State government as Mother

They're at it again, the TV ad says: Our politicians are deciding what financial choices consenting adults may make.

No arguing with the overall theme - many Ohio lawmakers and Gov. Ted Strickland decided adults couldn't decide for themselves whether to take short-term loans - but part of the ad seems unfair, particularly playing on Lima TV stations. Only one of this area's three state senators and six state representatives - Sen. Keith Faber, R-Celina - voted to restrict payday loans.

But, for a couple of the other local lawmakers, it turns out the ad is right - but about a different subject.

They indeed are at it again - trying to put state government in the role of nanny for adults who should be free to make financial decisions for themselves. Meet House Bill 608, which would prevent credit card issuers from marketing on state college and university campuses.

As columnist Thomas J. Lucente Jr. put it Thursday on a radio talk show, most of the names attached to the bill are a Who's Who of nanny-state Democrats. A mere three of the 17 representatives attached to the bill are Republicans, with two notable local names: Rep. Matt Huffman, R-Lima, who is one the bill's two main sponsors, and Rep. Cliff Hite, R-Findlay, who signed on as a co-sponsor.

Leave it to others to argue the merits and risks of college students getting credit cards. Building credit is important, but many have put themselves in financial peril with credit cards. That's an argument of should a student apply for a credit card; House Bill 608 is an attempt to say banks cannot market on public campuses, and that schools and alumni associations cannot seek the monetary incentives that come with that.

The bill would keep credit card companies from college campuses in all forms, from marketing at the student union to direct mailings to phone solicitations to sporting events. The bill also would keep state schools and alumni groups from selling student information to banks.

The bill would be unlikely to keep a student who wanted a credit card from getting one, but it would keep the transactions off school property.

No one should be surprised this comes from Democrats. The state's public universities and colleges are filled with groups Democrats seem to believe aren't smart enough or responsible enough to take care of themselves. You expect them to try to use government to protect these groups, no matter the actual harm.

Republicans traditionally have favored people being responsible for themselves. Huffman and Faber, campaigning in 2006, called for reducing government regulations, but they now advocate in their separate ways expanding the regulatory state.

Ohio Republicans, whether in large numbers as seen with the payday loan ban or in smaller numbers as with college credit cards, apparently are getting comfortable seeing government act as Mother.

As they're preparing to nurture recently minted adults, however, these representatives might consider the amount of money alumni associations raise with credit card deals. The University of Iowa alumni association gets a quarter of its budget from credit card deals, Business Week reports, while the University of Delaware's alumni group takes in 90 percent that way. Ohio State University receives payment from its alumni association's use of the school's trademarks, and the 55,000-student institution uses some of the money for financial education for students, Business Week reported last month.

Ohio government continues looking at cutting costs, July tax receipts being almost 10 percent lower than projected. Strickland is reviewing how Ohio funds its public K-12 schools. Yet those behind House Bill 608 offer two additional groups - state schools and their alumni associations - reason to line up for more from the public trough.

Proponents of regulation can find compelling stories to show a problem exists. An argument might be made for limiting what information state-run schools may release, but House Bill 608 goes further than that. Like the payday lending ban, House Bill 608 seeks to shut down an industry most use responsibly so they can pretend they will save - without much reason to believe they will - those who have trouble taking care of themselves.

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