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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

For its own first birthday, CFPB sends gifts to consumers | Ed Mierzwinski

Tomorrow, Saturday, July 21, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau turns one year old. To celebrate its own birthday, the CFPB sent consumers some gifts this week.

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Blog Post | Food

Everyone is Hopping Mad About the Farm Bill | Nasima Hossain

Earlier this month, the House Agricultural Committee passed its version of the Farm Bill with a 35-11 vote.  It was greatly anticipated, as the country needs a fair and common sense bill that cut wasteful spending. In years past, the Farm Bill has given out tens of billions in taxpayer dollars to large, mature agribusinesses, and subsidized commodity crops that are often processed into the junk food ingredients fueling the obesity epidemic. 

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Corporate crime wave! Do any big banks make money by earning it? | Ed Mierzwinski

The CFPB/OCC settlement with Capital One for deceiving credit card customers into purchasing junky ripoff add-ons comes hard on the heels of revelations that other banks have been caught or are being investigated for LIBOR bid rigging, mortgage discrimination and aiding money launderers. Do any big banks earn money by offering innovative, fair and sustainable products anymore?

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

CFPB Fines Capital One For Deceptively Marketing Junky Payment Protection, Credit Monitoring to Cardholders | Ed Mierzwinski

(UPDATED): The CFPB, which turns one on Saturday, is coming of age with the announcement of its first enforcement action, against Capital One Bank, for deceptive marketing of junky payment protection and credit monitoring products to cardholders. Capital One will pay over $200 million in direct restitution and civil penalties.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

CFPB Issues Rule Regulating Big Credit Bureaus | Ed Mierzwinski

Today, as expected, the CFPB announced its first "larger participants" rule, giving itself the authority to supervise, or look inside the mysterious "black box" operations, of the biggest credit bureaus. This is a really big deal for consumers who've suffered through the mistakes made by these gatekeepers to financial and employment opportunity.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Health Care

Nationwide Survey of New Health Exchanges Shows How to Lower Costs for Consumers

Many states are creating health exchanges to deliver better value for consumers, and other states should follow their lead, according to Making the Grade, a new report by consumer group U.S. PIRG.  Health exchanges are competitive marketplaces that can empower individuals and small businesses with better, more affordable options for coverage.  Under the federal health reform law, each state will have an exchange up and running in 2014. The report closely examines the exchanges that have so far been set up by states and rates them according to how accountable they will be to consumers and the public, how much they can do to lower premiums and improve the quality of care, how friendly they will be to consumers, and how stable they will be.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Tax

New Report Shows Problems with Widely Used Local Economic Development Tool

A new research report released today outlines problems with the growing trend among cities to borrow against future growth and divert tax revenues as a way to attract economic development.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG | Tax

New Report from Senator Levin Affirms Repatriation Holiday Would Fatten CEO Wallets, Not Create Jobs

Senator Levin’s new report reaffirms that rewarding companies that artificially shifted profits overseas with special tax treatment is a wasteful giveaway to corporate executives that sacrifices deficit reduction for no public benefit to the economy.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Transportation

Data Shows One out of every Nine Bridges in America Remain Structurally Deficient on Eve of Obama Bridge Speech

With President Obama calling for robust investments in repairing America’s crumbling roads and bridges today, State PIRGs released data today documenting the number of “structurally deficient” bridges in seven states.

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Media Hit | Food

Fox News: New Report Links Agricultural Subsidies to Childhood Obesity

A report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, or U.S. PIRG, titled “Apples to Twinkies: Comparing Federal Subsidies of Fresh Produce and Junk Food” found that between 1995 and 2010, the U.S. has spent more than $260 billion on agricultural subsidies.

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Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Deflate Your Rate

An estimated 55-60 percent of Americans carry credit card balances. One recent study found that nearly half of those with balances made just the minimum payment in February 2002.

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Report | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Protection

Industry Associations Oppose Senate Legislation to Prevent "Another Enron"

The Senate should resist industry pressure and take immediate action to protect investors, employees and pensioners from future Enron-like collapses. At a time when we are wondering how Enron could keep so many analysts and accountants in the dark about their balance sheets, we need to re-shine the bright light of public scrutiny on these murky and complex energy derivative transactions.

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Report | U.S. PIRG | Higher Ed

The Burden Of Borrowing

As college costs continue to swell, students are increasingly shouldering high levels of debt to pay for a college education. Thirty-nine percent (39%) of student borrowers now graduate with unmanageable levels of debt, meaning that their monthly payments are more than 8% of their monthly incomes. According to new data from the Department of Education’s National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), not only are the majority of students turning to loans to finance college, but debt levels are also escalating.

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Report | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Protection

Trouble In Toyland 2001

This 2001 Trouble In Toyland report is the sixteenth annual PIRG toy safety survey. PIRG uses results from its survey to educate parents about toy hazards and to advocate passage of stronger laws and regulations to protect children from toy hazards. Since 1986 our surveys have led to over 100 enforcement actions by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and toy manufacturers.

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Report | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Protection

Rent-A-Bank Payday Lending

The report provides a detailed and up-to-date summary of the legal and legislative status of the payday lending industry around the country. It places particular emphasis on analyzing the most important and controversial trend in payday lending: the growing use of banks to evade state usury laws, small loan rate caps, and, even, state payday loan laws. The report also includes detailed store-by-store and state-by-state results of a 2001 survey of 235 payday lenders in 20 states and the District of Columbia.

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