Published: September 24, 2006 12:04 am      

Payday loans, soldiers and donations to congressmen

“Yeah, some folks inherit star-spangled eyes,

Ooh, they send you down bto war, Lord.

And when you ask them, how much should we give,

Oh, they only answer, more, more, more.”

— John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival



I am tired of watching military people be ripped off.

My personal crusade has been to ban the sale of contractual mutual funds. I want Congress to stop the sale of all contractual mutual funds, but I really want them to stop the sale to servicemen and women.

The mutual funds make it almost impossible for “investors” to make money. The only “winners” are the people who peddle them.

I was happy last year when Congressman Geoff Davis of Kentucky sponsored a bill to ban the funds.

I have never supported Davis and have given money to both of his opponents, Ken Lucas and Nick Clooney. I lauded Davis, however, for showing leadership on issues involving soldiers.

I now retract those statements. As John Cheves noted in a recent Lexington Herald-Leader story, there is legislation in front of Congress to limit payday lenders to 36 percent interest when they lend money to soldiers. Davis is trying to stop it.

Payday lenders are big contributors to Congressman Davis’ campaign.

As bad as the contractual mutual funds are for military people, payday loans are worse. A Defense Department report criticized the payday industry and said that payday loans cost soldiers from 390 percent to 780 percent a year.

Wow!

Payday lenders say they can’t make money charging 36 percent. Can you think of another business that would whine about a 36 percent limit?

When I grew up in the Northern Kentucky area that Davis represents in Congress, some cities were controlled by the Mafia. The mob had a term for 36 percent interest rates — loan sharking.

In those days, charging 36 percent would earn you a swim in the Ohio River with a cement overcoat attached.

If a loan shark had charged 390 percent to 780 percent, not only would they have wound up in the river, someone would have thrown all their friends and relatives in, too.

Now lenders like Check’n Go are “legitimate” (meaning legal) corporations, and their employees can donate huge amounts of money to politicians. So far, they have coughed up $11,450 for Davis.

Davis, corporations taking advantage of soldiers and payday loans are a perfect storm of things that plague America.

I’m angry about people continuing to rip off soldiers and military people. Thousands of soldiers are deployed to foreign countries, and some come back in body bags.

It is un-American to let big corporations rip them off.

When I wrote about Fidelity Investments selling contractual mutual funds, I suggested that Peter Lynch, vice chair of Fidelity, be sent to Iraq in place of a soldier who purchased one of his funds.

In addition to sending Lynch, I now want the payday lenders and Congressman Davis to make the same trip.

Yet, as much as I want to blame everything on Lynch and the payday people, you have to wonder why military people can’t steer clear of them. The American education system has fallen flat in teaching financial literacy.

Cheves said that roughly 17 percent of servicemen and women use payday loans. That is an incredibly high percentage, and military people need to know about better options.

Such as pawnbrokers. Even those are better than payday lenders.

The situation with Congressman Davis is a clear example of why campaign finance reform needs to be implemented. I’m not sure what to do, but there really is a problem.

Davis is a graduate of West Point. When he proposed a bill to ban contractual mutual funds, I thought he was someone who cared about his fellow soldiers. It doesn’t look like it now.

Like most politicians, Davis is going to listen to his biggest contributors. Even if they are payday lenders who target military people.

For $11,450, you can get the ear of a congressman. Soldiers and people lined up at payday loan offices don’t get that same kind of attention.

The question is, “How much should soldiers have to give for our country?” To Congressman Davis and many like him, the answer seems to be more, more, more.

Don McNay is the author of “The Unbridled World of Ernie Fletcher” and chairman of McNay Settlement Group. His award-winning column is syndicated on the CNHI News Service. You can write to him at don@donmcnay.com or read other things he has written at www.donmcnay.com.