Silly Little Country

Why Doesn't This Guy Run for President?

I suspect he has always held similar views, and such views in 1972 were obscured by his one giant issue. But I thought this a wonderful succinct put-down of several key planks being mooted by many current crusaders.

My favourite bit is about a topic I have ranted on, simply because it so well describes what is so moronic about most of what I hear on this subject (and, by the way, the main stretch near my home features a pretty high density of these businesses):

Economic paternalism takes its newest form with the campaign against short-term small loans, commonly known as "payday lending."

With payday lending, people in need of immediate money can borrow against their future paychecks, allowing emergency purchases or bill payments they could not otherwise make. The service comes at the cost of a significant fee -- usually $15 for every $100 borrowed for two weeks. But the cost seems reasonable when all your other options, such as bounced checks or skipped credit-card payments, are obviously more expensive and play havoc with your credit rating.

Anguished at the fact that payday lending isn't perfect, some people would outlaw the service entirely, or cap fees at such low levels that no lender will provide the service. Anyone who's familiar with the law of unintended consequences should be able to guess what happens next.

His title says it all :

Freedom Means Responsibility

Labels: freedom responsibility

posted by Alan Adamson @ 5:24 PM