Edwards isn't only NOT taking money from PAC's, he's speaking out directly against some of the more

[Dawggie]

powerful like the obvious Drug & Insurance PACs but also the under the general radar predatory/payday lenders.

For more than five years, payday lobbyists beat back all attempts at consumer protection. They had a landmark victory last year, when they were able to bottle up a proposal by Senator Elizabeth Dole, of North Carolina, who was trying to prevent payday lenders from gouging military personnel. They pressured Dole to withdraw her bill and, instead, ask the Pentagon to study the matter. The tactic backfired when the Pentagon's report was released this fall. It was devastating. Admiral Charles Abbott testified that payday lending is the most serious single financial problem the military has ever encountered. We see every day in our offices around the country individuals who have come in and fallen into the Venus flytrap of the payday lending problem and it has literally destroyed their lives.

From Dan Rather Reports. Read the transcript here: http://www.pliwatch.org/news_article_061123A.html

[midnight]

1. In a just world it would not be neccessary.

[JDPriestly]

2. Thanks for posting this. Good information.

Here is the direct link to the Edwards article

http://www.pliwatch.org/news_article_060707C.html

[Dawggie]

3. Welcome. Here's another important snippet from the transcript:

Ed Mierswinski, of the non-partisan U.S. Public Interest Research Group, doesn't think payday lenders are so nice. He views them as old-time loan sharks with modern-day political savvy and connections. He and a group of consumer advocates are trying to shut the industry down. It's kind of like the game of what we call "whack-a-mole" first you restrict them and then they pop up in another place and then you've got to beat them back again. Well, how does this work? What tactics do they use to get their influence spread and get their way in Congress with the regulatory groups at the federal level? The first thing you do is you get a public relations flack. And your flack says, "Create an association with a benign-sounding name." And they created the Community Financial Services Association. Sounds wonderful. It sounds very, very nice You come up with a name that sounds wholesome even though the business you're in might be distasteful. I mean, lending money at 500 percent interest you want to call yourself a community group because that deflects from the attention that you would otherwise get. Second, hire some lobbying firms to advise you on where to distribute your campaign donations.

That's advice payday lenders took to heart. In the past five years, they've ponied up nearly five million dollars to lobbyists. Their chief advocate is Tim Rupli, who under Republican rule was considered one of the most influential lobbyists in town. We wanted to speak to Rupli, but he declined. He happens to be the one that the payday lenders went to and said, "We need influence to prevent Congress from passing a bill that will make our loans illegal and we're gonna pay you a lot of money to do that." Rupli has earned more than $2 million from payday lenders in the past three years. He is a renowned fundraiser. In the past five years, Rupli and his wife have donated more than $250,000 to lawmakers. All together, payday lenders, their lobbyists and spouses donated more than $3 million to members of Congress since 2001. For a long time, the investment paid off, as Congress looked the other way when cases of people destroyed by predatory lending came to light