INEQUALITY FOR ALL

INEQUALITY FOR ALL, the Robert Reich film about the exploding income gap in the United States, is on the big screen. It is playing in a number of major cities and will be opening at more locations, including the Regal Downtown Mall 6 in Charlottesville, VA within days. Hopefully other theaters in western Virginia, perhaps the Visulite in Staunton, will schedule it too.

INEQUALITY FOR ALL is currently playing at the E Street Cinema in our nation's capitol. General admission is $11.50 but, since he's not doing much of anything right now, maybe Bobblehead Bob Goodlatte can catch the bargain matinee for just $8.50! He might just learn a few shocking things about America the Beautiful (for some but not for all):

• The 10 richest men in America make more than the entire U.S. government housing budget.
• The poorest 47% of Americans have zero wealth.
• Out of 141 countries the United States ranks 4th in the highest degree of wealth inequality trailing only Russia, Ukraine, and Lebannon.

Reich advocates (and tells us how to get these things done) raising the minimum wage, giving workers a stronger voice, reforming Wall Street, fixing the tax system, investing in education, and getting the corruption of money out of politics.

Hey Bob, make it fun afternoon. Invite your obstructionist buddies Eric Cantor, Randy Forbes, Robert Hurt, Morgan Griffith, and Robert Wittman to join you. Enjoy a bitter tea party afterwards!

Greed Is Good

In Wall Street, Michael Douglas electrifies viewers with his passionate defense of greed.

While self-interest drives all us, the past year has amply demonstrated how excessive greed, unregulated greed, immoral greed can bring down not only a nation's, but the entire global economy.

As the new Obama administration moves to replace blind laissez-faire with reasonable regulations of banking, securities, mortgages, Wall Street, etc., it is time for the Commonwealth of Virginia to attack those purveyors of greed still among us - the payday lenders, the car title lenders, and others who similarly prey on those who are desperate or poorly informed about prudent borrowing.

Last year the General Assembly "regulated" payday lenders with toothless legislation such as limiting loans to $500 and having one loan at a time. Already these predators are bypassing those ineffectual laws by offering open-ended loans that are virtually unregulated and can have interest rates of over 450%. Payday lenders also worked hard to water down truth-in-lending requirements - no sense in telling unsuspecting borrowers about the bottomless pit. 

I doubt the payday lending industry will bring an entire economy to its knees in the same way the self-indulgent fools in the mortgage industry did, but there can be no doubt that payday lenders have no moral barometer when it comes to wrecking an individual's personal economy.

Since the payday loan industry is obviously based on excessive and immoral greed, and it cannot and will not regulate itself, now is time for the General Assembly to act. A basic consumer protection demands the state put a 36% cap on interest that may be charged. That is the same rate cap the state has for other types of small loans. It is reasonable. It protects the vulnerable. It is good policy.

Who should the General Assembly protect? The greed merchants or the people?