Change has become a buzzword lately. Both presidential candidates promise change if elected.
But can the stranglehold that special interests have over Washington, D.C., be broken? Watch Joan Claybrook, Public Citizen’s president, give the answer tonight on Bill Moyers Journal. The show runs at 9 p.m. Eastern time.
Do you take Avandia for your diabetes? If you do, you might want to talk to your doctor. Public Citizen has filed a petition with the FDA asking that the drug be pulled from the market because it can cause liver failure and has many other life-threatening risks. Even the American Diabetes Association and European Association for the Study of Diabetes have warned patients against the drug. Learn more.
We’ve heard for a while that politics trumps science for this administration. But today, proof emerged that it’s true.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee (thank you, Rep. Henry Waxman) issued a report showing that the Bush administration has pulled out the stops to shield drug companies from liability for dangerous drugs, leaving patients out in the cold. Here we have clear documentation of how the White House hijacked an agency and forced it to undermine its own mission.
Thousands of Public Citizen’s supporters signed a petition demanding that AIG return the $534,000 executives spent to pamper themselves, and we are sending it this week. But, clearly, AIG isn’t the only culprit when it comes to spending lavishly while receiving a taxpayer bailout. So who’s the second villain we’re targeting in our campaign?
While this investment bank faced bankruptcy and asked the federal government for a bailout, it arranged to pay executives millions of dollars in bonuses.
U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) appears to have abused his franking privileges and violated U.S. House of Representative rules against using taxpayer funds to pay for political mailers promoting himself within 90 days of the general election, Public Citizen charged today in a complaint filed with the House Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards.
Members of Congress are allowed to distribute mass mailings to their constituents at taxpayer expense touting their legislative records (“franked” mail), but not within 90 days of an election. A bipartisan Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards, known as the “Franking Commission,” is responsible for oversight and regulation of the franking privilege in the House of Representatives. Continue Reading »
