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

Supreme Court Rejects Opportunity to Revisit Citizens United

Today the  Supreme Court passed on the opportunity to revisit its disastrous 2010 Citizens United decision which is wreaking havoc on democracy and it has done so in a way that avoids giving the American public a much deserved explanation.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG | Food

SENATE TO VOTE ON FARM BILL AND GIVEAWAYS TO BIG AG

U.S. PIRG is disappointed in the Senate’s approval of the 2012 Farm Bill, which will send tens of billions of taxpayer dollars to Big Ag. Nasima Hossain, U.S. PIRG public health advocate, releases statement on the Senate Vote today on the 2012 Farm Bil.

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Media Hit | Consumer Protection

NYTimes Editorial: Debit Cards on Campus

According to a study by the United States Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, an advocacy organization, nearly 900 colleges and universities have card relationships with banks or other financial institutions, some of which manage student aid disbursements by turning student IDs into debit cards.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

CFPB launches searchable credit card complaint database today | Ed Mierzwinski

Joining agencies that regulate cars, toys and other consumer products, medical devices and airline service, today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rolls out a searchable online complaint database. The CFPB's new tool, for credit cards to start,  comes in the nick of time to help consumers who the LA Times warns may be tricked into automatically signing up for an over-priced junky Citibank add-on monitoring service.

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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 Education Fund | Higher Ed

Department of Education Rule to Rein in Abuse at For-Profit Colleges Doesn’t Go Far Enough

Yesterday, the US Department of Education took the first step in reining in abusive practices at for-profit colleges which pile deep debt onto their students in exchange for questionable credentials.  It issued a new rule that sets a standard for these schools: their programs have to ensure graduates can earn enough to pay off the hefty student loans they must carry to pay for their enrollment.

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

6 Reform Groups Support the Letter of 25 Representatives in Favor of President Obama’s Proposed Transparency Executive Order

Yesterday Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), Michael Capuano (D-Mass.), and 23 others, wrote a letter to President Obama expressing their strong support for the April 13 draft executive order to require full disclosure of campaign spending and contributions by business entities that seek federal government contracts.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG | Food

House Committee Approves Cut to Agriculture Subsidies

Every year, billions of taxpayer dollars are directed toward agribusiness -- artificially driving down the cost of fats and sugars by subsidizing commodity crops like corn and soybeans. Meanwhile, the prices of fruits and vegetables, grown with relatively little government support, have steadily increased by nearly 40% in the past 20 years.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Financial Reform

OCC Again Chooses Interests of Banks Over Consumers and States

A broad coalition of more than 250 consumer advocacy and civil rights groups are protesting yesterday’s announcement by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) that it will largely ignore a key mandate of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act passed by Congress last year in response to the financial scandals that brought on the nation’s worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Instead, the OCC will continue to give national banks a blank check to violate state rules against unfair and predatory practices.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG | Financial Reform

Two Years After Passing the Credit CARD Act, Congress Steps Up Attacks on Consumer Cop Designed to Enforce It

The Credit CARD Act of 2009 has eliminated numerous credit card tricks and traps without causing skyrocketing interest rates or any of the other horrible side-effects that the banks once warned about.  Now the banks and their Congressional allies are seeking to eliminate the CFPB, the new consumer cop created to enforce the CARD Act and protect consumers from other tricks of the trade, like unfair mortgage and overdraft practices.

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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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