How to Make Short-Term Loans Cheaper…

…don’t make a profit!

That’s what the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) concluded when it released the results for the Small-Dollar Loan Pilot Program.

Thomas Brown of Bankstocks.com has a lot to say about the subject.

“The loans are ‘safe, affordable, and feasible.’ Haven’t they left something out? I know! ‘Profitable.’”

Read Brown’s full article here on Bankstocks.com.

Stossel – Financial Bureau Not the Answer

John Stossel writes about the pay-to-play culture in Washington when it comes to the recently-passed financial reform bill.

“Oh, sure. The new bureaucracy will fix all problems. This is nonsense. Preventing fraud is good, but fraud was already illegal. The expensive new regulation will mean that lenders won’t be able to offer as many loans.”

Read more: http://stossel.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2010/06/25/wheres-your-lobbyist/#ixzz0s9ormKYP

Good Intentions Aren’t Enough

John Payne, guest columnist at the Joplin Globe, reminds us that good intentions doesn’t always result in good public policy.

He makes this point for short-term loans. It’s worth a read.

Click here to read the full article.

Conference Committee Back Today

CSPAN Coverage of House-Senate Conference on Financial Regulatory Reform Today at Noon EDT The conference will today cover the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Yesterday, House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) announced that he would accept a Bureau at the Federal Reserve rather than creating a separate agency.

To watch the hearing which begins at noon click here:

 http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/294185-1

Conference Committee Negotiations Begin

Today at 2:15pm, the U.S. Congress’s conference committee will begin negotiating a compromise between the House and Senate versions of the financial reform package, which includes a new consumer financial protection bureaucracy.

Barney Frank is chairing the committee and lead lawmakers in negotiations over the next few weeks. 

You can watch the conference committee hearing live on CSPAN here at 2:15pm EST/1:15pm CST:

http://www.c-span.org/Watch/C-SPAN3.aspx

Shedding Light on a Dim Author

Author Gary Rivlin recently released his new book on the subprime lending industry in America, titled “Broke U.S.A.”.

The author takes aim at short-term lending products, and according to BigGovernment.com, his bias against payday loans is evident in every word he writes.

Check out the full review of “Broke U.S.A.” here.

I don’t think we’ll see this on Oprah’s Book Club anytime soon…

Fed Financial Reform Going to Conference

On the evening of May 21, 2010 by a vote of 59 to 39, the Senate passed Banking Committee Chair Christopher Dodd’s (D-CT) financial regulatory reform bill. The bill, which does not include the Hagan amendment, will now move to a House-Senate conference to resolve the differences between the House and Senate measures. Twelve Senators and thirteen members of the House will convene on June 9th for the first open meeting to consider H.R.4173, Wall Street Reform. Senate participants announced earlier this week come from the Banking and Agriculture Committees.

Senate Banking Committee members: Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Jack Reed (D-RI), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Ranking Minority Leader Richard Shelby (R-AL), Bob Corker (R-TN), Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Judd Gregg (R-NH). Senate Agriculture Committee members: Chairwoman Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Ranking Minority Member Saxby Chambliss.

On the House side it was initially thought that conferees would not be appointed until after the Memorial Day recess. On Tuesday, however, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) sent a memo to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) recommending a ratio of eight Democrats to five Republicans and asked that the chairs of each of the Financial Services subcommittees be assigned to the conference.

If Speaker Pelosi agrees, the following would join Senator Frank as conferees: Representative Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) [Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises], Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) [Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit], Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA) [Housing and Community Opportunity], Representative Melvin Watt (D-NC) [Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology], Representative Gregory Meeks (D-NY) [International Monetary Policy and Trade], and Representative Dennis Moore (D-KS) [Oversight and Investigations].

Chairman Frank asked that Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) be appointed in addition to the six subcommittee chairs. Representative Maloney was until recently a subcommittee chairwoman but resigned at Speaker Pelosi’s request to become Chairwoman of the Joint Economic Committee. House Republicans have not yet announced conferees.

The following is the proposed Conference Committee timeline from House sources:

Tuesday, June 8 – Conferees appointed

Wednesday, June 9 – First open meeting of the conference, Organizational matters and opening statements only;

Tuesday, June 15; Wednesday, June 16; Thursday, June 17 – Conference meets on substantive issues

Tuesday, June 22; Wednesday, June 23 – Conference meets on substantive issues

Thursday, June 24 – Conference concludes with formal signing ceremony; conference report filed shortly thereafter

Monday, June 28 – Rules Committee meets to grant rule

Tuesday, June 29 – House passes conference report; this gives the Senate three days to pass it before the beginning of the July 4th recess.

UPDATE – Financial Reform

For the past three days, Majority Leader Harry Reid has called for a cloture vote on the financial reform bill, which is being sold as an attack on Wall Street, but in actuality, is an attack on Main Street thanks to the super-intrusive Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Republicans (and a couple of Democrats) have prevented Senate Democrats from achieving the necessary 60 votes to begin debate on the bill. But yesterday, Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) said that Harry Reid has no intention of reaching a compromise.

Shelby opposes the bill, calling the consumer protection bureau a “massive new bureaucracy” that will regulate “whatever it wants, whenever it wants, and however it wants.” But he said it is up to Senate Republicans to vote their conscience on this bill.

That means it is more important than ever to contact your Senators and let them know that you do NOT support the consumer protection bureau – unless, of course, you would like the government peering over every financial transaction you ever make.

CLICK HERE to contact your Senators today!

Senate to Vote on Financial Reform Bill

Today at 5:00pm EST, the U.S. Senate will hold a roll call vote to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S. 3217 (Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010).

Democrats and Republicans have been attempting to reach a compromise on the bill, which contains new provisions and regulations on financial industries ranging from Wall Street trading to payday loans.

Democrats have grown tired of attempting to reach a compromise and are trying to push the legislation through, despite the fact that the all-powerful Consumer Financial Protection Bureau it would create will have near-limitless power to eliminate financial services.

American consumers should have the power to control their own financial destiny – not bureaucrats with an agenda.

We need to let the Senate know that the financial reform bill goes too far. 

Click here to read more about the issue and to send a message directly to your U.S. Senators.

Iowa Legislature Adjourns for 2010

Yesterday, the Iowa Legislature officially adjourned the 2010 session of the 83rd General Assembly.

While there were several bills introduced during the session that would have altered state regulations of short-term loans, ultimately the legislature decided not to move forward with any substantial new proposals.

This is great news, since it shows that lawmakers have taken the time to understand our products and the benefits it provides to our customers. There will likely be new proposals in 2011, so we will need to continue educating lawmakers about the value of expanded credit options for Iowa’s hard-working families.

Now is a great time to send a message to your lawmakers, thanking them for studying our issue closely and making the right decisions.

Send a Thank You message to Your Elected Officials.