Editorials from around Ohio

Excerpts of recent editorials of statewide and national interest from Ohio newspapers:

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, Sept. 2

The payday loan problem continues to fester in Ohio, despite a 2008 referendum and state law seemingly banning these super-high-interest, short-term loans. The reasons: lenders’ apparent unquenchable ability to divert around attempted barricades and the Ohio legislature’s failure of will to counter these moves.

Into this breach has stepped the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, led by former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray. Earlier this year, the CFPB proposed nationwide rules to fight predatory lending with a proposal under which “payday loans will be severely restricted,” as The Plain Dealer’s Teresa Dixon Murray reported.

But maybe not restricted enough: The Coalition on Housing and Homelessness in Ohio (COHHIO) warned of a possible loophole in the CFPB’s proposed “ability to pay” rule requiring payday lenders to check whether a borrower can afford a loan. COHHIO said the rule could be evaded if lenders use the borrower’s repayment of a prior loan to demonstrate “ability to pay,” even when the person’s financial circumstances might have changed …

The General Assembly has a responsibility to Ohio voters to rein in a ruthless industry that’s defying them. It’s past time for lawmakers to act.

Online:

https://bit.ly/2bO6KuE

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The Canton Repository, Sept. 2

It pays to know a trade.

The Columbus Dispatch reported Thursday that state, regional and national survey data show Ohio companies experiencing greater than average difficulty filling jobs in the construction trades, specifically positions like project manager, carpenter and drywall installer. In Ohio, 80 percent of survey respondents are having difficulty filling hourly craft jobs and more than half struggle to fill salaried positions.

The report by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGCA) suggests the worker shortage is a problem across the country, one that has the “potential to undermine broader economic growth,” the group’s CEO, Stephen Sandherr, told The Dispatch during a conference call.

Dave Kirven, president of the East Central Ohio Building & Construction Trades Council and business agent for Plumbers & Pipe Fitters Union Local 94 in Canton, said local plumbers and pipe fitters are “not desperate” for workers because of the slowdown in the oil and gas industry. There’s plenty of work now for established tradesmen between the natural gas power plant being built in Carroll County and the Pro Football Hall of Fame Village project …

Ohio must continue to encourage young people to explore careers in the trades and offer adequate training programs for adults transitioning between careers. The AGCA report underscores the importance of that task.

Online:

https://bit.ly/2bYVP3w

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Akron Beacon Journal, Sept. 2

Donald Trump has said so many conflicting things about illegal immigration, and not just this campaign season. Recall his contention that Mitt Romney lost the 2012 presidential race, in part, because he alienated Latino voters with harsh talk about “self-deportation.” Or Trump expressing support three years ago for the Senate version of immigration reform, Republicans and Democrats backing the compromise legislation.

Then came his successful run for the Republican presidential nomination, launched with dark and ugly words about Mexico sending “rapists” and other criminals into this country, about his promise to build a wall along the southern border and his plan to dispatch a deportation strike force against the 11 million illegal immigrants here …

Where Trump fails his honesty test most conspicuously is in the conduct of his own candidacy. On Wednesday, he either was the typical politician, now trailing, looking to trim his sails and ride to a higher position in the polls or he was the pol playing to fears and resentments, the candidate who questioned the integrity of a federal judge because of his Mexican heritage. Then there is the candidate who has taken so many clashing positions it is hard to know where he stands.

Online:

https://bit.ly/2ctMCTF

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The (Youngstown) Vindicator, Aug. 3

First-century folklore has it that as the grand city of Rome burned in the great fire of A.D. 64, the incompetent, immoral and ineffective Emperor Nero fiddled - literally on his violin.

Twenty centuries later, a similar but very real tale of lethargic leadership and wanton neglect is playing out as a public-health crisis worsens by the day in the Americas.

In this scenario, the U.S. Congress has assumed the role of Nero. Our national legislators have been fiddling away valuable time on vacation and along self-serving campaign trails the past seven weeks while the nation sinks deeper and deeper into the clutches of the menace.

That menace, of course, is the Zika virus. It has been seven long months since the Barack Obama administration asked U.S. representatives and senators for $1.9 billion in funding to develop a vaccine, top-flight diagnostic tests and rapid-response teams for Zika mosquito clusters that are detected …

It’s perfectly understandable then that Americans are fed up with the heartless political antics in our nation’s capital. A new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that three-fourths of Americans urge Congress to make the allocation of more funding to deal with Zika an “important” or “top priority” when they return to Washington next week.

It’s long past time for Congress to start listening to them and stop fiddling around.

Online:

https://bit.ly/2c0eaf2

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