Republican Congresswoman Martha McSally came under fire last week after she voted for a delay in new Department of Defense rules meant to protect members of the military from predatory lenders.
The vote came in the wee hours of Thursday, April 30, when lawmakers were marking up the National Defense Authorization Act, a lengthy and complex bill that outlines funding for the nation’s military.
Tucked away in the legislation was a provision to require the Department of Defense to further study a proposed rule that would place new restrictions on the types of loans that lenders can make to service members under the Military Lending Act.
The Department of Defense limited the ability of members of the military to take out high-interest loans after Congress passed certain restrictions in 2006. But lenders found various loopholes to continue with predatory loans, so Congress passed another law in 2012 to further restrict the ability to lenders to provide high-interest, short-term loans.
In September 2014, the Department of Defense released a report outlining new restrictions to prevent predatory lending, with the new rules set to be finalized this month, according to the Federal Register.
Then came the provision in the National Defense Authorization Act—pushed by lobbyists for various lenders, according to Bloomberg News—would have required a new study, due in March 2016, to justify the rules, along with a 60-day review congressional review period. The Army Times has background on the NDAA provision here.
Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat who lost both her legs while serving as a U.S. Army helicopter pilot in Iraq, offered an amendment stripping out the language that would have delayed the predatory-lending rules. The amendment passed on a 32-30 vote, with five Republicans crossing party lines to vote alongside all of the Democrats on the committee.
McSally voted against the Duckworth amendment.
McSally spokesman Patrick Ptak said the vote shouldn’t be viewed as supporting the predatory lending industry. He said during McSally’s career in the military, she “worked tirelessly to make sure military families were not preyed upon and made good financial decisions and that those in financial need had avenues to get assistance. She strongly supports protecting military families, and all families, from inappropriate or unlawful lending practices.”
But in this case, Ptak said, McSally wanted Congress to have oversight of the proposed rule. Ptak said McSally had concerns about whether an existing federal database that would identify whether someone is a member of the military would be overwhelmed with requests if payday lenders began using it along with existing banking institutions that now use it. And he brushed aside concerns from consumer-protection agencies about the delay, saying that while the Department of Defense had until March 2016 to complete the new report, “it certainly could have come sooner.”
Kelly Griffith, executive director of the Tucson-based Southwest Center for Economic Integrity, said she was “absolutely stunned” that McSally voted against the Duckworth amendment. She said that she briefed McSally’s staff on the details of the Department of Defense’s new rule earlier this year and sent an email alerting them to the provision to delay the rule in the National Defense Authorization Act.
“This is a non-partisan issue, in my opinion,” Griffith said. “It’s a very important issue, an issue of fairness, but it’s not a Democratic issue, per se, or a Republican issue, per se. I thought it was a no-brainer that McSally would vote the right way on this thing.”
While Ptak said that McSally was concerned that home loans might be caught up in the new rule, Griffith said that was not the case.
“The Military Lending Act does not apply to home loans,” Griffth said. “This is about predatory small loans that are the bane of many military bases around the country including our own bases right here in Tucson and Sierra Vista.”
David Lucier, president of the Arizona Veterans and Military Leadership Alliance, told the Weekly that McSally’s vote “made no sense on any level.”
“I don’t understand the delay,” said Lucier, who served in the Army Special Forces in the Vietnam War and later worked for a private contractor in Iraq and Afghanistan. “I really don’t.”
The Democratic Party, both in Arizona and D.C., is highlighting McSally’s vote. On Friday, May 1, Arizona Democratic Party spokeswoman Barbara Lubin called McSally’s opposition to Duckworth’s amendment “unconscionable.”
“Congresswoman McSally had an opportunity to back up her empty rhetoric of being an independent voice for CD2,” said Lubin in a prepared statement. “Instead of protecting vulnerable service members, she acted as a shill for predatory lenders and their well-connected lobbyists.”
Meanwhile, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee targeted McSally’s vote on the issue with mailers and web ads this week.
“By voting to delay protections for our troops from predatory lenders, Congresswoman McSally made it clear that she’ll go to bat for payday lenders and special interests, even if it means turning her back on service members and their families,” said Matt Thornton of the DCCC in a press release announcing the campaign.
In related National Defense Authorization Act news: McSally pushed for $682.7 million in funding for the A-10 Warthog and $48.3 million in funding for the EC-130H Compass Call. Both aircraft are stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
“With the passage of this bill, we clear a major hurdle to keeping these planes flying and protecting our troops in combat,” said McSally in a written statement. “Not only does the legislation fully fund both platforms, but the amendments I offered will prevent any additional backdoor divestment attempts, such as more transfers to backup status next year.”
This article appears in Apr 30 – May 6, 2015.
Kinda tough talk here. The military has been prey to these people in one form or another for as long as we have had a military. Anything to do with the military is fair game for ANYONE who wants to make an easy buck and those who are critical of the Congresswoman on this issue either don’t know what they are talking about or have another agenda which is of personal benefit to them at the expense of the military.
While the author was quick to point out Congresswoman Duckworth’s background there is nary a mention of ANY contributions by Congresswoman McSally, especially her overly strong positions on women’s rights in the military. Might there be a bit of bias here?
It’s plain and simple. She is a stooge for the Koch Brothers. They bought her seat and she votes the way they want her to vote.
I think Mr. Simpson may have misread the article. McSally voted AGAINST immediate implementation of restrictions on the kinds of loans which have historically plagued members of the military, and IN FAVOR OF delay and further study. Of course, she may have been confused and perhaps she intended to vote against delay.
My apologies, my comment was a rather fumbling attempt to point out that, no matter what, those who prey on the military will ALWAYS be able to do so despite any laws. So far the best one has been the “Soldiers, sailors & airman civil relief” act but even that is limited in it’s protections. It comes down to the commanders making certain establishments “off limits”, a very unpopular option and the 1st Sgts doing what they do best, providing important “guidance” to the young troops. It is important to note that even the Az laws enacted to limit these “Payday Loan” places didn’t hardly slow them down, they just changed the name a bit and didn’t miss a beat.
More intriguing to me is how the brazillionaire Koch brothers personally benefited by Congresswoman McSally’s vote. I would be interested to see the proof of that benefit though I am more inclined to believe THAT particular comment was made by someone guilty only of having no original thought.
AND, I suppose from the way people seem to feel about my previous comment there is extreme opposition to making life better for women in the military.
Congratulations to Congresswoman McSally to understand that the MLA restrictions need further Congressional oversight. FTC Commissioner Wright wrote on how a 36% apr restriction to all credit will not protect military. See link: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/public_statements/607461/141229dodcommentwright.pdf
Even if folks do not understand these implications, DOD did report that service members have had to lie when they apply for credit under the current limitations. Expanding the limits to all credit products will make things worse not better.
Harold – they did a study in 2012, they did a study in 2013, they did a study in 2014. As Ms. Duckworth has stated, they have studied this to death and need to pass this legislation to stop the predatory lending. HOWEVER, Wells Fargo, Chase, B of A, all have recently started producing similar products, by a different name of course, that would have to stop if this legislation was approved. Big Banks don’t want this and Ms. McSally’s kowtowing to them.
Here you go Harold….this is only one of the many banking related industries the Koch brothers control. They dumped millions into her campaign. The only lack of original thought here is McSally’s, she will forever be just be a puppet of the Koch’s.
Koch Brothers to Open PayAdvantages™ Check Cashing Service in Grass Valley
JANUARY 27, 2015 BY FINK
Grass Valley, CA — In what Koch Industries is calling a “novel and effective way to give back to local communities,” the American mega conglomerate announced late Monday night that it plans on opening one of their popular PayAdvantages™ check cashing stores next to the DollarTree® in Grass Valley.
“This is one way we can help the ‘little guy’,” said Koch Industries spokesman Stephen Bleederman. “What do these small communities need? Liquidity and access to quick capital. We believe that our same-day PayAdvantages™ check cashing service will provide money into the hands of people who need it the most.”
It seems more than the banking industry is interested in having these services available:
http://www.ncscooper.com/kfc-to-offer-chec…
I’m usually pretty quick to acknowledge my mental deficiencies before anyone points them out for me but I need some help here; how does a business opened earlier this year in the state of Ca, far out in the country represent a finacial predatory threat to our military members? And why this particular business and not the myriad others already in operation throughout both Congresswoman’s respective districts.
And if these are such bad places why did the city of Tucson and Pima county allow them to open the first place?
And even more predatory are some of the used car dealerships which rely heavily on the younger members of our military for their business? They have even before there were autombiles. I don’t need a seris of studies to tell me what I already know and what I have repeatedly stated earlier today; the military will ALWAYS be prey to the unscrupulous no matter how much legislation occurs, vermin will always find a way.
As for the PACs; if Mr. Barber had been the better candidate he would have gotten better support from his own party though I think some of the “hit” ads run by Giffords did more harm than good. No matter, this issue will be revisited next year.
Let them go, they have a Koch fetish.
Let them go, they have a Koch fetish.
McSally and Duckworth have both been embarrassments and traitors to American military veterans. They place their own interests and the interests of their campaign contributors ahead of assisting their “brothers in arms”.
First Sargent in the military has become a lateral move into a position when the E8 is unable to perform adequately in their actual MOS/AFSC. It has become a check-mark in a box for mediocre leaders/managers to rise to their next level of incompetence. They have become the assistant principal to the Chief and Commander to hand down discipline and complete paperwork, many of them wouldn’t piss on new troop if they were on fire – that would require effort and selflessness.
Traitor is an overused word used by people who cannot think of a proper word and believe 1st Sgts are as inadequate as they are.