On CNN just now,military troops getting in debt because of payday loans.

[Swede]

They can't make ends meet because of low pay. Some are paying %400 interest.

[ThomCat]

1. I've heard about this.

The areas around bases are being targeted for high interest, short term "payday loans." People are going far into debt because of pay delays, pay screwups, and family emergencies they can't afford.
x(

[whistle]

2. Part of Bush's economic recovery plan for our troops in Iraq

:sarcasm: financial bondage

[Red Right and BLUE]

3. never fear!

* wants to cut your benefits even more!

Wait...

[NanceGreggs]

4. Oh, boo-hoo...

Don't those troops realize that if they got better pay, we couldn't afford to fork over those billions to Halliburton? Let's keep our priorities straight here, shall we?

:sarcasm:

[Union Thug]

5. Predatory Lenders should be lined up and...

..well, I probably shouldn't finish this sentence.

But more to the point, this is EXACTLY where the creditors and lenders want us. They have their bankruptcy bill, and the repukes have ensured that our wages and benefits are shit. Now they have us over a barrel.

[me b zola]

10. IIRC, Dems introduced an amendment to a bill

to stop predatory lenders...of course repukes shot it down. It's hard work ya know to grow the underclass the way that the republicans have.

[Stand and Fight]

6. This is one thing that stood out about Kerry in 2004.

He had a plan to specifically stop predatory lenders from being close to military bases for this very reason. Since I was still in the Army at the time, and had counseled many of my Joes on just this issue, I was in complete agreement with the good Senator. Once again, yet another example of when our candidate was right and Bush-bots were unaware...

[NOLADEM]

7. Seems like an easy and enjoyable way to avoid deployment

Just buy your way out of being deployed, fill your apartment with stuff, buy all your boys some body armor and weaponry they need, and stay stateside mowing the parade grounds. After the war is over, take credit counseling by computer, pay a thousand bucks and discharge the debt with a chapter 11. Cool. Beats the shit out of shooting yourself in the leg or paying your buddy $200 to French kiss you in front of a recruiter. (Opinions vary on the latter)

Strange they would limit deployments like this.

It is also a gross intrusion and risk to national security and military readiness that a private company can interact with a soldier legally in a way that can render that trained soldier useless to the military.

Congress can and does regulate creditor interaction with soldiers, and in this instance, have again chosen the benefit of campaign contributor creditors over our soldiers' and country's welfare.

This should be a campaign issue.

[RaleighNCDUer]

11. Historically, it was the other way around. If a person was in deep

financial shit he could enlist in the military, and the lenders couldn't lay a hand on him. Even if the lender got a court order, the army closed ranks and kept the server at arm's length.

I reckon that practice ended during the great depression, when everybody had debt and the military was one place that offered a steady (if miniscule) paycheck. They'd have had more recruits than they could handle.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. Hell, when I was in, we paid 1200%.

$10 for $20 for one month. Of course, the loan sharks (other marines) didn't let the interest accrue for more than a couple of months before the borrower suffered a serious "accident".

[walldude]

9. Last year I was desperate and needed some money

so I went to one of these "loan" places. I borrowed $500. The interest was $150 EVERY 2 WEEKS! It took me about 7 months before I could come up with an extra $800 in a month to pay them off. These places are nothing but legal loan sharks and once they get you it's hard to get out from under them. And that's besides the point. If we are "supporting the troops" then why is it their families have to take out loans to survive? I swear you need a bulldozer to dig through the bullshit in this administration.