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tclittle Professional Forum Ninja from Somewhere Down in Texas Since: Apr, 2010
Professional Forum Ninja
#53501: Apr 24th 2013 at 7:05:13 AM

Texas House of Representatives kills Lottery Commission, but revives it after realizing there would be a budget gap for schools and charities who depend on the cash from it.

Texas Senate approves a bill regulating payday loans.

edited 24th Apr '13 7:08:44 AM by tclittle

"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."
Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#53502: Apr 24th 2013 at 7:18:00 AM

@Texas Senate: That's...actually a pretty good bill. Well done.

Belian In honor of my 50lb pup from 42 Since: Jan, 2001
In honor of my 50lb pup
#53503: Apr 24th 2013 at 7:26:33 AM

Eh... it might be going a bit too far. I definitely don't think that payday loans places are "good" and do think they should be regulated, but setting a cap at 36% APR (Or about $3 a month of interest on $100 of loan) drives them out of business entirely. I'm sure that will bring some unintended consequences.

Yu hav nat sein bod speeling unntil know. (cacke four undersandig tis)the cake is a lie!
Greenmantle V from Greater Wessex, Britannia Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Hiding
V
#53504: Apr 24th 2013 at 7:55:43 AM

[up] They're amongst the first. Expect other States and Countries to introduce regulations for "Pay-day lenders", especially as some are working on it already...

Keep Rolling On
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#53505: Apr 24th 2013 at 8:53:54 AM

Good. Payday lenders are a scourge and must be destroyed. They lead almost invariably to cycles of indebtedness and default.

Regarding online sales tax: it's inevitable as commerce shifts towards the online space from physical stores. Now, sales taxes themselves are inherently regressive, but that doesn't have anything to do with the question of whether it's fair to charge them at physical retailers but not online.

edited 24th Apr '13 8:55:25 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Greenmantle V from Greater Wessex, Britannia Since: Feb, 2010 Relationship Status: Hiding
V
#53506: Apr 24th 2013 at 8:59:56 AM

...but where and how much do you charge if the item is being sent overseas?

Keep Rolling On
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#53507: Apr 24th 2013 at 9:13:34 AM

It would be handled in the same way as a physical purchase. Save your receipts and get a refund according to whatever laws apply.

Either that or, if sales tax is assessed based on the purchaser's address, then if you enter an overseas shipping address, it wouldn't charge tax, and you'd be expected to pay whatever applies in your country according to its laws.

edited 24th Apr '13 9:14:15 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#53508: Apr 24th 2013 at 9:29:21 AM

[up][up][up] Can't agree with you there.

Payday loans aren't as deceptive as they're made out to be, and people don't go to them in ignorant bliss for kicks. They go to payday lenders because, for example, their gas is about to be shut off in mid-December because they can't make the payments. Or as Cracked put it, they only go there when they're going to be fucked over whatever happens, and they're trying to pick the fucking that provides the most lube.

They do provide an important service for the people they're servicing, so the solution to ridiculously excessive fees and rates is regulation, not intentional destruction.

TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#53509: Apr 24th 2013 at 9:30:57 AM

Nooo! Government regulation of business is baaaaad! This is a a legal contract between consenting and informed adults!

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Midgetsnowman Since: Jan, 2010
#53510: Apr 24th 2013 at 9:32:22 AM

Yeah. for poor peoplel the sad thing is they do kind of need payday loans sometime. And since huigher wages are unlikely to happen anytime soon, we should simply make sure payday loan places cant charge 1000% interest.

imadinosaur Since: Oct, 2011
#53511: Apr 24th 2013 at 9:38:27 AM

If you get rid of payday loan companies, then loan sharks will take over their client-base. I'd take 'unaffordable debt' over 'unaffordable debt and broken legs' any day of the year.

I'm not saying they shouldn't be regulated, but they do serve a legitimate function.

Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.
DrunkGirlfriend from Castle Geekhaven Since: Jan, 2011
#53512: Apr 24th 2013 at 9:50:52 AM

The other proposal I've heard is to let employees take a draw from their next paycheck at no interest, with the companies protected by not letting them draw more than they've already earned.

"I don't know how I do it. I'm like the Mr. Bean of sex." -Drunkscriblerian
Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#53513: Apr 24th 2013 at 9:53:45 AM

@Handle: When it's the Texas Senate trying to find reasonable regulations, I think it's safe to say that even the Libertarians are toweling on this one.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#53514: Apr 24th 2013 at 9:54:27 AM

If payday lenders are required to charge a reasonable interest rate, like 36% per annum, then I can see it being acceptable — it's essentially a really high interest credit card at that point. The problem is that payday loans are almost never a good deal for the person taking them out, no matter how desperate.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#53515: Apr 24th 2013 at 10:01:19 AM

@Fighteer: They aren't a "good" deal, but only in the sense that people who get them have no good deals available.

Again, for example, Montana in the dead of winter and your gas is about to be cut. The choice is between a loan you can't afford to pay, or a house with no heat. (Obviously, you could fix the root problem by socializing the gas company, but we're living in the real world here.)

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#53516: Apr 24th 2013 at 10:02:45 AM

I know for a fact that many, if not all states/energy providers have some form of emergency assistance for exactly those cases.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
DrunkGirlfriend from Castle Geekhaven Since: Jan, 2011
#53517: Apr 24th 2013 at 10:04:40 AM

[up] Yeah, but they're usually really hard to qualify for, and you can't count on getting the money in time.

My family utilized payday loans a couple of times to buy food for us, even though we should have been qualified for food stamps, we never could get through the system.

edited 24th Apr '13 10:05:41 AM by DrunkGirlfriend

"I don't know how I do it. I'm like the Mr. Bean of sex." -Drunkscriblerian
imadinosaur Since: Oct, 2011
#53518: Apr 24th 2013 at 10:18:18 AM

The other proposal I've heard is to let employees take a draw from their next paycheck at no interest, with the companies protected by not letting them draw more than they've already earned.

That is a really elegant solution for a lot of cases.

edited 24th Apr '13 10:18:34 AM by imadinosaur

Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.
DeviantBraeburn Wandering Jew from Dysfunctional California Since: Aug, 2012
Wandering Jew
#53519: Apr 24th 2013 at 10:35:20 AM

Eric Cantor: House GOP 'forging ahead' with ObamaCare bill

House GOP to hold new hearings on Benghazi

Senator Toomey: Obama 'manufacturing a crisis'

edited 24th Apr '13 10:35:47 AM by DeviantBraeburn

Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016
SeptimusHeap from Switzerland (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Mu
#53520: Apr 24th 2013 at 10:40:31 AM

About CantorCare (Heh, it's already got a nickname): What is that about?

About Benghazi: Political posturing, anyone?

About Toomey: "I need no stinkin' proof, folks!". Well, I do.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Deadbeatloser22 from Disappeared by Space Magic (Great Old One) Relationship Status: Tsundere'ing
#53521: Apr 24th 2013 at 10:45:39 AM

Either that or, if sales tax is assessed based on the purchaser's address, then if you enter an overseas shipping address, it wouldn't charge tax, and you'd be expected to pay whatever applies in your country according to its laws.

I'm pretty sure that's how it works already.

"Yup. That tasted purple."
DeviantBraeburn Wandering Jew from Dysfunctional California Since: Aug, 2012
Wandering Jew
#53522: Apr 24th 2013 at 12:39:26 PM

Senator Graham: White House ‘letting guard down’ on national security

The acting chief of the EPA sparred with GOP senators Wednesday over the use of aerial surveillance to help guide enforcement of water pollution laws in farm country.

White House said Wednesday it would support Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's (D-NV) plan to offset the sequester with money allocated for the war in Afghanistan.

[up][up]

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) is moving ahead for the House to vote on legislation that would move billions from a “prevention” fund in Obama Care to one for high-risk insurance pools of people with pre-existing conditions.

Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#53523: Apr 24th 2013 at 3:07:23 PM

I wish Graham would just shut the hell up for once. If the Boston bombings proved anything it was that law enforcement and emergency services are actually prepared to respond to these kinds of attacks.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#53525: Apr 25th 2013 at 1:41:01 AM

I don't think it's sappy, I just think it's a waste of time.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

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