Allied Progress said that Debbie Wasserman Schultz has received thousands of dollars in political donations soon before or shortly after taking pro-industry action. | Getty Nonprofit group targets Wasserman Schultz over payday lenders

Allied Progress is hammering Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz in a television ad that will begin airing Thursday for “sabotaging” President Barack Obama’s efforts to hold payday lenders accountable.

The 30-second spot, titled “Debt Trap Debbie,” will broadcast in the Florida representative’s South Florida district through the state’s March 15 primary.


“President Obama was right when he condemned predatory payday lenders for ‘trapping hard-working Americans into a vicious cycle of debt’ with interest rates of 300 percent,” a narrator says. “But now Debbie Wasserman Schultz is joining Republicans in standing up for payday lenders after she received over $68,000 in campaign cash from them.”

Allied Progress, a nonprofit research organization that targets special interests, is spending nearly $100,000 in the initial phase of its campaign on the cable buy and digital ads in Washington, D.C., and Florida’s 23rd Congressional District, an area that includes parts of Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

The organization contends Wasserman Schultz has received $68,000 in political donations from payday lenders — including $28,000 during the 2010 election cycle and $5,000 this cycle. On two occasions, Allied Progress said, Wasserman Schultz has received thousands of dollars in political donations soon before or shortly after taking pro-industry action.

“The difference between Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s relationship with payday lenders and the average borrower’s relationship with payday lenders could not be more stark,” said Karl Frisch, executive director of Allied Progress. “Rep. Wasserman Schultz is benefiting greatly while borrowers are left holding the bag. It’s time for her to quit trying to sabotage President Obama’s hard work to hold payday lenders accountable and instead join him in standing up for hardworking Florida families.”

Wasserman Schultz is among a dozen Florida representatives who have cosponsored bipartisan legislation that would delay the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s payday lending rules by two years and void a “deferred presentment transaction” in states with laws similar to Florida’s.

Data from Pew Charitable Trusts, however, show that the state’s average interest rate for a payday loan is more than 300 percent, and the average Floridian borrows nine payday loans annually.

Allied Progress alleges the House bill would inhibit the regulator’s safeguards against predatory lending and trap millions of people into cycles of debt.

“Go to DebtTrapDebbie.com and tell her not to sabotage President Obama’s hard work to hold payday lenders accountable,” the narrator concludes, urging viewers to visit an online petition.

A DNC spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.