“Fed up with politicians incapable of balancing budgets? Well, now state legislatures across the country want to take a crack at balancing your checkbook — whether you like it or not. Paternalism — the idea that government must take care of adults because they aren’t able to do so themselves — is the ideology behind the wave of politicians determined to limit how much and how often Americans can borrow money. By putting stringent restrictions on borrowing, these politicians would effectively ban the practice of short-term ‘payday’ lending, no matter how many people use it responsibly in times of crisis. For those who enjoy access to high lines of credit, these short-term loans — which essentially let customers borrow cash from their next paycheck — may be a bad deal. But many of the less prosperous don’t have such attractive alternatives to the kind of loans that politicians like to demonize. So when Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton prey on people’s emotions by calling short-term lending ‘abusive’ and ‘predatory,’ the result of their actions will be leaving low-income borrowers stranded in debt.” [editor’s note: A someone who has frequently relied on such measures to tide me through a cashflow crunch, I second this emotion; better a $20 fee for the short-term loan than a $35 one for each check that bounces as you wait for the promised paycheck to show up! - SAT] (05/06/08)