Last week the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority (CRRMA) board decided to stop selling their toll tags through a company commonly known as a payday lender.
This post is not in support of the payday lenders, particularly their shameful practices. I hope that the state takes action to better regulate these businesses.
The CRRMA action seems rather hypocritical to me. Toll tags are a luxury that people buy so that they can drive from one place to another faster than if they stay on roads that the common folk have to use. I doubt that many people who have the money to buy these tags find themselves in a position where they need to get a payday loan. I don’t see the harm of them going into these stores.
Toll lanes that are created to offer expedited travel seem to be something that are not designed to help poor people. Quite the opposite. Here we have the CRRMA itself essentially making money from an elitist program and then somehow tying that to sanctioning retail facilities that make money from poorer people.
Lottery
Texas has a lottery system that offers several gambling products. Some people call lotteries “a tax on the stupid”. Published information indicates that the chance of winning Texas Lotto is about one in 25 million.
Will we see Texas stop selling lottery products through convenience stores? After all these stores sell products at much higher prices than one can find in supermarkets and discount stores. Convenience stores also generally sell alcohol and cigarettes. Maybe Texas should not sell it’s “morally just” lottery tickets in these places that cater to the weaknesses of human flesh.
We deserve better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
If, as you suggest, the sale of tags by payday lenders doesn’t make marketing sense (and I agree), then one can only conclude that the original decision was politically motivated and intended to “endorse” and put a positive spin on payday lenders at a time when they are under scrutiny. CRRMA’s board is filled with politicos, so one might also conclude that any CRRMA actions that help payday lenders would ultimately be reciprocated by payday lenders through political contributions and other means.
Whenever something doesn’t make sense, follow the money.
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