Archive for December, 2009

December30

Some holiday reading

By:

Want an in-depth look at the legislative struggle for financial reform in Congress? Read this excellent article from the Huffington Post’s Laura Bassett, Jeff Muskus and Elyse Siegel. It’s chock full of revealing eye-openers that show why passing strong financial regulation to rein in Wall Street is so difficult. 

The authors show that the revolving door between the lobbying industry and Congress sustains a culture of pandering to big business interests that at the same time marginalizes the progressives who fight for stronger reforms.

It’s a must-read for all who care about financial reform, and it provides an insightful case study for why we need campaign finance reform to prevent our elected representatives from being bought and sold. (And it’s sure to provide some lessons we’ll need to apply in the fast-approaching fight for strong financial reform legislation in the Senate).

Posted in: Campaign Finance, Congress, Consumer Protection0 comments

December22

Happy holidays from Public Citizen!

By: Editor

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Whether it was pushing for health care reform, reigning in Wall Street or keeping dangerous prescription pills off the market, Public Citizen’s researchers, analysts and lobbyists have been on the front lines, standing up to corporate power and holding government accountable.

We don’t have deep corporate pockets backing us like our opponents do (Public Citizen maintains its fierce independence by not taking any corporate or government money), but what we do have is the support of our members, activists and people like you. You’ve answered the call time and time again by signing our petitions, calling your members of Congress and giving what you can during these tough economic times.

We could not do our work without your support. So, from all of us at Public Citizen, thank you and happy holidays! Please help us continue protecting health, safety and democracy, contribute today.

Posted in: Activism, Campaign Finance, Climate Change, Congress, Consumer Protection, Energy, Environment, Ethics, Health, Internet Free Speech, Litigation, Nuclear Power, Open Government, Pharmaceuticals, Product Safety, Social Justice, Texas, Trade, Transportation2 comments

December18

Tamiflu is a scamiflu

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The antiflu drug Tamiflu may be flying off the shelves, but there is little evidence that it is effective.

In an article posted free for a week on our WorstPills.org site, Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, explains why. Basically, the only research conducted on Tamiflu has been done by Roche, the drug’s maker, which of course has a huge stake in showing that the drug does wonders for you if you have the flu.

The company claims that it reduces hospital admissions, bronchitis and pneumonia. But an investigation by the British Medical Journal and British Channel 4 concluded that such claims were meritless.

What is needed, Dr. Wolfe says, is an independent review of the raw data.

Posted in: Consumer Protection, Health, Pharmaceuticals, Product Safety0 comments

December17

Myth about Texas health care system debunked

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You’ve probably heard members of Congress spouting off lately about how the imposition of caps on medical malpractice payouts in Texas has been so great.

Well, those lawmakers are wrong.  Public Citizen today released a report showing that the caps have failed to improve the health care system.

Not only has the percentage of uninsured people in Texas increased — remaining the highest in the country, with a quarter of Texans now uninsured — but the cost of health insurance in Texas has more than doubled.

So no, we don’t want to do as Texas did.

Posted in: Consumer Protection, Health, Texas1 comments

December17

More than 125,500 tell Chamber of Commerce: Stop protecting rapists!

By: Editor

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Jamie Leigh Jones

That’s right, more than 125,500 signed our petition to demand an end to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s lobbying against Sen. Franken’s (D-Minn.) amendment to bar defense contractors like Halliburton/KBR from forcing employees with sexual assault and discrimination claims into arbitration.

Public Citizen, along with MoveOn.org, National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, Consumer Action, Workplace Fairness, National Association of Consumer Advocates, Take Back Your Rights PAC, Alliance for Justice and the Jamie Leigh Foundation, sent the following petition to U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue:

Defense contractors routinely force their employees to give up their legal rights to press charges if they are sexually assaulted on the job. I urge the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to stop lobbying in favor of this terrible practice and to stop protecting rapists.

It’s a horrifying story that began with Jamie Leigh Jones’ rape and subsequent denial of justice. Sen. Franken championed the amendment on behalf of Jones and others like her, and the grassroots support from Public Citizen and others was impossible to ignore. 

Now the amendment is on its way to restoring victims’ rights against and defense contractors’ shadowy attempts to conceal these injustices.

If the Franken amendment passes in the defense funding bill, it means that U.S. contractors must allow victims of sexual assault and discrimination to take their claims to court – a right that has been systematically denied to them through a forced arbitration clause slipped into their employment contracts (along with workers in numerous other sectors ).

Finally, workers who are victims of these injustices will be able hold the defense contractors who employ them accountable.

Nevertheless, the fight is far from over for the millions of other workers, consumers, home owners, patients and others who are e stripped of  their right to go to court just by using a product or service, or taking a job.

Nobody should have to give up their right to go to court if harmed by a company as a condition for a contract. Congress now needs to pass the Arbitration Fairness Act  (H.R. 1020 / S. 931) and end forced arbitration once and for all.

Posted in: Uncategorized0 comments

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