...As the trade group says in its news release, the partnership will "educate African-American legislators and community leaders on critical issues regarding consumer credit, and provide community volunteers with resources they need to educate consumers in their communities on how to become credit savvy."

Clearly, the savvier one is the payday industry. What better way to try to fend off regulation than to partner with minority groups supposedly looking out for the very people their opponents say the industry is taking advantage of?

Here's an entry where I talk about the various tactics PR firms and trade associations use, many of which involve renting or otherwise obtaining the support of some consumer or community groups (or even establishing a fake consumer front group when that isn't possible). Whether you are a payday lender, a telephone or cable company or even a tobacco company, you can usually find some consumer or community or, in this case, minority legislative group that needs the money and provides you with cover. If you don't think that the money will cause some members of these legislative organizations to think twice before they come down hard on the payday lenders, think again. They may not be buying votes, but the money is corrosive. Money has an influence, otherwise they wouldn't be giving it away. Fortunately, many minority and community groups remain staunch opponents of the payday lenders.