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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.

Report | Iowa PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Bigger Banks, Bigger Fees

We conducted inquiries at 250 banks and 116 credit union branches in 17 states and the District of Columbia and reviews banks fees online in order to determine whether or not banks are complying with the Truth and Savings Act - which requires disclosure of account fees to prospective customers.

Report | Iowa PIRG Education Fund and Demos | Democracy

Megaphones for Millionaires: A Post-Election Analysis of Outside Spending in 2012

A new analysis of data through Election Day from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and other sources by Iowa PIRG and Demos shows how big outside spenders drowned out small contributions in 2012: just 61 large donors to Super PACs giving on average $4.7 million each matched the $285.1 million in grassroots contributions from more than 1,425,500 small donors to the major party presidential candidates.

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.

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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Media Hit | Safe Energy

MidAmerican gives an expensive sales pitch

Article by opinion columnist, Rekha Basu, with the Des Moines Register discussing the potential pitfalls of forceing ratepayers to front the bill for new nuclear power plants in Iowa. This article provides the "sales pitch" by MidAmerican Energy, but questions whether or not the "pitch" will or should hold the confidence of Iowa's consumers.

News Release | Iowa PIRG Education Fund | Democracy

Tracking Down Secrect Campaign Funds Spent in Super PACs

Today Iowa PIRG Education Fund and Demos released a new analysis of the funding sources for the campaign finance behemoths, Super PACs. The findings confirmed what many have predicted 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.

Media Hit | Safe Energy

Regulators Critize Nuclear Plant Cost Idea

Iowa utility regulators shared critisisms of Iowa's nuclear CWIP legislation, HF 561, that echoed the concerns of consumer advocacy groups like Iowa PIRG and AARP.

News Release | Iowa PIRG Ed Fund | Democracy, Tax

Wells Fargo One of the 'Dirty Thirty'

With the second anniversary approaching of the Supreme Court case Citizens United rapidly approaching – it is clear that the floodgates to corporate political spending are open, and that Fortune 500 Companies are taking full advantage. A report released today by Iowa PIRG Education Fund and Citizens for Tax Justice reveals 30 of our nations most profitable corporations that spent more to lobby Congress than they did in taxes.

Media Hit | Consumer Protection

Obama made right appointment

Iowa PIRG Advocate Letter to the Editor on the confirmation of Richard Cordray as the new head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

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Report | Iowa PIRG Education Fund | Budget, Consumer Protection, Food, Tax

Apples to Twinkies: Comparing Federal Subsidies of Fresh Produce and Junk Food

The rise in childhood obesity has many causes, but one of the most important is the increased prevalence of high-fat, heavily sweetened junk food. And shockingly, American taxpayers are spending billions to subsidize junk food ingredients, making the problem worse.

Report | Iowa PIRG | Budget, Consumer Protection, Tax

Toward Common Ground: Bridging the Political Divide

To break through the ideological divide that has dominated Washington this past year and offer a pathway to address the nation's fiscal problems, the National Taxpayers Union and U.S. PIRG joined together to identify mutually acceptable deficit reduction. This report documents our findings.

Report | US PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Ten Reasons Why We Need the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Now

This report outlines predatory financial practices that hurt consumers and helped collapse the economy, costing us eight million jobs, millions of foreclosed homes and trillions of dollars in lost home and retirement values. It explains these and other emerging problems as “10 Reasons We Need The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Now.”

Report | Iowa PIRG Education Fund | Health Care

Building a Better Health Care Marketplace

One of the most important elements in last year’s health care reform law is the creation of new state-based health insurance marketplaces called exchanges. If states create a strong exchange, consumers will reap the benefits as insurers compete for their business, lowering costs and improving quality.

Report | Iowa PIRG | Health Care

Building a Better Health Care Marketplace: Designing a Consumer-Friendly Exchange

The earlier briefs in this series have laid out the important steps states must take to create a strong, stable exchange. But even if the state ensures that its exchange is fair and effective, if it is not easy to use and trusted by consumers, eligible enrollees won’t materialize.

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Connecting Iowa to a Prosperous Future

Creating quality jobs, reducing traffic congestion & connecting Iowa to the rest of the Midwest, we can't let the passenger rail pass us by.

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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
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
BUILDING A BETTER HEALTH CARE MARKETPLACE

Now the fight for health care reform is in Iowa.

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Your support will help us do the research, advocacy and grassroots organizing that it will take to connect Iowa to future with the Midwest passenger rail.

Priority Action

We can bring Iowans closer together and connected to major metro centers from Omaha to Chicago and beyond, we just need to make sure Governor Branstad to gets on board.

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