[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d42haxQfcg]

The fascists, in this case, are payday lenders. Payday lenders exist because of the simple fact that the American capitalists outright refuse to pay a living wage. After all, a living wage would put these loan sharks out of business.

You wanna see just how insane this shit is? Have a look for yourself:

A little over a year ago, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) addressed a small audience of political insiders at the Brookings Institution, one of the most prestigious think tanks in the nation’s capital. Times were changing, Warner told the crowd, and the old guard from Washington and Wall Street wasn’t keeping up with the needs of the modern workforce. The gig economy, outsourcing and automation had created an era of unprecedented “income volatility” for Americans. New financial technology firms had “an opportunity to bridge part of that new social contract,” to “lean forward and meet workers where they’re working.”

It had been a long day for the Virginia Democrat. A dental appointment had unexpectedly turned into a three-hour ordeal, and he’d arrived at the conference a little “cotton-mouthed,” as he put it. When he veered into a discussion about “a much more aggressive way to upscale people” through “an enormous number of intersection points,” including “your relationship with that FinTech provider,” it wasn’t obvious exactly what Warner was after.

But the big picture was clear enough. The government needed to “encourage innovation.” Entrepreneurs had to be thinking about a “portable benefits system,” about emergency funding to help people meet unexpected expenses. It was time to get past the same old debates about government and regulation. This was about change. It was about progress. Warner had seen the future.

A year later, that tomorrow has arrived. And the grand financial technology breakthrough, it turns out, is to help payday lenders sidestep basic consumer protection laws.

In late July, Warner introduced the ingeniously titled “Protecting Consumers’ Access to Credit Act of 2017.” The legislation would allow payday lenders to ignore state interest rate caps on consumer loans as long as they partnered with a national bank.

Although it has been generally overlooked amid the GOP’s stumbling attempt to repeal Obamacare and its aggressive plan to slash taxes for Wall Street, Warner’s little bill has a much better chance of making it into law than the Republican Party’s marquee efforts. Companion legislation is scheduled for a vote in the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday, where the bill has the backing of archconservative Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) and Reps. Greg Meeks (D-N.Y.) and Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), liberal Democrats with a history of sympathy for the financial industry. Warner’s Senate version is co-sponsored by tea party darling Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.).

And Republicans call the Democrats 'socialist'? If the US had a socialist bone in its body, blatantly perdatory businesses such as payday lenders wouldn't even exist. Hell, making money off of laborers who aren't making anywhere close to a living wage wouldn't even be called 'innovative' if this country was anywhere near as socialist as right-wing nutjobs in government and on the internet love to constantly scream at the top of their lungs.

If you want proof of just how predatory these assholes are, just read this woman's story. Chances are that if you've ever had to take out such a loan, your story is similar to hers.

No doubt it's even worse for those on fixed incomes.

If this story doesn't prove that we have no left-wing party representing labor in the United States, nothing will.

See you around,

Aspie