July 2, 2009 | Posted by John M. Simpson
The U.S. Justice Department is serious about probing the Google Books settlement for possible anti-trust violations. Consumer Watchdog was one of the first organizations to ask the department to investigate.
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March 20, 2009 | Jamie Court
The president talked and joked easily with America from Jay Leno's couch last night, as close to a fire side chat as it gets in these times. Leno is no Jon Stewart but Obama did offer some clues as to where his financial regulatory approach is going.
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March 19, 2009 | Posted by Jamie Court
After Enron's fraud on California during the 2001 electricity crisis
became clear, a lot of politicians felt they had to give back their
Enron contributions. Our consumer group was the beneficiary of a few
of those returned dollars, since we fought the energy industry's
deregulation schemes. Now Open Secrets reports AIG's contributions,
from employees and related political action committees, to federal
lawmakers totaled $9.3 million over the last decade, with an exact
50%-50% split between Democrats and Republicans. AIG sure knows how to
hedge its bets.
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March 18, 2009 | Posted by Jamie Court
A newspaper reporter just called to ask about the state of privacy
under electronic medical records, which will now be spreading thanks to
$20 billion in the federal economic stimulus plan. Electronic medical
records can help avoid medical mistakes, like those suffered by Dennis Quaid's newborn twins, but the privacy protections under the stimulus bill need to improve.
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March 16, 2009 | Posted by Jamie Court
President Obama has told Treasury Secretary Geithner to "pursue every legal avenue" to block $165 million in bonuses to American International Group executives. Come on, this isn't rocket science, it's derivative trading. Here's a simple way to get the job done without filing a lawsuit.
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Recent Articles:
Justice Is Probing Google's Book Deal
By Alex Pham, LOS ANGELES TIMES
July 3, 2009
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Consumer Group Calls For FBI Probe Of AIG
By Wire Reports, UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL (UPI)
March 18, 2009
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AIG Bonuses Should Be Delivered by FBI, Consumer Watchdog Says
CONTACT: Jamie Court, (310) 392-0522 ext. 327; or Doug Heller, ext. 309
March 16, 2009
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Dinners, Trips, Concerts Are Perks Of The Capitol
By Steven Harmon, CONTRA COSTA TIMES
March 15, 2009
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Beer Keg, Lakers Tickets, Wine Lodge Trip Among Gifts To OC Lawmakers
By Brian Joseph, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
March 11, 2009
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