Payday lenders bill would take advantage of people

Contact our state Representative Brad Barrett at 1-800-382-9841 and ask him to oppose the new payday lender bill that will hurt people in our community who are having financial difficulties.

The payday lenders worked hard to get the Indiana Senate reject a bill to regulate extreme interest rates on payday loans. Instead these lenders got our state Senate to pass a bill that increases interest rates on payday loans. Currently, two-week payday loans up to $605 can charge up to 391 percent annual percentage rate. This is an exception to the criminal statute that caps interest rates at 72 percent.

The bill passed by the Senate would continue with this exception and would add two new categories that allow interest rates of 99 percent up to 192 percent for loans larger than $605. Many people, perhaps 80 percent of all payday borrowers in the US, are not able to pay back their loan. Both the current bill and the new proposal take advantage of people who need help.

Lonnie Valentine


Military weapons for local police are bad policy

"The Andy Griffith Show" would be a very different program if it were set in today's America. As we know it, the story of a lovably domestic sheriff sleeping in front of jail cells or chasing after cartoonish "bad guys" fits our nostalgic vision of what law enforcement should look and act like.

However, I can hardly help but wonder what that staple of wholesomeness, Andy Griffith, would look like if we transplanted him into today's America. Imagine it: Instead of spending quality time with Opie at the fishing hole, Andy is busy holding up his riot shield, toeing the line between protestors, fearing for his life in certain neighborhoods, and responding to yet another overdose.

Andy is not the villain here, and neither are the people he's policing. The real enemy here is bad policy, specifically an old Pentagon program dubbed "1033," called that so you can't tell what it actually does. This particular policy allows old decommissioned war equipment built for war zones in Afghanistan and Iraq to be placed in the hands of everyday police officers. These aren't just bulletproof vests, either. Municipal police departments are receiving high-powered rifles, bayonets and in some cases even armored vehicles (tanks in all but name).

The Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act (H.R. 1556 / S. 1856) would introduce much-needed oversight into these programs, and allow law enforcement to serve and protect in the safest and most responsible way possible.

Christian Sharits

Earlham College

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