep. Jeb Hensarling, the Texas Republican who is Dodd-Frank's fiercest foe and heads the House Financial Services Committee, would deliver a body blow to the financial law.

"Supporters of Dodd-Frank promised it would lift the economy, end bailouts and protect consumers," Hensarling said in a statement. "Yet Americans have suffered through the worst recovery in 70 years, Dodd-Frank guarantees future bailouts for Wall Street, and consumers are paying more and have fewer choices."

Only a few weeks in office, President Donald Trump launched his attack on the financial law, ordering up a government review of the complex legislation that has been filled out with hundreds of rules written by regulators in a six-year slog. Trump says the restrictions on banks have crimped lending, the economy and job creation.

"We're going to be doing a big number on Dodd-Frank," he promised in late January.

While the review due in June could provide a blueprint, it will take legislation to make a wholesale revamp of the law.

Wielding a heavy knife, Hensarling's bill calls for repealing about 40 provisions of Dodd-Frank. It goes to the heart of the law's restrictions on banks. First, there's a new trade-off: Banks could qualify for most of the regulatory relief in the bill so long as they meet a strict basic requirement for the capital they build to cover unexpected big losses.

Federal regulators would lose the power to dismantle a failing financial firm and sell off the pieces if they decide its collapse could endanger the system. To be repealed: the Volcker Rule, which bars the biggest banks from trading for their own profit. The idea behind it was to prevent high-risk trading bets that could implode at taxpayer expense.

The legislation paints a bull's eye on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The five-year-old agency is a prime target for Republicans, who have long accused it of regulatory overreach. While it enforces consumer-protection laws, the CFPB also gained powers under Dodd-Frank to scrutinize the practices of virtually any business selling financial products and services: credit card companies, payday lenders, mortgage servicers, debt collectors, for-profit colleges, auto lenders, money-transfer agents.

Hensarling's bill would eliminate those powers. And it would allow the U.S. president to remove the CFPB director at will, without needing a specific cause for firing. That's the subject of a battle currently in federal court. Meanwhile, Hensarling and other Republicans have called on Trump to immediately fire CFPB Director Richard Cordray, an Obama appointee, in what has become a nasty partisan brawl.

The CFPB would be renamed the Consumer Law Enforcement Agency. No longer would its funding come from the Federal Reserve; the CFPB would have to depend on Congress to dole out the money as most federal agencies do. It would lose its authority to write rules or take enforcement action on payday loans.

The targeting of the CFPB especially rankles Democrats and consumer advocates. The agency carried out an ambitious program of investigations across the spectrum of financial products, wrote new rules for mortgage lending and opened a vast new database for consumers to lodge specific complaints against financial companies. As a result of its enforcement actions, the CFPB says it has recovered $11.7 billion that it returned to more than 27 million consumers harmed by illegal practices.

"This reckless piece of legislation makes the wrong choice for consumers and the economy, while Wall Street and predatory lenders cheer," said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director at U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

Among other changes to Dodd-Frank that the bill, called the Financial Choice Act, would make:

• Repeal the Federal Reserve's authority to set a cap on how much banks can charge businesses for handling debit card transactions, known as "swipe fees." The Fed set the cap at an average of about 24 cents per debit-card transaction. Prior to the cap, fees averaged 44 cents per swipe.
• The Fed also would lose its power to supervise and set rules for non-bank financial firms.
• The Financial Stability Oversight Council, a group of top federal regulators, would be stripped of its authority to label certain non-bank financial firms as potential threats to the system because their collapse could threaten the economy.

The House is hopeless but it will be instructive to see how far bankster-friendly Democratic senators-- the worst being Schumer himself, but also crooks like Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), Mark Warner (VA), Robert Menendez (NJ) and Michael Bennet (CO)-- allow Hensarling's bill to go when it gets to the Senate.

Career Politicians And Payday Lenders-- Once A Comfy, Symbiotic Relationship

In his opposition to payday lenders, FL-23 progressive Tim Canova, the law professor taking on the odious Debbie Wasserman Schultz, has been saying that It is immoral to support an industry that makes money by targeting poor communities. Florida has been ground zero in the battle against the plague of pay day lenders and the most paid off members of Congress working for the pay day lenders are Florida's most corrupt politicians. This election cycle, only half a dozen Senate candidates have taken over $10,000 in pay day lender bribes, 6 men with notorious reputations in DC for selling their votes to sleazy industries. And two of the 6 are Floridians: "ex"-Republican Patrick Murphy, a spoiled rich bum masquerading as a Democrat and "No Show" Marco. Even though Rubio is already a senator, the pay day lenders know who will serve their interests better and have poured far more money into Murphy's campaign. By far, most of their bribes go to Republicans and, in fact, of the top 10 recipients of pay day lender bribes for the 2016 cycle there are 9 Republicans and just one "ex"-Republican masquerading as a Democrat.

Among the half dozen most corrupt members of the House there are 3 Republicans and 3 notoriously corrupt Democrats on the payday lender gravy train, 6 members who have one really giant thing in common-- this would be a far better country if all six were forced out of public office.

6 crooks who could make America better by resigning from Congress

So where's Wasserman Schultz? Oh, she dialed back her solicitation of payday lender bribes this cycle when people in south Florida started calling her #DebtTrapDebbie. This cycle she's only taken $5,100 in pay day lender bribes. But guess what-- since she was first elected to Congress, among Florida congressmembers only the walking corruption, Alcee Hastings, has taken bigger bribes from the payday lenders than #DebtTrapDebbie. He's gobbled up $121,450 and she's taken $68,100. They both co-sponsored a bill to allow pay day lenders to rob Floridians with ease but she fled in terror, along with Murphy, when Elizabeth Warren called out their bill and Floridians started asking uncomfortable questions. That's why career politicians like Murphy and Wasserman Schultz fight tooth and nail to avoid debates. Washerman Schultz got trapped into one, but Murphy is still refusing to debate his two opponents in the August 30 Florida primary. If Murphy wins the primary and faces Rubio in the general election, payday lender bribes are off the table, since they both take them.

Anyway, I got off on a Floridian tangent and really wanted to point out some good news on this front-- but up in New Jersey. Two of New Jersey's highest profile progressive mayors, Ras Baraka of Newark and Jersey City's Steve Fulop, are helping make the payday loan industry an issue. According to Terrence McDonald of the Jersey Journal, Fulop and Baraka "are lending their voices to the chorus of Democrats nationwide who are calling for stricter regulations on the payday loan industry." That's an especially good thing because both young mayors are seen as the hope for a future corruption-free New Jersey, a difficult concept to wrap your head around, I know.

The two mayors have asked the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to "rein in abusive, high-cost payday loans," saying residents of New Jersey's two most populous cities are directly affected by the "potentially damaging" short-term loans.

"Loopholes within the CFPB's rules and regulations not only hurt our residents who seek out these types of loans, but influence our economy as a whole when such loans take on unfair practice," Fulop wrote in an Aug. 9 letter to CFPB Director Richard Corday.

The CFPB is set to finalize a proposal it unveiled in June that would require payday lenders in many cases to verify borrowers' income and confirm they can afford to repay the money they borrow. Customers would also be restricted from rolling over loans into newer, pricier ones.

They payday loan industry has been vilified by Democrats for charging customers exorbitant interest rates on the short-term loans. Two of the U.S. Senate's most liberal members, Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, and Sherrod Brown, of Ohio, said last month that the CFPB's plan does not go far enough.

In a statement issued today by Fulop's office, Baraka called payday loans "predatory instruments.

"In order for us to move forward, we must enforce legislation that will ensure financial permanency for citizens and families across New Jersey and facilitate greater entree to the institutions and apparatuses that will reinforce their economic futures," he said.

In New Jersey, interest on short-term loans is capped. In his letter, Fulop said CFPB regulations should "not undermine" the state's laws.

Fulop is running for governor and Baraka is his most enthusiastic advocate.

North Carolina Has OutLawed Payday Lenders-- But Patrick McHenry Is The Industry's Champion Even More So Than Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Patrick McHenry got into Congress just as DWT was getting started in 2005-- and we've watched for over decade as he built a career based on blatant and unaccountable corruption, using his position on the House Financial Services Committee to raise $3,717,511 from the Finance Sector he's supposed to be protecting the public from. This year alone, the Finance Sector has given McHenry $1,176,225 in legalistic bribes, the 4th most of any member of Congress other than Speaker Paul Ryan, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Wall Street's favorite Senate errand boy Patrick Murphy. It's almost unfathomable that a reform-minded good government city like Asheville would be represented in Congress by someone as corrupt as McHenry. Unfortunately, though, the Republican legislature has drawn NC-10 to negate Buncombe County's voice with Hate Talk Radio listeners in Catawba, Lincoln, Gaston, Cleveland and Rutherford counties.

This year the Democratic Party has gotten behind Andy Millard, a first time candidate from Polk County who is a financial planner, author, former teacher, principal and small business owner. You can learn more about Andy and the issues he's highlighting in his campaign here on his official website or on his Facebook page. We asked Andy to help us understand the eye-popping relationship between McHenry and the predatory Pay Day Lending Industry which we've been through the actions of corrupt Democrats like Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Patrick Murphy but is one of those areas of Congress where guilt is shared equally on both sides of the aisle. As you read his guest post, please consider contributing to his grassroots campaign by tapping the thermometer on the right.


Here’s Why People are Fed Up with Congress
By Andy Millard



Want to see a microcosm of everything that’s wrong with Congress in 2016? Just look at my opponent, six-term incumbent Rep. Patrick McHenry. He is a career politician whose influence in Congress comes in part from the immense amount of money he raises from unsavory institutions. And he pays them back by doing their bidding. His relationship with the payday lending industry is a perfect example.

Payday lenders are illegal in my home state of North Carolina. Their customers-- everyday folks living paycheck-to-paycheck-- take out short-term loans with interest rates as high as 400% or more. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), four out of five borrowers are unable to repay the loan on time (usually two weeks), so they roll it into a new loan with even more interest and fees. The majority of borrowers end up paying more in fees than they borrowed to begin with. Bottom line: the industry makes big profits by driving struggling families into a downward cycle of debt.

Numerous groups, including a broad coalition of religious groups, have condemned payday lenders and their usurious practices. So you would assume a Congressman representing North Carolina would never support the payday lending industry.

You would be wrong. Patrick McHenry is one of payday lending’s best friends in Congress. He has spoken against proposed tighter regulations on the House floor as recently as last month.

Why? Follow the money. Payday lenders are very profitable-- and they use some of those profits to support members of Congress who support them, including Mr. McHenry. The following is a litany of his entanglements with payday lenders:

In January 2011, McHenry was the keynote speaker at the Community Financial Services Association conference at the plush Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa in Hollywood, Florida. The CFSA is a trade group created by payday lenders to fight laws that might hinder them from taking advantage of those in need. Their biggest enemy is the afore-mentioned CFPB, which is a government agency created to help consumers avoid being ripped off in financial transactions.

According to the CFSA conference brochure, the gathering would answer such burning questions as, “Are there ways that I can maximize long-term profits and minimize regulatory risk?”; “What can I do to avoid getting sued?"; and, “What’s next for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau?”

Apparently, McHenry paid close attention to that last question--  that March, he co-sponsored a bill to cripple the CFPB’s ability to protect Americans from payday lenders, and was promptly rewarded with over $30,000 in contributions from the payday lending industry a few days later. Perhaps coincidentally, a few weeks later, McHenry very publicly antagonized Elizabeth Warren, the then-leader of the CFPB, accusing her of lying as part of his campaign to undermine the agency.

On August 22, 2013, McHenry signed a letter criticizing the Department of Justice’s efforts to punish payday lenders. The payday loan industry had donated almost $13,000 to McHenry the previous month, and they gave him another $2,600 after the letter was sent.

In October of 2014, McHenry again spoke at a conference for payday lenders. This time, he was the keynote speaker at the FiSCA Conference and Exposition at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas. Similar to the CFSA, the Financial Service Centers of America (FiSCA) is another group that regularly works to minimize regulation of the payday loan industry.

McHenry gave his FiSCA Conference address on October 10. According to disclosure forms his PAC, the McHenry Leadership Fund, filed with the FEC, McHenry received $50,000 from FiSCA and its affiliated companies on October 17-- just one week after he spoke at their conference. On November 17, those same forms show, he received ten donations from FiSCA board members in one day. Those donations added up to $9,500. That’s almost $60,000 from FiSCA, within a month of speaking at their conference. When you add it to the $15,000 McHenry also received from CFSA board member Dan Adams on November 17, that total amount that McHenry accepted from payday lenders in one month becomes $75,000.

In January of 2015, McHenry was named Vice Chairman of the House Financial Committee, where he found himself in an even better position to antagonize the CFPB. Just one month later, he voted against protecting veterans from predatory lending practices. In March, he co-sponsored one bill that would abolish the CFPB, and co-sponsored another that would slow it down while limiting its funding. He received a $5,000 check from the National Installment Lenders Association at the end of March, and then another $2,500 from the Online Lenders Alliance at the end of April.

That June, McHenry signed a letter criticizing the CFPB director, while voting for legislation that would decrease government scrutiny of the payday lending industry. Two weeks later, McHenry received $2,000 from the American Financial Services Association, which lobbies against the CFPB on behalf of installment loans, which are similar to payday loans. Then in July, he co-sponsored yet another bill attempting to abolish the CFPB. On September 14, he received a total of $4,500 from the American Financial Services Association.

Last October, the nonpartisan Campaign for Accountability called for an ethics probe of McHenry due to the amount of money he’s accepted from the payday loan industries in proximity to acting in their favor.

Payday loans are illegal in Patrick McHenry’s home state, and he knows it. Yet the payday loan industry has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to his campaigns and PACs. He speaks at their conferences, and argues on behalf of their interests in Congress. As Patrick McHenry’s opponent in North Carolina’s 10th Congressional District, I have called for him to return any and all contributions he has received from payday lenders and their employees, as well as the PACs who have donated to him on their behalf.

No wonder Congress’ approval rating is in the cellar. It’s a rotten system that results in rotten legislators. We can change this mess, but it’s going to take a new group of clean politicians. Despite what some might have you believe, the VOTERS alone can fix it.