It sounds like we're finding a consensus on how to move this forward. Let's hope Washington can do the same.

commoncents, Innovative rethinking like you're laying out will undoubtedly be essential to finding a new way forward for the industry.

Thanks for the comments, Eric. Your educated and thoughtful insights are always appreciated!

Children's Museum of the Valley is a good choice, and I second your shout out to Mall playing areas. Our kids met a friend there that now comes over to our house for play dates.

I should "allow" you to get a loan you desperately need to make ends meet at triple-digit percentage rates? Somehow I can't see that's a "choice" you would make.

Not protecting us from ourselves; protecting us from parasites.

$35k not poor? Try supporting a family of four on that with both parents working.

I suggest your views are heavily skewed by your obvious conflict of interest here. You'll be making less money by not being able to squeeze consumers with outrageous percentage fees, so I can understand that you don't want to see the laws changed.

It's impossible to defend an annual interest rate of as much as 391 percent.

Who's paying your bills, Kcm? You can't honestly believe that the government stepping in to regulate an out-of-control industry in the interests of helping the poor is objectionable? The payday-lending industry is free to decide under what laws they operate, and their constituency has no power to stand up to them, so the government is stepping in to help. What kind of "financial options" do you suppose are available to the working poor that they're going to be restricted from leveraging?

Word.

@andersonathan: The shocking thing for me is that people believe the lies being sold about Obama's stands on abortion and gun control, etc., not to mention the transparent fear-mongering RE: Ayers, et. al.

@lost: McCain's campaign has spoken volumes about the man and his judgement. As @cambridge says, his Vice Presidential selection says volumes about where his priority lies, and it's not country first.

It's hard to follow Hitchens's political posturing these days, but in this article he delivers one of the sternest and most honest rebukes of the McCain-Palin ticket I've read. Thanks for pointing it out.