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Blog Post | Food

A Farm Bill Boondoggle | Nasima Hossain

The U.S. Senate is on the verge of doubling down on the principle that billions of taxpayer dollars should go to making the largest, most profitable agribusinesses even more profitable.  And despite knowing that many of these subsidies underwrite junk food ingredients like high fructose corn syrup, some Senators are proposing not only to maintain, but actually to expand this wasteful spending. How could this be happening?

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News Release | U.S. PIRG | Higher Ed

Congress Can’t Risk an Incomplete on Student Loan Interest Rates

Statement of Rich Williams, Higher Education Advocate for U.S. PIRG, on the failure to move debate forward on a bill to prevent student loan interest rates from doubling this July:

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Blog Post | Democracy

Why Target is Still a Target | Blair Bowie

Two years ago, when Target’s CEO Gregg Steinhafel used corporate general treasury funds to support a group backing a candidate known for his outspoken anti-LGBT positions, it was more than a blemish on the reputation of a corporation that brands itself as progressive. That irresponsible contribution was a violation of both shareholder and public trust and, not surprisingly, it resulted in scandal and boycotts that threatened the assets of shareholders who never authorized the use of their money for political spending

Target learned first-hand what it should have already known: consumers and shareholders do not want corporations to muddy up our democracy by interfering with our elections, yet it has not yet adopted a policy against this spending. Today, at Target’s annual shareholder meeting in Chicago, shareholders will take a vote on a resolution to refrain from political spending to once again remind Target that corporate electioneering is bad for shareholders and is bad for democracy.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

What Will JP Morgan Chase Chief Jamie Dimon Testify To Today? | Ed Mierzwinski

(UPDATED) At 10am, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee will ask JP Morgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon questions perhaps including "What did you know and when did you know it?" and "Did your $3 billion in gambling losses violate the Volcker rule against betting you rown (and the depositors') money?" We will be there, tweeting from @edmpirg.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Spokeo to pay $800,000 in FTC settlement: Sold social network data for employment uses | Ed Mierzwinski

(POST UPDATED): The data broker Spokeo has agreed to pay penalties of $800,000 over multiple violations of the Fair Credit Reporting and FTC Acts. It's important as the first FTC case over the "sale of Internet and social media data in the employment screening context."

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News Release | U.S. PIRG | Tax

Washington, D.C.: Off-Shore Tax Havens Cost U.S. Taxpayers $434 a Year

Major corporations and some individuals avoid as much as $100 billion a year in federal taxes by “off-shoring” the profits they make here in the U.S. or by setting up sham headquarters in tax haven countries.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG | Higher Ed

New in The Huffington Post: Ryan's Budget Is A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing, Preying On Student Aid

Chairman Ryan's budget is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Preying upon genuine concern for our fiscal future, this budget takes direct aim at student aid programs that help job-seekers get the skills, training, and credentials they need to re-enter the recovering workforce.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Safe Energy

Nuclear Power, Not Worth the Risk

A new report released today by the United States Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) documents a history of safety problems at nuclear reactors in the United States. These incidents – like the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan – illustrate that nuclear power carries with it risks that are simply not worth taking.

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

Foreign Funds in American Elections

This week we learned that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce could be using money from foreign corporations to fund attack ads in our elections.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG | Democracy

California: Bill Creating Checks On Corporate Campaign Spending Introduced

Groups concerned about the influence of corporate money in politics held a press conference today in support of the Shareholder Protection Act by Assemblymember Pedro Nava. The bill would require corporations to let their shareholders opt out of having their money spent on political campaigns.

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Report | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Protection

ATM: Always Taking Money

This PIRG national survey, done in March 1999, compares surcharging practices at 336 banks and 31 credit unions to the results of PIRG's spring 1998 report, "Big Banks, Bigger ATM Fees."

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Report | U.S. PIRG | Consumer Protection

Mistakes Do Happen 1998

This is the PIRGs' sixth study on credit report accuracy and privacy issues since 1991. This report is our first investigation of credit report accuracy since 1996 Congressional changes to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), designed to improve the accuracy and ease of access to reports, took effect in September 1997. The findings of Mistakes Can Happen are troubling. An alarming number of credit reports contain serious errors that could cause the denial of credit, a loan, or even a job. Further, some consumers never even received their reports, even after repeated calls. 

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Tools & Resources

  • FIGHT HIGH Rx COSTS
    Prescription drugs cost too much. Brand-name drug companies have been paying off generic drug makers to delay competition and keep prices high, and it's costing us billions. Together, we can stop them.
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  • YOUR TAX DOLLARS BECOME CORN SYRUP
    At a time when one-in-three kids is overweight or obese, over a billion taxpayer dollars go to high-fructose corn syrup and junk food ingredients.
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    Take Action
  • STOP TAX DODGERS
    Corporate tax avoidance cost taxpayers $100 billion last year. We're working to close the loopholes that allow companies to avoid paying the taxes they owe.
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    Take Action
  • Reclaim Democracy
    The Supreme Court's Citizens United decision ushered in an era of unprecedented spending by big money in our elections, but we're working to return our democracy back to the principle of "one person, one vote."
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    ADD YOUR VOICE

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