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The Spectacle Blog

Democrats Declare War on the Poor

By Robert Stacy McCain on 6.8.09 @ 9:23PM

Given the abject failure of the War on Poverty -- as Ronald Reagan said, "Poverty won" -- now Democrats apparently have decided to go right for the heart of the problem, by making war on the poor.

That's the only plausible explanation for S.500, the "Protecting Consumers from Unreasonable Credit Rates Act of 2009," introduced earlier this year by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois). The bill would limit interest rates in such a way that pawn shop owners say it would drive them out of business. Currently under consideration by the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs committee, this legislation could only make sense to someone who (a) knows nothing about pawn shops, and (b) knows nothing about economics.

Having once been a penurious college student and struggling rock musician, I had a lot of dealings with pawn shops back in the day, and respect the straightforward nature of their business. You have an amp or a guitar and need money, you hock it until you can afford to get it back. And if you don't redeem it, the pawn shop keeps it and sells it (thereby providing a source of cheap second-hand guitars and amps for other struggling musicians).

The pawn shop business is very easy to understand, and if the interest rate seems exorbitant to middle-class folks and liberal do-gooders, maybe it's because they don't understand how grateful pawn shop customers are for the service. Who else offers on-the-spot credit to those who might otherwise have no source of quick cash?

It is idiotic that, on the one hand, Democrats demanded that taxpayers bail out the mortgage industry, while on the other hand they are trying to put pawn shops out of business. Given President Obama's promise to "save or create" hundreds of thousands of new jobs over the next 100 days, do Democrats really want to destroy an entire industry, one that provides emergency financial services to so many of the poor people whom the Democratic Party claims to represent?

Here's hoping S.500 dies quietly in committee. Otherwise, once the Chinese get tired of buying U.S. debt, the federal government could have no place else to turn.

View all comments (7) | Leave a comment

Ran| 6.9.09 @ 7:45AM

Why is it that modern liberals have consistently achieved, in every example imaginable, the exact opposite of their stated intent? It's not only the "war on poverty" that bombed... the whole notion of "social" justice has been an epic failure.

Jay| 6.9.09 @ 8:01AM

Democrats declared war on the poor back in LBJ's day. They conceived a welfare plan that would keep them poor and through subsistance economic theory enslave them to be democrats in spite of their best interests. In the 40 odd years since the "Grest Society" was founded the poor graduate fewer students from High School, fewer attend college and drugs and crime are rampant in their communites.

Chatlrs Barkley said as well as it can be said: "Poor Black folks have been voting democrat for 60 years and they still poor." Because that's exactly what the democrats want them to be.

Marc Jeric| 6.9.09 @ 9:46AM

War on Poverty was declared by our socialists 44 years ago. After an incredible amount of money we still do not have the definition of "victory" in this war nor do we have an "exit strategy".

Aaron| 6.9.09 @ 10:16AM

I just had a vision of Queen Michele hocking the Lincoln bedroom set for a new pair of shoes and a purse.

Stephen Krupnik| 6.9.09 @ 11:48AM

This article is so right on the money it almost gives me hope that common sense may prevail among the elitist suits in Washington. Having been a pawnbroker for over 30 years tells me this article is firmly on the side of cash-strapped American consumers. Kudos!

Patriot| 6.9.09 @ 2:08PM

Liberals don't care about the poor and downtrodden, never have: They've just used them to acquire power. It was always in the democrats' self-interest to keep the poor underfoot, the better to use them.

Proof of this is what the democrats just did to those young kids in Washington, DC voucher schools. Horrific.

Cliff| 6.10.09 @ 10:37AM

Ditto Patriot-the Democrats want total control of the poor to insure the future of the party. Someone said, those that rob Peter to pay Paul will always have the support of Paul!