Here is an excerpt from the article:
State lawmakers cleared the way Monday for a politically generous check-cashing company already wooed with millions of dollars in state incentives to shave money from its federal tax bill.
State Sen. Ray Miller, a Columbus Democrat, questioned why Ohio seems to be taking pains to encourage Dublin-based Buckeye Check Cashing Inc., when he sees its business as preying on the poor.
"I can't see why we, as a state, support a business that we know charges excessive fees, [and] interest rates to our citizens," Miller said, in casting the State Controlling Board's lone objection to a tax-saving name shuffle at the firm. "It just doesn't make sense."
Since 2004, Ohio has extended Buckeye Check a 60-percent, nine-year tax credit for the firm; offered it $100,000 to invest in training; and approved a development loan package worth more than $7 million. The firm did not accept the latter loan.
Development Department spokesman Bill Teets said Monday's action was simply a technical change to adjust the name of the business entity that received $100,000 in state aid to help buy two buildings for its headquarters. The new company, Lenhart Frauenberg Partnership, was created "for federal income tax purposes," the proposal said.
Michael Lenhart and James Frauenberg, who own both companies, have donated, along with their family members, nearly $200,000 to political candidates and causes since 2000, according to state and federal filings.
Most of the money has gone to Republicans, including Reps. Bob Ney, Deborah Pryce, Pat Tiberi, Mike Oxley and David Hobson; Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro; State Auditor Betty Montgomery; and former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, who controlled the House when the loan package was approved. Cleveland Democratic Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones also has received money.
A legal battle over whether Buckeye Check charges exorbitant interest rates is awaiting action by the U.S. Supreme Court, where it landed in November. John Cardegna, a 9-1-1 dispatcher in Florida, sued the company in 1999 to contest $3,000 in interest the firm charged him on a $300 cash advance he sought to repair his pickup truck. His lawyers argued that charging interest rates of more than 45 percent is criminal...
Shameful.