Dems and Gopers agree: Obama the tougher candidate

Though both conventional wisdom and common sense has been clear that the Republicans do not want to run against Barack Obama today a poll showed how clear that is among both Democrats and Republicans.

In a Gallup poll released March 31st 59% of Democrats believed Barack Obama would have a better chance of beating John McCain.

Republicans were polled and only 22% of them felt John McCain had a better chance of beating Obama then Clinton.

This fact has been clear since before this campaign begain. It was clear to Rupert Murdoch when he donated to Clinton's campaign, it was clear to Kenneth Starr's Law firm when they donated to her campaign. It has been clear to Bill Cunningham when he said he was voting for Clinton. It is clear to Rush Limbaugh who encourages his listeners to manipulate elections and vote for Hillary. It is clear to the Tucker Carlson's and the Pat Buchanan's and the Sean Hanerty's of right wing media who attack Obama at every chance. It is clear the the ultra right wing owner of the Pittsburgh News Gazzette who was a long time Clinton hater, and now writes glowing editorials about her.

The only people this isn't clear to is the Clintons themselves and the blind that follow them in this belief.

The facts are clear, Barack Obama is clearly the best candidate to beat John McCain in November.

Obama Quote of the Day: Judgement

"Judgement is not simply a matter of sounding tough or talking tough, its a matter of weighing and making good decisions under stress."

Barack Obama
April 2, 2008
on Hardball with Chris Matthews

The Myths about Payday Lending

People are being victimized: Victim how? Every Payday Lending clearly displays the fee for the cash advance on signs all over the wall. The Customer signs an agreement and they acknowledge that they understand the fee upfront. There is no way a borrower can say they didn’t know the fee.

300% plus interest rate: Using annualized interest rate for what is the vast majority of time a two-week loan is disingenuous. The reality is the average is that a customer pays $15 per 100 for a two-week advance. Period. No one pays 361% interest. They pay 15 dollars no more no less. Compare this to the unexplained fees of the credit card companies that can turn a $500 debt to thousands in months.

A cycle of debt: These are two-week loans period. Can people find a way around the rules and use multiple payday lenders to extend the debt. Yes. Are they being stupid in doing so? Yes. But they are no victims. The vast majority of payday lending customers are not frequent customers.

36% interest rate is reasonable: These companies give these short-term loans without credit check. Their default rate is high. Such a limit on interest rates would result in losing money on every transaction. Thus would put an entire industry out of business.

There are too many Pay Day Lending Companies: Myth. Quite clearly there is a need for them or they would not survive. Most people that use these agencies have no other choice then writing bad checks. Lets see, $15 fee per $100 or $50 overdraft fee and possible criminal charges. Seems to me the payday loan is a much better choice.

This Payday lending bill in Ohio is another attempt to protect people who first of all are not complaining, and second of all do not need protecting. There are plenty of victims from fraudulent and shady financial practices. However those are not in the payroll lending industry, they are with banks, finance companies, credit card companies and mortgage companies. It is time the Ohio General Assembly look at real problems rather then creating victims where there are none.