It’s a serious question. Faber was among 29 state senators Wednesday to vote in favor of massive restrictions on payday lending.

The GOP leadership said something about protecting people — we all remember those big-government Nanny State Republicans, right? — but the party wasn’t completely sold on telling consenting adults what business transactions they may conduct. The other two Senate Republicans from this area — Steve Buehrer and Larry Mumper — voted against the bill. 

 Perhaps when the Big Government types like Faber are done, they would be so kind as to return some believers in limited government to the Statehouse. Now, it’s on to the Ohio House to reconsider House Bill 545. Maybe the six Republicans from this area will find a bit more Republicanism in them than the party guy from Celina was able to. The Republican majority again has worked to kill Ohio jobs.

From The Associated Press

Ohio Senate OKs one of nation’s toughest payday lending capsCOLUMBUS (AP) — The Ohio Senate has passed legislation that would create one of the nation’s strictest laws governing payday lending.

The bill limits borrowers to four short-term loans a year and caps annual interest rates at 28 percent.

Payday lenders generally charge about $15 for every $100 borrowed on a two-week loan, which would be the equivalent of a 391 percent annual interest rate.

Republican Senate President Bill Harris says consumers also wouldn’t be able to borrow more than $500 per loan, or 25 percent of a consumer’s base monthly pay — whichever is less.

Industry representatives say the legislation would put payday lenders out of business.

House lawmakers overwhelmingly approved the restrictions late last month.

The House must now approve changes made by the Senate before sending the bill to the governor for enactment. 

“We’re the government! What we say is final, even when it contradicts what we said only a decade ago. Our election-buying needs have changed, and damn you for trying to stop us.”

— Every state lawmaker you’ll ever meet, particularly when you challenge his or her wisdom.

“We need to bring back the guillotine for those who would commit such treasons against those enlightened rulers God has bestowed upon us in Columbus.“

— An awed Ron, thunderstruck by the assembled genius in the capital city.

The Associated Press: 

Ohio lawmakers want to close down anti-smoking agency

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio House wants to shut down agency that has sued the state to keep its anti-smoking program going.

A bill sponsored by Rep. Jay Hottinger, a Newark Republican, would put the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation out of business and give $40 million it was due to the Ohio Department of Health for its own anti-smoking efforts.

The foundation sued the state to recover $190 million that legislative leaders and Gov. Ted Strickland had moved to an economic development program.

The state created the foundation with Ohio’s share of a 1998 settlement with tobacco companies.

Look! They’ve figured it out: Don’t use the money at all, and then people would have to cut back on the smokes. It’s a simple formula: No jobs lead to no money, which leads to no cigarette money.

Group seeks to join lawsuit

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A Washington-based anti-smoking group is asking to join a lawsuit against the state so it can use $190 million an Ohio-based group wants to give it to continue its programs.

The American Legacy Foundation on Monday asked a Franklin County Common Pleas judge if it could intervene in the lawsuit brought by the Ohio Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Foundation on April 9. The
Ohio foundation wants the money to continue to go to anti-smoking programs, as originally intended.

The Legislature passed and Gov. Ted Strickland signed a bill that moved the money into a $1.57 billion economic recovery program. Judge David Fais, who has frozen the money, has scheduled a hearing on the lawsuit for Thursday. 

It’s a stupid idea — and it sounds like something the protectionists among the Democrats would suggest — but perhaps enough “patriots” will be moved by the gesture to be forced to pay more for a flag to help advance this flag-waving Republican: 

State senator wants ban on foreign-made flags

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio retailer that sells an imported U.S. or Ohio flag could be fined up to $500 or sent to jail for up to 60 days, under a bill introduced by a state lawmaker.

Republican state Sen. Joy Padgett says many flags carried in parades around Ohio are not made in the country they represent. Testifying before a Senate panel on Tuesday, Padgett said it was paramount that Ohio bar the sale of flags manufactured in China and other countries.

Padgett says she was spurred by a constituent from Coshocton (kuh-SHAHK’-tuhn), a hardware store owner who learned from a relative in Minnesota about that state’s tough ban on foreign flag sales passed last year.