You, on the other hand, find any reason not to publish comments that question any point you bring up in your posts.

You are a censor. Some idiot leaves a completely slanderous comment about the industry and you allow it, but God forbid it contradicts what you’re saying.

As far as Lawrence being in the industry. Why is that a bad thing?

http://www.bloggernews.net/121368

http://www.progressillinois.com/taxonomy/term/260

PDL, if your post was blocked or unpublished, it’s because you violated our comments policy in one way or another. You weren’t “censored.”

Second, I take issue with the idea that I’m uneducated about how payday loans work. I’ve studied them closely and acknowledge that they can be a useful tool for certain consumers in certain situations. But I also believe that their impact as a whole represents a net negative.

I’m not looking at this issue in a vacuum either. I view these types of financial products as the extreme byproduct of the decision in the late 70s to lift the cap on U.S. interest rates. That shift has gradually caused great destruction in the decades since (see the mortgage crisis). Payday loans represent just one element of the larger problem.

I’d like to see the U.S. banking system return to the days when we lent money based on one’s ability to repay, rather than models that take advantage of desperation or financial inexperience. I don’t believe that credit should be available to anyone and everyone. Until 30 years ago, neither did most banks and lenders in this country.

That being said, I agree that bounced check penalties and credit card cash advance fees are equally pernicious. I believe those institutions should be better regulated as well.

Finally, if “intellectual honesty” is the issue here, Mr. Meyers should probably disclose his professional connections to the industry when writing on the topic:

http://www.bloggernews.net/115609

It strikes me as interesting that so many of those I see defending the payday loan industry online are benefiting personally from it.

It’s the kind of shameful behavior that makes one wonder why he’s even given a voice.

Still hasn’t responded to me, by the way.

People, like Josh, don’t even want to listen to it. They think that they are “good” and people that do not agree with them are “bad”. The facts never surface with his articles. He’s just taking the moral high ground all the time.

I’ll also add that I try and leave multiple posts on Josh’s Progress Illinois site articles and he blocks all of them. He’s a total censor. If you’re going to bash something, at the very least allow the other half to have their say.