This is same gang that brought us payday loans
Re: the April 22 article “Loan lobbyists offer cash to help bill pass.”
High-interest predatory loans are so lucrative to the lenders that they are willing to give money away to get their new law passed. Let us be clear. The annual interest rate charged for these loans is 180 percent. The industry wants you to think the rate is 15 percent — that is the monthly rate. For comparison, a car loan has a typical annual interest rate of from 1.5 percent to 18 percent, which is a monthly interest rate of from 0.125 percent to 1.5 percent.
A $2,500 loan at 15 percent interest per month paid back in 18 months costs you $7,343.38! You will pay $4,843.38 in interest.
These loans are a rip-off and they intentionally mislead the borrower into thinking it is a good deal. These loans are brought to you by the same people who brought you payday loans. The voters in Arizona said no to payday loans.
Mary Judge Ryan
East side
Hart’s judgment legitimate to question
Rep. Bob Thorpe’s April 21 letter, “Quarrel over Hart hurts DeVry graduates,” claims, without evidence, that criticism of University of Arizona President Ann Weaver Hart joining the DeVry board has damaged DeVry graduates’ job prospects. But the Federal Trade Commission suit against DeVry is the obvious place to look for damage. Investors think so: Shares dropped sharply the day the suit was filed.
In soft-pedaling the suit as merely an allegation, Thorpe turns a blind eye to the elephants in the room — integrity and judgment, which materialized precisely because of the allegation. Hart serving on a board is not necessarily a problem, but this board creates a conflict of interest. Thorpe complains of Democratic colleagues urging Hart to resign as being “much more supportive of public educational institutions than private.” A curious statement for a legislator. Should they have the best interests of DeVry at heart over the UA?
Walter Hurley
Foothills
Motives suspicious in Goldwater lawsuit
Why is the Goldwater Institute so interested in stopping Pima County’s investment in a space technology company’s efforts to build a manufacturing headquarters and a space tourism launch facility? Would the institute’s lawyers want to stop such a project in Maricopa County?
In addition to the revenue and jobs that will accrue over the 20-year lease of the proposed World View project, there is the immeasurable drawing power that such business will create for future space technology growth in Pima County.
The Goldwater Institute claims to be protecting taxpayers from a wasteful and unconstitutional scheme. Such arguments are specious at best and bogus at worst. What’s next on their agenda? Stopping NASA’s collaboration with the University of Arizona on the OSIRIS-Rex mission?
Randall S. Smith
Midtown
Tucson badly needs new downtown arena
Sure it seems nice, the talk of minor league hockey coming to Tucson, but is it fair to play in a below-average arena? When will our city leaders come to their senses and build a downtown arena? They claim to be behind the revitalization of downtown, but are they? We need an arena to bring concerts and bigger conventions to our city. The time is now. Don’t depend on Rio Nuevo to get the job done.
Chuck Mellon
Marana
