Insurance

Going Low Octane

February 21, 2006  ·  Jamie Court

<p class="source">Marketplace Morning Report (NPR Radio)</p> <p>The truth is, unless you're driving a higher performance car, or an old muscle car of the past, gas is gas. Oil companies' marketing claims over the need for higher octane fuel used to be ever bigger hooey. The Federal trade Commission stepped in the 1990s to force fairer representations. With oil companies now recording record profits, they have even more money to make bigger marketing boasts. But the truth is no different: Buy the cheapest gasoline you can find unless your automaker tells you otherwise.</p>

AUTO RATES COULD GO UP;

February 15, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Monterey County: Farm Bureau Opposes insurance changes</h3><p class="source">Monterey County Herald (California)</p> <p>The California state Department of Insurance and the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, which is advocating Garamendi's proposed changes, say the numbers are deceptive. "That's an incomplete study," said department spokesman Williams. "We did commission that study. When we completed it, the insurance industry itself told us the information was wrong."</p>

Pact Profits Family of Supervisor;

February 15, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Knabe's son lobbied for firm that won a county contract. His wife was then paid to throw bash.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>Said Doug Heller, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a nonpartisan group based in Santa Monica: "When his son is getting paid by the company and his wife is later paid by the company, it brings a real stink to the process."</p>

Mrs. Bayh’s directorship raises issue for some

February 14, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Indianapolis Star (Indiana)</p> <p>"Given that she has a high-profile role with the company and that this is a company that could benefit from the legislative actions of her husband, there is definitely a potential for a conflict of interest," said Alex Knott, political editor for the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan group in Washington. Watchdog organizations Public Citizen and the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights echoed those concerns.</p>

Prosper: The eBay of Loans?;

February 14, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>E-Loan co-founder Chris Larsen's online marketplace matches lenders and borrowers. Banks and "payday" outfits alike will be watching closely</h3><p class="source">BusinessWeek Online</p> <p>Some consumer advocates are already cheering. "I think this could be David's stone hitting the banking industry between the eyes," says Jamie Court, president of The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights, a nonprofit consumer-advocacy group in Santa Monica, Calif. "Chris is stripping the banks and other middlemen out of the business. It should be a huge, transformative event."</p>

Apple sued over $25 replacement fee for allegedly defective iPods

February 12, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> SAN JOSE, CA -- A consumer group has sued Apple Computer Inc., alleging the iPod nano player is defective because its screen is easily scratched and that the company is breaking its product warranty by charging $25 for replacements.</p> <p> The lawsuit by the Los Angeles-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights claims the pencil-thin nano introduced last fall cannot endure normal use without getting scratched to the point where it becomes unusable. The suit contends the Cupertino-based iPod maker should warn users accordingly.</p>

State may get stem-cell return

February 10, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>INSTITUTE'S BOARD TO CONSIDER SHARING 25% OF PROCEEDS FROM RESEARCH</h3><p class="source">The San Jose Mercury News</p> <p>John Simpson of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica also is encouraged by the proposed policy. But he thinks its language can be strengthened to ensure that any treatments derived from the stem-cell program are made available to Californians at low cost. And he disagrees with letting researchers earn $500,000 before having to give the state royalties.</p>

Auto insurance splits groups;

February 9, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Farm bureau says state proposal would cost drivers in rural areas more; consumer group backs plan</h3><p class="source">The Fresno Bee (California)</p> <p>Doug Heller with FTCR, said voters called for the industry to fairly apply insurance rates under Proposition 103 in 1988, and Garamendi has been trying to enact changes while facing industry opposition.</p>

Pasadena: Poster child for good government?

February 8, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Task force hashes out anti-corruption plan</h3><p class="source">Pasadena Star-News</p> <p>Carmen Balber, a consumer advocate with the watchdog group, said she opposes the exemption for nonprofits, saying it "opens a loophole for abuses." But, she added, the overall changes appear to uphold the voters' intent to crack down on influence peddling.</p>

Governor’s new chief of staff piles it on;

February 5, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Susan Kennedy now also is head campaigner </h3><p class="source">The San Francisco Chronicle</p> <p>"What's amazing is that you've got a situation where Schwarzenegger has become worse than Gray Davis,'' said Doug Heller, who runs the ArnoldWatch Web site on behalf of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. "It's almost like a Schwarzenegger movie where the hero kills the villain -- and takes over his personality.'' </p>

Ballot Fight Over Auto Insurance Is Averted

January 29, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>"I think they realized that nobody's interests would be served," said Rosenfield, who wrote Proposition 103 and leads the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. "We took their four initiatives very seriously, and I think they took ours very seriously."</p>

Health Care Confidential

January 27, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The New York Times</p> <p>Cries of "socialized medicine" didn't, in the end, succeed in blocking the creation of Medicare. And farsighted thinkers are already suggesting that the Veterans Health Administration, not President Bush's unrealistic vision of a system in which people go "comparative shopping" for medical care the way they do when buying tile, represents the true future of American health care. </p>