Blog

Who Owns Big Oil? We Do!

Monday, April 23, 2012

Democracy Advocate

The American Petroleum Institute has a new public image campaign: http://whoownsbigoil.org. The purpose of this website, presumably, is to convince us that if we raise taxes on hugely profitable corporations we will only be hurting ourselves. Why? Because we are all shareholders of those corporations and when they are taxed we suffer.

While I am skeptical of API’s conclusions, it’s right to say we own the oil companies. In fact, shareholders across the country are demanding accountability and disclosure from the corporations that they rightfully own and the effort could be the key to slowing the flow of corporate money in the 2012 election.

Democracy

House launches latest "hypocritical" campaign to kill CFPB

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

By | Ed Mierzwinski

Consumer Program Director

Today the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services will vote on a budget package that eliminates the budgetary independence of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) -- an effort to make it the only bank regulator subject to the political chicanery of the Appropriations process -- while simultaneously slashing its budget by 60%. Even the industry trade paper American Banker says: "Is GOP Push to Subject CFPB to Appropriations Hypocritical?"

Consumer Protection

FDA Sets Voluntary Limits of Antibiotic in Animal Feed, But What Does This Really Mean?

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

By | Nasima Hossain

Public Health Advocate

The Food and Drug Administration announced last Wednesday that it had finalized a plan asking drug companies to voluntarily limit the use of certain antibiotics in animal feed.

Food

U.S., States Sue Apple, Publishers Over E-Book Price Conspiracy

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

By | Ed Mierzwinski

Consumer Program Director

Today, the U.S. Attorney General and the Attorney Generals of Connecticut and Texas announced settlements with several publishers -- Hachette Book Group, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins --over an alleged conspiracy with Apple and other publishers to attack Amazon's pricing model, secretly set e-book prices and thereby harm consumers. However, Apple and the publishers Macmillan and Penguin Group USA have refused to settle and are being sued by the agencies.