Really, why is it so empty and worthless for Kentuckians?

Consumer advocates promote the federal solution — a 36 percent limit on the annual percentage rate charged for short-term payday loans. That approach also has been adopted by 15 states.

House Bill 444 has no such cap. It just creates a database through which these kinds of loans can be tracked.

So it will be possible for regulators and consumers to keep tabs on all the financial exploitation, but nobody will be able to do anything about it — unless and until lawmakers decide to protect the public too.

Only Senators Boswell, Clark, Shaughnessy, Stein, Stivers and Westwood voted against the mess. No one raised the issue of a need for an interest rate cap. And interestingly, Senators Carroll, Blevins, Kelly and Tori voted for the bill without comment.

So, why is this legislation so gutted and empty? Let’s take a stroll down memory lane.

This commercial from the National Association of Payday Lenders appeared in Kentucky surfaced in June 2007 during the height of Steve Beshear’s campaign for governor. It was, as we predicted, a method of softening attacks and supporting Beshear by making the industry “nice.”

Why is that important? Check out this video from Greg Stumbo:

Stumbo’s predictions have come to fruition.