Have you ever heard of the poverty industry?

I had not, before listening to the second half of this Keiser Report on Russia Today, with former stockbroker Max Keiser.

His guest was Gary Rivlin, author of Broke, USA.

Gary Rivlin: "I have to defend loan sharks - they charge 150% interest rate. Pay day lenders charge 400, 500, 600% interest rate."

I like Max Keiser, he really explains the situation for the layman. My one problem with him is his voice, it hurts but I can see how it can be used for good.

reply to post by Mary Rose


why in the world does government do all these things to make the citzens lives harder yet does nothing to protect us from this sort of thing????
I even heard there was a new bill passed that a person can't change their billing date on their bills.
This gives companies more power to charge late fees.
SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE! Businesses are crooks 60% of the time and we are letting them get away with it. Even good businesses can be crooks!

Originally posted by hoghead cheese
My one problem with him is his voice . . .

I have thought about that, too. His voice was better when he was younger; I saw a video of him at the time he created Hollywood Stock Exchange. He had a pleasant voice then. Same thing with Alex Jones. I hate his voice now (love him), but in his early documentaries, he has a very pleasant voice.

They can't help their voice, though! We have to forgive them for that.

reply to post by Mary Rose


Thanks OP for posting this. I think Max is the best. I wish the MSM would pick up his show. Of course sponsorship might be a problem with him calling it like it is and all.

I too thought the payday lending business was small potatoes but I was wrong. How on earth is the US supposed to thrive economically with all these bloodsucking leeches getting a pass in Washington?

If there is a dime any where, these banking interests are there picking the carcass clean, welfare of the economy be damned. How are businesses and average Americans supposed to keep their head above water?

Unless you pay off all your bills, turn all your cash into usable items, and totally disengage from the society, I am not sure what you are supposed to do.

I used to work for a payday loan store (had to find work somewhere after my call center closed). The high interest rate only really applies when you look at it on an annualized basis.

They aren't really doing it that way. They are charging you a fee for their risk. They don't actually write the loans (at least, not in Texas). They just secure it through their line of credit with another lending agency (it is a high risk loan taken on by insurance companies, most often, through a separate division, and usually owned by the people who maintain services such as "Accucheck", where they clear checks at point of sale).

So, a typical schedule system would be like this:

Your loan is due on your payday. On your payday the entire loan is due. If you take out a loan, the fee is about 20 bucks for every 100 you borrow (unless you doh't have direct deposit, then it is around 25 for every hundred...higher risk, higher fee).

On your payday you can either pay that loan off, or just pay the 'interest" or loan fee. So i borrow 300, on each payday i have the option of paying the entire 360, or i can pay only the 60 and carry the 300 till the next payday (or any amount in between, which will lower the fee on the next payment accordingly). A responsible lender will require a 50 dollar paydown on each payment made after the first 2 or 3. The leeches, though, don't do this. They are less responsible as lenders and will allow you to feed their register with the same loan indefinitely.


And that is where the rub is. there are some lenders that are parasitical. They will call and threaten action that isn't legal (and won't be followed through on). It is no different than a loan shark, only legal and at higher fees.

But what is their recourse? They do high risk loans for amounts that are not worth pursuing legally. Of course, they can cause you to rack up NSF fees, but if you close that account or cancel the check that they have on file, they can't even do that.

In Texas they are trying to make it a "Theft by check" charge, which i fully support. It will push people to take fewer loans, and to actually pay them off rather than just paying indefinitely and then stopping paying all together. Plus it will give the loan store some protection on a high risk venture.

But, at the end of the day, the way it works is readily available and you sign your name. It isn't leeching off the poor. It is leeching off the stupid. Our government should not be making laws to protect you from your own stupidity.

On a side note, a lot of banks have gotten in on the action, giving "payday loans" to people with direct deposit accounts. You get a loan up to, say, 500, and they charge about the same interest, but will not loan more until it is all paid back, using a payment schedule based on drafts from your direct deposit. It is a better way to do it for most, as paying off the whole loan at once would cause you to go hungry in between paychecks. And that is what many do. Or they end up paying back along these lines (3 paydays used in this example):

1st payday - pay 160, leaving a 200 dollar principle, and 40 dollar fee.
2nd payday - pay 140, leaving a 100 dollar principle, and a 20 dollar fee
3rd payday - pay 120, paying it off.

This ends up coshing you 120 in fees, on a 300 dollar loan. For some perspective on how a responsible person would be able to come out in the end.

reply to post by ABNARTY



Usury is one of the greatest evils that man perpetrates against others. Your condition of "plenty" should not be used as leverage against others so that you can furhter gain additional "plenty" to a point that you could not really even use a fraction of it. When 1 man has too much, someone else will go without.

I don't propose communism. I do propose morality amongst man. Although i have yet to not be let down.

Originally posted by bigfatfurrytexan
The high interest rate only really applies when you look at it on an annualized basis.

That was pointed out on the video. My impression is that doesn't make it any better.

Originally posted by bigfatfurrytexan

But, at the end of the day, the way it works is readily available and you sign your name. It isn't leeching off the poor.

I disagree.

I would describe it as predatory lending.

Originally posted by bigfatfurrytexan
Usury is one of the greatest evils that man perpetrates against others.

I enjoyed reading Ellen Brown's book Web of Debt. She talks about the fact that charging interest works very well when it's a government-owned bank that charges it and the money is used in place of tax money - like what was done in the Pennsylvania colony.