WILLIAMSON
FOR
U.S. CONGRESS
DEMOCRAT
CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 6
“The Future Can Be Ours.”
480-607-9726
Dear Friend:
John Milton, in his essay AREOPAGITICA published in 1644, states: “Let her
(Truth) and Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to the worse in a
free and open encounter?” (as quoted on the website “goodreads,” October
6, 2014, www.goodreads.com). (John X. Evans, a big fan of Milton, was my
advisor when, as an undergraduate, I was an English major at ASU. I took
his Milton course, English 423.)
Rep. David Schweikert does not support regulation of the predatory lender
industry. An article in The Nation magazine points this out. There is a
website called “Consumers for Choice” at consumersforchoice.org. This
“advocacy website repeatedly references Western Sky Financial, an online
installment loan company that recently suspended lending after being sent
cease-and-desist letters from government agencies. Left unsaid on the
Consumers for Choices site are the types of loans offered by the company,
which feature interest rates of 355 percent.
A single $5,075 loan from Western Sky cost $40,872.72 to pay back—more
than eight times the original amount.
A commercial from the company featured a Native American woman exclaiming,
‘Making the six monthly payments is good for your credit profile!'”
(“Predatory Lenders Fight Regulators With Offer of $500 Visa Gift Cards,”
Lee Fang, The Nation, October 28, 2013, www.thenation.com).
Despite Consumers for Choice “repeatedly” referencing such lenders as
Western Sky Financial (see above) that offers loans which feature interest
rates of 355 percent, Rep. David Schweikert is found on the Consumers for
Choice website under the category of “Support for Consumers for Choice.”
Indeed, “The only names listed on the site are Republican members of
Congress who have issued supportive blurbs.” (From the same source above.)
For example: “I applaud the efforts of Consumers for Choice to promote
free market principals and help make the general public aware of how
federal and state regulators are now working to limit consumers and small
businesses ability to access consumer credit,” reads one message from
Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS). Similar quotes are provided from
Representatives Dennis Ross (R-FL), Dave Schweikert (R-AZ) and Tom Graves
(R-GA). In August, thirty-one House Republicans signed a letter to the
government, accusing the Department of Justice of “intimidating” banks for
working with online lenders. (From the same source above; also can be
found at www.theinvestigativefund.org).
David Schweikert, on the Consumers for Choice website, says this: “While
oversight is important, this unilateral move by the FDIC will shut many
Americans out of regular commerce. Washington shouldn’t be making it even
more difficult for those who choose to use non-traditional banking
methods.” (Consumers for Choice website, as of October 5, 2014,
consumersforchoice.org). In other words, David Schweikert is not against a
Native American woman being charged an interest rate of 355 percent on a
loan! He is blatantly choosing not to protect the consumer from shysters
in the lending industry.
How is this in the best interests of the 700,000 people in Congressional
District 6?
Moreover, Rep. Schweikert, you are a Catholic. How, sir, do you reconcile
your policy of “hands off” predatory lenders with your Christian faith?
Can you point out to me where in the Bible, in the Old or the New
Testament, it states: “Thou shalt go forth and facilitate swindlers”?
And more: Debbie McCune Davis, a Democrat, who lives in Phoenix and
represents Legislative District 30, wrote: “Although payday loans are
illegal in our state and ceased in 2010, Arizona consumers are being
targeted by title lenders who are charging triple-digit interest rates,
while claiming to offer a quick financial fix. Such loans have the
potential to become a long-term financial problem, trapping people in a
cycle of debt.”
She goes on to say, and this is the kicker: “Protecting consumers from
predatory lending practices will take a united effort at the state and
national levels. I would be remiss if I did not call on U.S. Rep. David
Schweikert, who is featured on the Consumers for Choice website, to
disassociate from the organization. We should expect more from Congressman
Schweikert.” (“Predatory lenders skirting Arizona’s payday loan law,”
Debbie McCune Davis, Dec. 19, 2013, www.azcentral.com).
If you would like to contribute to my campaign, please check out my
website at williamsonforuscongress.com. Click on “Make a Donation,”
and, by means of safe and secure PayPal, make a contribution on behalf of
your dedicated Democratic candidate. Do not lose heart because I am
running in a predominantly Republican district. There are a lot of
Independents in this district who will support my candidacy, as I am
opposed, unlike David Schweikert, to predatory lenders who charge
exorbitant interest rates on our people, trapping them in an abyss of
debt. Further, if you would like a yard sign, please let me know. Call my
campaign phone number or send me an e-mail, and we will get you one.
The Future Can Be Ours if we recognize that, when it comes to protecting
consumers from predatory lenders, David Schweikert is on the wrong side of
history. His supportive quote on the Consumers for Choice website–a
website that references one company that features loans at an interest
rate of 355%–shows that he does not care if people get ripped off or not.
Perhaps he receives a significant amount of campaign donations from people
in the predatory loan industry. In any case, going back to John Milton’s
quote in AREOPAGITA about the competition between Truth and Falsehood, I’d
have to say that Rep. Schweikert is on the side of Falsehood when it comes
to predatory lenders. In short, he supports them; and that is wrong: wrong
morally, wrong legally, wrong for Arizona, and wrong for the upstanding
people that make up Congressional District 6.
He probably wouldn’t agree with my bill, The Fall-Risk Resident Protection
Act, either. He’d probably say it wouldn’t be right to regulate the elder
care industry, even if suffering could be reduced and lives saved by my
proposal. After all, his approach to business regulation is licentious;
that is, he doesn’t want any regulation at all. Going by his logic, if he
were the commissioner of the NFL, he would say: “We don’t need any
referees; let the players do whatever they want.” After a while, fans
would stop coming to the games. It would be chaos. A minimum number of
rules are needed for fair play. Teens with responsible parents learn
limits and respect them. It’s called maturity.
When elected to the U.S. Congress on November 4th, I will, unlike David
Schweikert, unite with Rep. McCune Davis and other state and national
leaders to protect consumers from predatory lending practices. I will not
follow the puerile financial philosophies of David Schweikert; I will
embark upon a more responsible path.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
John
W. John Williamson
Scottsdale, Arizona