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News Release | Iowa PIRG Education Fund | Democracy

Secretive, Out of State Donors Dominate Election in Iowa

Over 96% of campaign donations for Iowa’s Congressional races came from out of state funders, according to a report released today by the Iowa Public Interest Research Group (Iowa PIRG). The report, entitled, “Billion Dollar Democracy: The Unprecedented Role of Money in the 2012 Elections,” examined the deep pocket spending by Super PACs and other non-party entities in the 2012 campaign cycle.

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Blog Post | Ed's Blog

FTC SEEKS INFORMATION FROM DATA BROKERS | Ed Mierzwinski

Today, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued nine administrative orders seeking information to analyze the "Data Broker Industry’s Collection and Use of Consumer Data." The questions being asked track closely the questions posed both in a forthcoming U.S. PIRG/Center for Digital Democracy law review article and in similar information requests from the Bi-Partisan Congressional Privacy Caucus.

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Blog Post | Ed's Blog

CFPB'S #2 IS LEAVING, REPLACEMENT MUST MEET STANDARDS TO BECOME #1 | Ed Mierzwinski

The industry trade press is all a-flutter with demands that when CFPB Deputy Director Raj Date leaves, that be replaced with what they characterize as "another" bank-friendly regulator when he leaves. Raj Date wasn't selected as CFPB special advisor and then deputy director because he had a banking background; he was selected because his additional consumer background made him qualified to become director.

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Blog Post | Ed's Blog

GROUPS CRITICIZE FTC USED CAR RULE AND OTHER FINANCIAL FOLLIES | Ed Mierzwinski

Americans for Financial Reform and other leading groups slammed a proposed new FTC Used Car Rule for failing to protect consumers and ignoring advice of advocates and state attorneys general. Meanwhile, in case you missed it, find out why an alleged financial fraudster was featured on the New York Times baseball page and read other financial follies of the week.

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Report | Iowa PIRG Education Fund | Budget, Tax

What America Could Do With $150 Billion Lost to Offshore Tax Havens

Many corporations and wealthy individuals use offshore tax havens—countries with minimal or no taxes—to avoid paying $150 billion in U.S. taxes each year. By shielding their income from U.S. taxes, corporations and wealthy individuals shift the tax burden to ordinary Americans, who must pick up the tab in the form of cuts to public services, more debt, or higher taxes. The $150 billion lost annually to offshore tax havens is a lot of money, especially at a time of difficult budget choices. To put this sum in perspective, we present 16 potential ways that income could be used.

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News Release | Iowa PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Big Banks Still Hiding Big Fees

A survey of hundreds of banks and credit unions in Iowa and 23 other states found that free checking remains available at more than 6 out of 10 small banks and credit unions but was only found at one-quarter of surveyed big banks (those with over $10 billion in deposits). The survey released today by the Iowa Public Interest Research Group also revealed that fewer than half of branches surveyed obeyed their legal duty to fully disclose fees to prospective customers on the first request, while 12% provided no fee information at all. 

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News Release | Iowa PIRG Education Fund and Demos | Democracy

Distorted Democracy: Big Money and Dark Money in the 2012 Elections

A new analysis of pre-election data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and other sources by Iowa PIRG and Demos shows that outside spending in the first presidential election since Citizens United is living up to its hype: new waves of “outside spending” have been fueled by dark money and unlimited fundraising from a small number of wealthy donors.

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Media Hit | Food

Unsafe food puts Americans at risk, new report says

Contaminated food sickened at least 17 Iowans in less than two years and cost the state more than $1.4 million, according to a new report.

Those illnesses and costs were linked directly to food recalls, according to the report from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, or PIRG.

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News Release | Iowa PIRG Education Fund | Food

Total Food Recall

Des Moines, October 30 – Despite government commitments to address the problem, food recalls are on the rise and our food safety systems are broken, according to a new report by U.S. PIRG.  Contaminated food makes 48 million Americans sick every year and costs over $77 billion in aggregated economic costs.  In Iowa over the last 21 months, 17 people were made sick from foodborne illnesses linked directly to food recalls and the cost was $1,410,845.

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Media Hit | Safe Energy

Hands off Muscatine County

Virtually everyone in the standing-room-only crowd of about 75 people who turned out to talk about Iowa’s energy future wanted the same thing — to stop MidAmerican Energy Company from building a nuclear plant near Wilton.

A nearly unanimous show of hands about halfway through Tuesday evening’s meeting in Muscatine made the crowd’s opposition clear.

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Report | Iowa PIRG Education Fund and Demos | Democracy

Million-Dollar Megaphones

Although each major party presidential candidate will likely break previous fundraising records, the big story of the 2012 election has been the role of Super PACs, nonprofits and outside spending generally.

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Report | Iowa PIRG Education Fund | Tax

Picking Up the Tab

Some U.S.-based multinational firms or individuals avoid paying U.S. taxes by transferring their earnings to tax haven countries with minimal or no taxes. These tax haven users benefit from their access to America’s markets, workforce, infrastructure and security; but they pay little or nothing for it—violating the basic fairness of the tax system and forcing other taxpayers to pick up the tab.

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Report | Iowa PIRG Education Fund | Transportation

Transportation and the New Generation

Youth in Iowa and accross the country have begun to shift their transportation preference our from behind the wheel, and towards alternative options. Increased dependence on transportation alternatives like public transit, biking, or passenger rail supports re-invisioned transportation policy solutions that reflect the needs of twenty-first century Iowa.

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Report | Iowa PIRG Education Fund | Democracy

Following the Money 2012

The ability to see how government uses the public purse is fundamental to democracy. Transparency in government spending promotes fiscal responsibility, checks corruption, and bolsters public confidence. In the past few years, state governments across the country have made their checkbooks transparent by creating online transparency portals.  These government-operated websites allow visitors to view the government's checkbook - who receives state money, how much, and for what purposes.

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Report | Iowa PIRG Education Fund | Democracy

Auctioning Democracy

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s damaging Citizens United decision: since their inception in 2010, Super PACs have been primarily funded by a small segment of very wealthy individuals and business interests, with a small but significant amount of funds coming from secret sources.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Today, CFPB to announce overdraft fee investigation, unveil "penalty box" disclosure, possibly end $39 lattes. | Ed Mierzwinski

Would you knowingly agree to pay a $35 fee each time you used your debit card at point of sale, simply to allow you to purchase a $4 latte with only $2 in your account? Even the banks didn't think so, that's why they made “standard overdraft protection” a feature of your checking account that you didn't need to choose.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Iowa PIRG Applauds CFPB Proposal to Regulate Biggest Credit Bureaus | Ed Mierzwinski

Last summer over 10,000 PIRG members submitted comments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) urging strict regulation of credit bureaus and credit scoring firms. We applaud the CFPB for its proposal today to subject the nation’s largest credit bureaus and credit scoring firms to full scrutiny as “larger participants” (CFPB pdf) in the financial marketplace."

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

Encouraging news on HUD/state AG settlement with big mortgage servicers | Ed Mierzwinski

The terms of the settlement, which was announced this morning, are at the page http://www.nationalmortgagesettlement.com. We are reading it now. Original: If I am reading the overnight news stories correctly (NY TIMES and Politico and Boston Globe), it appears that negotiators have clarified that the well-publicized settlement between HUD and state AGs and the nation's 5 largest mortgage servicers will not release the big banks from claims related to their activities with the mysterious entity known as MERS that aided and abetted their illegal foreclosures. If so, this is a big deal in ultimately holding the big banks fully accountable.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

CFPB's Cordray to Highlight Achievements/Goals Today In Senate | Ed Mierzwinski

The Senate Banking Committee will hold an oversight hearing today at 10 am (live video) on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's semi-annual report to Congress. The witness will be CFPB director Rich Cordray, who received a PIRG-backed recess appointment from the President on January 4th. Expect some CFPB opponents on the committee to boycott; others to show up.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

President’s Recess Appointment Gives Watchdog Teeth It Needs To Protect Consumers From Wall Street or Payday Lender Financial ShenanigansSonia Ashe

Kudos to President Obama for standing up for consumers this week by making a recess appointment of former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The President’s action means that the CFPB now has all its powers to protect the public from unfair financial practices, whether by banks or other financial firms, such as payday lenders and credit bureaus.

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