In the Senate, Dick Durbin of Illinois, the majority whip who rounds up votes for the party, introduced his own usury bill--a cap of 36 percent including the non-interest fees and charges. Durbin's bill also empowered state governments to set lower limits. The Consumer Federation of America endorsed it, but the consumer lobbyists asked Durbin not to have a roll call on his measure because it might reveal their weakness.-from "The Trouble With Democrats" (The Nation).
Nevertheless, the redoubtable Bernie Sanders of Vermont demanded a vote on his bill--an interest-rate cap of 15 percent.
"When banks are charging 30 percent interest rates, they are not making credit available," Sanders said. "They are engaged in loan sharking." Sanders lost, 33 to 60. Twenty-one Democrats voted with the sharks. Senators Carper, Cantwell, Byrd, Bingaman, Bayh, Baucus, Akaka, Warner, Tester, Stabenow, Specter, Shaheen, Pryor, Ben Nelson, Bill Nelson, Murray, Lincoln, Landrieu, Kaufman, Johnson, Hagan.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
William Greider on loan sharks: Cantwell, Murray "voted with the sharks"
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Sen. Durbin thinks that a cap of 36% is going to control usury? We really have lost perspective, haven't we?
Bernie, from Vermont, is, of course, much more reasonable and fair for the lender, but not necessarily for the borrower, especially on consumer credit.
I live in Latin America and recently my wife and I assumed a mortgage on a house. The two people (no longer together) from whom we bought the house actually are carrying loans for 20 months, without interest. We settled on a sum, not interest rates, points, etc. And when we asked if we could skip the first month and pay double the next, each said "yes."
This is what people can do, and I might add, these two people are not exceptionally generous. They wanted their money, but they left off the pound of flesh that banks and other financial institutions (and the scam artists who run them and shareholders that hope to gouge their fellow human beings) have come to expect and consider normal business.
We see what this attitude has done to the U.S. and the world, haven't we?
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