John Oliver on Payday Loans

[IronLionZion]

I hate this industry so much. For anyone who is interested in combating these assholes, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau does have job openings.

[CurtEastPoint]

1. Must-watch story. Pissed me off.

[eastonb]

2. nailed it

and this is why I love me some J.Oliver

[drynberg]

3. NASTY STORY WITH A "SILVER" ENDING THAT WAS VERY FINE

[handmade34]

4. "Motherfuckers!" is right

I had to bail out my mother a few times when she got caught up in the scams... my hate for these organizations is boundless

[Buzzardbait]

5. Irony, thy name is DU

Right beside the John Oliver screen shot was an ad for "Cash Central." (On my computer, anyway.)

[Ineeda]

7. Psst...a little secret for a newbie:

DU doesn't control the ads, and the way to avoid them all is to become a star member. (A tiny $ will do it.)

[Buzzardbait]

19. Psst...a little secret for an oldie:

I am fully aware of how the ads pop up. It is just that I found the juxtaposition interesting.

[Ineeda]

20. Okie dokie, then.

Just thought I'd be helpful, but whatever....

[beerandjesus]

8. I get Lindsey Graham ads all the time. They make me happy.

Because I'm happy every time he wastes a few cents trying to get MY vote, when it's just not gonna fucking happen.

[MindPilot]

10. drop into a gun or porn thread

the juxtaposition of the ads to the posts can be pretty entertaining.

[surrealAmerican]

15. Google ads chooses advertisers based on keywords on the page.

You can actually sometimes see anti-Obama ads in threads that mention the president, gun ads in threads that mention guns, etc. It's not a very smart algorithm.

Have you not noticed this on other sites?

[Enthusiast]

6. Rupert Murdoch will put an end to this John Oliver bullshit.

[MindPilot]

9. In San Diego the "leaders" freaked out over pot dispensaries

They limited the number to two per council district, have to be more than 1000 feet from churches, schools, libraries, etc. but these fucking loan shark places are on almost every corner. As Oliver said, "there are literally more payday loan stores in the US than Starbucks and McDonald's combined."

If exploitation is the issue, why are payday loans legal, but prostitution is not?

[Half-Century Man]

11. What is happening on E Warren's plan to get the USPO to do short small bank functions?

Like small short term loans and check cashing? Anybody know?
This would be one way to kill them, as a minimal profit, compete with them. Keeps the post office afloat too.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

12. Please watch this video. It is just infuriating.

Thank you for posting this video.

Here is a similar racket, geared to fleece servicemembers:

USA Discounters: Thank You for Your Service: How One Company Sues Soldiers Worldwide

Let's not forget that Democrats are in on this too. I have an old post at DU that will take me a little bit to find. Here it is:

Usury Explosion: Northern Virginia Becomes Hotbed for Car-Title Lending Industry

The post contains quotes from newspaper articles:

Usury Explosion: Northern Virginia Becomes Hotbed for Car-Title Lending Industry

INDUSTRY LEADERS contributed generously to members of the General Assembly and lobbied heavily to get their way. Since 2009, LoanMax contributed more than $500,000 and Fast Auto Loans contributed more than $200,000. {Senate Democratic leader Dick Saslaw (D-35)} received the largest individual contributions, receiving $22,000 from Fast Auto Loans and almost $20,000 from LoanMax. Many of the other legislators voting in support of the industry also received financial support from car-title lenders. When asked about his support of the 2011 bill, Del. Bob Brink (D-48) had little to say.

Mount Vernon residents who seek to revitalize Route 1 corridor oppose auto title loan firm

Del. Mark D. Sickles (D-Fairfax) said the industry’s expansion illustrates a demand for small loans that banks are not meeting. ... “There are not a lot of other lenders out there aggressively pursuing people who need these small loans, which is too bad, because I think they can offer them a better deal,” said Sickles, who, like several other state lawmakers, has been a regular recipient of campaign contributions from title loan businesses.

The OP said:

For anyone who is interested in combating these assholes, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau does have job openings.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Jobs

[MarianJack]

13. I fell into the trap of these F***ers about 7 years ago.

After my wife gave me a well deserved but figurative kick in my arse (and I have a BIG arse) and my best friend accurately told me that I was an asshole, we borrowed and paid them off. My wife had also told me (again very correctly) that I had displayed a level of stupidity that was BUSHIAN. All I can say is that I had it coming.

The rub is that even after I paid them off, they're STILL hounding me for money, even threatening to have me arrested because they're in constant contact" with my county DA. Where they tip off that they're full of baloney is that they keep referring to the DA as "HE". Our DA is a woman. I worked on her campaign. I can guarantee that her platform DID NOT include a pledge to protect the "rights" and interests of predatory lenders.

Getting down to basics, in my opinion, I won't say that payday lenders are the shit stains on the underwear of America because I have way too much respect for shit stains!

PEACE!

[truth2power]

14. In Ohio, commercial TV is infested with ads for car title loans...

It's always some sexy-looking black woman, shaking her booty, waving a bunch of cash around and talking some sort of jive-talk.

I don't mean to offend anyone here but that's the best way I can describe it.

Then they fade to some poor schlump who describes how he buys stuff from flea markets to sell at a profit, or something like that, and those friendly car-title people showed up just in time to offer him some money and, "I got to keep my car" he says. It's sickening.

Those car title people are predators. Pure and simple. And where is the ordinary citizen supposed to go for some protection against them. As Chris Hedges says, "Every lever of power has been corrupted".

I think it's Hedges who also says that during the Middle Ages speculators were hanged. If this were the Middle Ages, those car loan people would be drawn and quartered for their crimes.

[Gothmog]

16. Oliver is going a good job on this show

[Spitfire of ATJ]

17. How to escape for those who missed it....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025366829

[dickthegrouch]

18. What John Oliver didn't say

Was that the laws, recently enacted to try to rein in this atrocious abuse, were crappily written by poor excuses for lawyers. If there are loopholes so big you can drive a truck through them, they weren't thought out very well.

As an engineering student, my very first Physics test at the college level was graded Pass or Fail. Only one person out of 64 of us passed. The Physics lecturer told us "You have chosen to be engineers now. Your designs can function or they might kill. It does not matter that most of your working was correct, no is going to care if your product fails and kills. In this class you will not get extra points for showing your working, you will only pass if it is correct."

Law makers are engineers. They should be trained and treated as such. Loopholes can only be deliberate.

[whereisjustice]

21. Remember when 60 minutes wasn't a fawning asskissing bunch of sycophants...?

And Texas State House wasn't filled with corrupt, rotten, no good mother fuckers?