Speak Out

Pat Tillman turned down millions as a professional football player to become a U.S. Army Ranger and go to war in Afghanistan. He died there, leaving behind a widow and young children. He died loving our country, our flag and our cause.

That's the good part, if dying for freedom has goodness. The bad part is that Tillman died from the gunfire of his own comrades. War is hell, and at war accidents happen. Friendly fire is not on purpose. So why in America do two political parties seemingly hate each other? Why friendly fire on purpose?

It used to be that when our soldiers were at war it was everybody's war until our heroes came home victorious. Nowadays, politicians and journalists inundate the effort with negativity until defeat is secured. But at least these friendly fire deaths are motivated by parties of opposite value systems. Take your choice!

Lately we have gotten so refined at self-instigated friendly fire that a Republican judge (himself appointed) has chosen to friendly fire his colleague who beat him at the polls. What's worse, he found a nest of look-alikes who became a choir of friendly fire. The bullets were autographed "decertified".

Laws such as "abortion is legal" and "homosexual marriage is legal" — forget what the people say! They are laws made by judges in spite of the people's choice. Laws that need to change and bullets that need to stop. Fine him, do what you must, but don't steal what the people said — especially since some of the choir committed the same impropriety when their auditions were held without consequence.

Sometimes being noble is learning how to lose like a man.

Phil Murphy
Anniston

Stick to the facts

Re "Payday Loans: They're Not Usury" (Speaker's Stand, July 3):

Payday industry investor Lawrence Meyers argued that because payday lenders charge rates that are only in the triple digits (a 456 percent annual rate), their loans should be considered reasonable. However, data consistently shows that their short-term product leads to long-term financial problems for borrowers.

Payday industry-funded researcher Pat Cirillo has noted that the typical borrower uses payday loans for 18-month stints. Regulator data shows that the average borrower takes out eight or nine loans — often one after the other — each year.

Rather than address these facts about the payday lending debt trap, Meyers prefers to sling mud at our organization and its affiliate, Self-Help Credit Union.

Whether payday loans are offered makes no difference to our financial bottom line, but it does affect our mission of helping lower-income families. Why? Because payday loans put lower-income families — and their chances to create a better future for themselves — at great risk.

A growing number of states have clamped down on payday lenders' rates; making them subject to the same interest rate caps of around 36 APR other small-loan lenders must adhere to. Congress has also weighed in, enacting a 36 percent rate cap for military members. We hope Alabama policymakers decide to offer this same protection to their constituents.

Leslie Parrish
Center for Responsible Lending
Washington, D.C.