Archive for November, 2009

November24

Black Friday in the Great Recession

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As the smiling pundits chatter incessantly to maximize participation in the traditional post-Thanksgiving festival of mass consumption this year, Black Friday is emerging this year with exaggerated significance for those who equate the health of Wall Street with the health of America’s economy.

USA Today’s Wall Street-centric story today about Black Friday begins, “How frequently cash registers scream ka-ching on Black Friday and the rest of the holiday shopping season could determine if investors will continue to see profits in their stock portfolios.”

So let me get this straight. One year after the financial sector took our economy to the brink of collapse, we’re rooting for Wall Street’s success, which depends on the willingness of consumers to spend as much as they can – most likely more than they can afford, since that’s how the financial sector makes its money – during the worst economy in 26 years and while 10.2 percent are unemployed? Sounds like some seriously misplaced priorities.

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Posted in: Activism, Congress1 comments

November20

Try a GM car for 60 Days. If you don’t like it, we’ll just call you up and ask why

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GM’s 60-day return offer will close out at the end of November. The message – may the best car win – would be a good way to re-introduce GM to the American people. But the New GM looks a lot like the Old GM: “no strings attached” apparently doesn’t include red tape.

GM offered new car buyers a chance to try out a GM vehicle for what it presented as an extended test drive. Come in, get a GM vehicle, try it for 60 days, and if you don’t like it, you can bring it back. At least, that was the idea.

But click through to the Details and Limitations, and you’ll discover why less than 0.1 percent of consumers who bought a car through this program returned it. To return the car successfully you must have kept it for at least 30 days and “Your Eligible Vehicle must have no more than $200 of damage as determined by GM or GM’s agent. Such damage may include, without limitation, internal or external scratches, scrapes, dents, odors, rips, burns, etc.”

So that’s at least 30 days of wear and tear, and GM gets to decide whether the scratches and “odors” that your car has accumulated in that time cost more than $200, based on criteria it did not disclose. Oh, and “GM’s agent” that does those return inspections is GM’s insurance company.

Don’t like the assessment that the GM inspector made of how much damage has been done to your car? You’ll have to take it up in arbitration. Then a company of GM’s choosing will make a determination about whether the inspection has been conducted fairly.

Oh, and if you did manage to jump through the hoops and return the car, the global VP for engineering will personally call you and ask why.

This is no way to re-introduce GM to the American people. Unless the message is: We’re still the same company.

Lena Pons is a transportation policy analyst for Public Citizen.

Flickr photo by cobalt123.

Posted in: Consumer Protection, Transportation0 comments

November19

Shame on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

By: Editor

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By now, you’ve probably heard about the story of Jamie Leigh Jones. In 2005, she was working for a Halliburton subsidiary in Iraq when she was gang-raped by coworkers. Four years later, Jamie is still being denied justice.

Jamie can’t pursue justice in criminal court because the rape took place overseas, and a forced arbitration clause in her contract takes away her right to file a lawsuit in the U.S. Big corporations, led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have worked for years to prevent workers from suing their employers in almost any circumstance, even sexual assault, by inserting forced arbitration language into their contracts. No one should ever be forced into arbitration just by taking a job.

Sign our petition telling the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to stop opposing the rights of rape and discrimination victims!

Concerned activists like you helped urge lawmakers to pass Sen. Al Franken’s (D-Minn.) amendment to the Department of Defense Appropriations Bill (H.R. 3326). The Franken Amendment would prevent defense contractors from requiring their employees to sign away their rights, ending once-and-for-all the practice of covering up sexual assault and discrimination claims by forcing them into arbitration.

But, shockingly, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is fighting the Franken Amendment. It sent a letter to Congress saying that it would “set a dangerous precedent” to allow rape victims into court. Sign our petition telling the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to stop opposing the rights of victims of rape and discrimination! Go to http://www.fairarbitrationnow.org.

Jamie has teamed up with organizations like Public Citizen, MoveOn.org, and others to end this injustice. Congress is still finalizing the defense appropriations bill, and considering whether to keep the Franken Amendment. Meanwhile the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is waging a massive lobbying campaign.

Don’t let the Chamber of Commerce kill the Franken Amendment! Stand up for victims of sexual assault and discrimination. Then, forward this petition to your friends so we can deliver a strong message to the Chamber of Commerce and Congress.

Posted in: Activism, Congress, Social Justice5 comments

November19

Standing up to Wall Street in Indianapolis

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Activists in Indianapolis, Indiana rallied in front of Chase Bank today to call for financial reform that puts people before Wall Street profits. After the event, they took their message to the nearby local office of Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) (who, according to our new report, has received $345,420 in donations from the financial industry between November ’08 and June ’09). Click here to send a message to your senators on the need to rein in the greed gone wild on Wall Street.

Organizer Ronetta Spalding said, “It was a great awareness event. We delivered a letter to the branch manager and copied their CEO Jamie Dimon before heading to Sen. Bayh’s office with a few materials. Good stuff.”

Pay attention, Congress. The people are fed up with the bail outs and give aways to the corporate financial sector. It’s time to listen to the public’s demands for transparency, oversight and accountability. It’s time to stand with the people, not the big banks.

Posted in: Activism, Congress1 comments

November19

A matter of trust broken: The revolving door into the financial services industry

By:

Holman

Of the many tools available to special interests for influence peddling on Capitol Hill, few are as powerful and expensive as the increasingly pernicious problem of the “revolving door” – defined as the spinning of government officials between public service and the industries they are charged with regulating.

The exorbitantly wealthy financial services industry fully realizes that the best way to buy influence over government regulations is to employ – at very lucrative salaries – those government officials intimately involved in the regulatory process.

Public Citizen today has released a report documenting that more than 900 former federal employees, including 70 former members of Congress, have gone to work as lobbyists for the banks and financial services industry this year. It is no coincidence that the revolving door to the financial services is spinning wildly out of control exactly at the same time that Congress and the White House are grappling with the most comprehensive regulatory proposals for that industry seen since the New Deal.

This financial services revolving door threatens the integrity of government in at least three ways:

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Posted in: Congress, Ethics0 comments

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