Annual percentage rate (APR) on a 2-week payday loan = 390%.

APR on a VISA or Mastercard credit card with late fees = 700%.

APR cost of a bounced check at a commercial bank = 1,300%.

Congress and many state legislatures are now promising a crackdown on the "payday" loan industry for "unscrupulous" and "predatory" lending. But if payday lending is such a consumer rip off, no one has explained why these stores have become so popular. There are some 25,000 payday stores across America, and in many small towns the payday loan store is now as commonplace as the local post office.

This looks like another illustration of how to hurt working Americans in the name of helping them.

From today's WSJ editorial "

Mayday for Payday Loans

."