Join me tonight from 7PM to 10PM on Newsradio 710-KIRO. I like to go with the flow, so things could change, but here’s what I have lined up for tonight’s show:
7PM: When payday lenders charge 391% interest, is that loansharking, or just a valuable service to consumers? A bill was introduced in the state House to cap payday lending interest rates at 36%, but House Insurance, Financial Services and Consumer Protection Committee chair Steve Kirby (D-29) won’t even give it a hearing. Rep. Kirby will join us by phone to explain why, followed by Aiko Schaefer of the Statewide Poverty Action Network, and Patricia Davis, a consumer who got caught in the payday lending interest trap. Later in the hour, Jeff Chapman of the Washington Budget & Policy Center joins us to explain the economic impact high interest rates, and the potential alternatives to payday lending.
8PM: Should 11-year-old girls be vaccinated against sexually transmitted diseases? Some on the religious right say that would be tantamount to encouraging sexual activity amongst children, but the Republican governor of Texas is bucking the righties and requiring girls entering sixth grade be vaccinated against HPV, the virus that causes cervical cancer. Should Washington do the same? And should parents have the right to refuse vaccination?
9PM: TBA
Tune in tonight (or listen to the live stream) and give me a call: 1-877-710-KIRO (5476).
PROGRAM NOTE:
Tune in tomorrow night at 7PM when Dr. Thomas Palley asks whether the Bush administration has been manipulating the strategic oil reserve to keep prices high. Then at 8PM King County Executive Ron Sims will join me talk about what we need to be doing locally to prevent and prepare for global warming.