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April 22nd, 2016 
Awake Goy
Susanne Posel ,Chief Editor Occupy Corporatism | Media Spokesperson, HEALTH MAX Brands
Jack Guttentag, professor of finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, wrote an op-ed piece about payday loans and the refusal to regulate “the worst abuse” associated with this industry.
Guttenberg wrote: “There is no one connected to the payday loan market with an interest in helping the borrower deal with an occasional fund shortfall while preventing him from becoming a payday loan junkie. What is needed is a set of rules designed to deter and discourage the frequent – as opposed to the occasional – use of payday loans. Whatever restrictive rule or rules are adopted, they must be deployed on a national basis.”
According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), payday loans come with a hidden cost known as non-sufficient funds fees” which is a fancy way of penalizing borrowers from having “enough money in their checking account to cover their payments”.
Because the payday loan customer is by nature unable to afford whatever it is they are borrowing cash for, banks and payday loan operators have collaborated to ensure customers “are subject to more fees as banks tend to charge overdraft fees.”
The CFPB found that debtors pay an average of $97 for non-sufficient funds because payday loan operators push through charges to consumer’s bank accounts even when there is the threat of overdraft fees involved.
To illustrate the problem , in 2014 a Hawaiian resident was forced to pay $529 in fees at a rate of 461% annually for a $300 loan to a payday dealer.
Texas charges the most with $701 and Colorado residents who use payday loan services can expect an annual fee of $172 per loan.
To counter the devastating effects of the payday loan industry, Senator Elizabeth Warren has proposed that these predatory services be replaced with the US Postal Service (USPS).
Warren wrote: “USPS could partner with banks to make a critical difference for millions of Americans who don’t have basic banking services because there are almost no banks or bank branches in their neighborhoods.”
The USPS Inspector General released a report showing that it is possible to use “the agency’s extensive physical infrastructure to extend basics like debit cards and small-dollar loans to the same communities that the banking industry has generally ignored.”
And while an estimated 68 million Americans lack a bank account, the $89 billion spent in interest and fees could be redirected to the USPS in exchange for basic financial services.
Journalist David Dayen explains : “Instead of partnering with predatory lenders, banks could partner with the USPS on a public option, not beholden to shareholder demands, which would treat customers more fairly.”
In opposition to helping Americans get their financial bearings, Congresswoman and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) Debbie Wasserman Schultz has introduced HR 4018 in order “to amend the Truth in Lending Act to establish deferred presentment transaction requirements” and the always interesting “and for other purposes”.
Republicans who have received campaign contributions from the payday loan industry have fought to keep the CFPB from adopting new regulatory rules that protect Americans from predatory lending.
Schultz bill seeks to impose an extension on the 2 year waiting period on the CFPB’s new rules, and implementation, in order to prevent states from enacting regulatory laws in the meantime.
It establishes “well-disguised loopholes” that allow the payday industry to continue taking advantage of low-income customers.
A spokesperson for the Florida Alliance for Consumer Protection (FACP) explained that this proposal is compromised because it’s “language [was] influenced by industry partners”.
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