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Do Airport Screenings Really Make Us Safer?

Body scanThe Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has been taking a beating lately over its new, full-body X-Ray imaging scanners that show people naked. People are concerned about both the humiliation of the procedure and the extra doses of X-rays they get from these scanners, but travelers who refuse to be scanned must submit to a TSA "enhanced pat-down," which now involves a newer, more aggressive policy: frisking with the front of the hand instead of the back of the hand, and feeling people's crotches and women's bras. These more invasive practices are leading the public from skepticism to rage and outright resistance to the new procedures, and for good reason, since TSA's track record of facilitating crime against travelers arguably far outstrips the amount of crime the agency has prevented.

Bust the Banksters November 18-24!

Our friends at National People's Action (NPA) are planning another "Showdown" with big banks across the nation.

When Wall Street crashed the economy in 2008, it cost America eight million jobs and five million homes. A quarter of American families are underwater with their mortgages and four million more families may lose their homes. Despite widespread anger at the big banks, they aren’t getting the message. They continue to fraudulently foreclose on millions of families in order to keep paying out record bonuses to their top executives. They continue to back the predatory payday loan industry with over 1.5 billion dollars of credit. This cannot last.

Join NPA, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and dozens of other groups as they protest the big banks in a series of actions across the nation November 18-24. See a full list of actions here and plan one for your neck of the woods soon.

Take Action to Save Unemployment Insurance!

Save Unemployment Insurance!In December, two million Americans will lose their Unemployment Insurance unless Congress acts. Millions more will follow. Congress is about to make a choice that will define this moment in history: either support those unemployed by the recession or give tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires. Let them know you are watching. This week you can call your Senator toll free 866-606-1189 or send an email by clicking here. Tell Congress that Unemployment Insurance benefits are a vital lifeline for families and communities in these tough times.

Whopper, Indeed: Republicans More Responsible for Green Outsourcing

Wind turbinesAs part of our “Whoppers of the 2010 Election Cycle” article, we noted how Republicans ran misleading ads accusing their Democratic opponents of creating jobs in China by supporting the stimulus package. Not only did these ads completely twist the facts, but it was disingenuous for Republicans candidates to accuse Democrats of sending jobs to China when GOP members opposed the “Buy American” provisions that would have prevented this offshoring. Here, we discuss how the GOP’s sustained opposition to meaningful climate and energy legislation played a larger role in sending green jobs overseas than a vote for the stimulus.

Pants on Fire: the Whoppers of the 2010 Elections

pants on fireThroughout the course of the 2010 Congressional midterm campaigns, candidates threw out countless fibs, questionable assertions, whoppers and half-truths. These are our candidates for the most misleading campaign ads of 2010, what are yours?

Big Lie #1: Health Care Reform Guts Medicare

In a nationally coordinated effort, Republicans and pro-Republican groups attacked Democrats for supporting the Affordable Care Act (ACA), making misleading allegations that the health care reform bill will lead to cuts in Medicare benefits. Many of the ads came from "outside interest groups" like Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS, the 60 Plus Association and Americans For Prosperity, who ran nearly identical ads across the country. Attacks also came from "official" Republican groups like the Senate Conservatives Fund and the National Republican Congressional Committee, as well as candidates themselves.

Pillage and Plunder Alert – Deficit Commission Gets Underway

Erskine Bowles and Alan SimpsonWatch out, they're coming. After an election cycle in which Republicans worked themselves into a lather in an attempt to convince voters that the deficit was the source of all their economic woes, the political elites and their Bankster backers are coming for the middle class. What better time for us to start a new publication -- "Pillage and Plunder Alert"? And what better inaugural event than the release of the draft report prepared by the co-chairs of the Presidential Deficit Commission?

Natural Gas and Money, a "Bacteria that Ills the American System"

Money, plain and simple, is what Salon.com blogger Glenn Greenwald called "the bacteria that ills the American political system" in a talk given at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on November 3, 2010. Indeed, when looking at issues individually, one can see that this is obviously the case, whether it be health care, Wall Street, war, or on national security issues. It's all the same and he who pays the piper calls the tune.

Should anyone be surprised, then, that every statewide race in Pennsylvania, a state in which there are no limits on campaign contributions, was ruthlessly barraged by campaign money from oil companies? If you're surprised, you clearly haven't had your eyes open during other election cycles.

Take Action! Tell Elizabeth Warren about Your Top Priorities for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

The sweeping Wall Street reform bill that was signed into law this summer calls for the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Just like other consumer regulators work to keep dangerous products off the market, the CFPB’s job is to make sure financial products and services don’t harm consumers or our economy.

Elizabeth WarrenThis summer, almost 3,000 subscribers to our BanksterUSA action alerts signed a petition to President Obama asking him to appoint Elizabeth Warren to head the new bureau. On September 17th, the President appointed Warren to get the bureau on its feet and running. The new agency has not yet opened its doors, but we wanted to give Warren and the new staff a little guidance on what Americans think the agency’s top priorities should be as it begins its work.

Here at CMD, we work closely with the reform coalition Americans for Financial Reform (AFR). We hope you will take the AFR survey to let us know what consumer financial issues you think the new agency should tackle first and we will make sure the survey results are put on Professor Warren’s desk.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY

Despite 2006 "Pledge," Fast Food Companies Target Kids More Than Ever

Fast foodIn response to growing pressure about promoting unhealthy food to kids and contributing to the obesity epidemic, the fast food industry did what every industry that produces a harmful product does: it pledged to voluntarily end the harmful practices that started drawing scrutiny to the industry. Accordingly, in 2006 the Council of Better Business Bureaus launched its Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), a voluntary code of conduct under which fast food purveyors pledged to promote healthier food choices in their advertising, and to use messages encouraging good nutrition in ads aimed at kids.

As with other voluntary corporate codes, the CFBAI has proven more effective at staving off regulation of the fast food industry than protecting kids from predatory advertising and marketing practices. Since signing onto the Initiative, the fast food industry has found many ways to evade its purported intent and promote their unhealthy foods to kids more than ever.

Supreme Court Considers Corporate Right to Mandatory Arbitration

United States Supreme CourtThe U.S. Supreme Court may continue its march towards permitting greater corporate "rights" in the case AT&T Mobility vs. Concepcion, scheduled for oral argument on Tuesday. If the Court sides with the telecom giant, it will greatly weaken rules regarding an individual's right to join class-action lawsuits, one of the most powerful legal tools available to citizens and consumers.

Class actions allow everyday Americans to join together and bring a single lawsuit in cases of widespread violations of individual rights. These suits are particularly useful when individual damages are relatively small, making it difficult or cost-prohibitive to bring an individual suit. A class action lawsuit allows wronged persons to band together, thereby making their claims more effective and efficient. Such aggregated lawsuits aim at deterring corporate misconduct regarding misleading consumer practices, unfair hiring practices, product defects, toxic pollution, civil rights violations, and other abuses. Class action suits have been highlighted in popular culture in films like Michael Clayton, (which dealt with a corporation’s violent reaction to a class action lawsuit filed by persons sickened by health effects from its lethal pesticides) or Erin Brockovich, involving a class-action suit against the world's largest utility company for contaminating the water supply with cancer-causing chemicals.

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