Privacy

Supporters ante up big bucks for ballot;

August 2, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Over $23 million spent so far to back governor's measures</h3><p class="source">The San Francisco Chronicle</p> <p>Doug Heller, who heads Arnold Watch, a project of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, said the governor's latest financial statements reveal not only a fund-raising flurry, but also "a striking expenditure of money in the off season" unparalleled in state political history.</p>

Council agrees to track measure

August 2, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Pasadena Star-News</p> <p>"It is a misuse of public funds. No city has the right to pay the criminal fees of a politician," said Carmen Balber, a consumer advocate with the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, the group that wrote the initiative.</p>

Senate Banking Committee Endorses Cox

July 28, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">CFO.com</p> <p>The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights reportedly criticized Cox's testimony about his work in the 1980s as a private lawyer for First Pension Corp., a former pension-funds administrator. The group reportedly asserted that Cox omitted "important facts about the extent of his involvement with companies that perpetrated a $130 million fraud on small investors," reported Reuters.</p>

Despite controversies, Governor’s fund-raising team carries on

July 21, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Associated Press</p> <p>"If this is not a violation of the law - which it might be - it's certainly a violation of the spirit of the law," said Carmen Balber, from the nonprofit Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. "The governor is fund-raising for his political committees and then pocketing some of that cash. That's not right."</p>

Muscle king’s rise and stumble;

July 17, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>The governor's climb to fame was closely connected to the supplement industry and its magazines.</h3><p class="source">Sacramento Bee</p> <p>"By working for the magazines, Arnold is working for the magazines' paymasters," Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights Executive Director Doug Heller said last week, before the governor relinquished his title.</p>

Schwarzenegger Is Drawing Fire For an Ad Deal

July 15, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The New York Times</p> <p>Douglas Heller, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, said the governor sold out the public interest to protect the ad revenues in his magazine.</p>

Coming Clean

July 15, 2005  ·  Doug Heller

<font face="verdana,sans-serif" size="2">Arnold did the right thing this afternoon by severing his multi-million dollar contract with the muscle mags. But the fact that Arnold's team defiantly defended the deal yesterday indicates he's...</font>

Supplementary Income

July 14, 2005  ·  Doug Heller

<font face="verdana,sans-serif" size="2">Arnold told voters he was so rich that he didn't need anyone else's money; he could be trusted not to be corrupted. Well, disclosures in today's papers and filings with the Securities and...</font>

Governor pumps up lobby group;

July 14, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>With a bill pending, he backs the dietary supplement industry</h3><p class="source">Sacramento Bee</p> <p>Deepening his personal involvement in an industry that has business pending at the Capitol, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger earlier this year helped dietary supplement companies launch a lobbying group.</p>

Monitoring Malcontents;

July 14, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Why do the governor's critics keep finding themselves targets of strange police scrutiny?</h3><p class="source">The San Francisco Bay Guardian</p> <p>"That's something no one has ever explained to our satisfaction," Carmen Balber, a consumer advocate with the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, told us. Balber said she made numerous calls to the LASD over a 10-day period immediately following the two incidents, and filed a complaint.</p>

Drug firms arming for battle at ballot box;

July 13, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>$43 million in past month alone given to fight stringent prescription discounts</h3><p class="source">The San Francisco Chronicle</p> <p>"The drug companies are putting their cannon at the top of the hill and daring the unions to climb it," said Jamie Court, president of Santa Monica's FTCR. "The money is a deterrent, designed to convince union and consumer groups not to further fund their initiative."</p>

Stem cell committee takes steps to increase disclosure

July 12, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Regulations don't go as far as other state agencies</h3><p class="source">Sacramento Bee</p> <p>Jerry Flanagan, Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights spokesman, issued a statement criticizing the new rules and pointing out that 10 of the 29 oversight committee members have holdings or serve on boards of biotech firms.</p>