The retail industry has already politely asked Congress to please not roll back financial reforms involving debit card transactions, but as lawmakers on Capitol Hill inch closer to undoing these protections, retailers are once again voicing their concerns that undoing the 2010 law will lead to higher prices and hurt small businesses. [More]
Government Policy
Uber Drivers Accuse Cabs Of Poaching Their Customers
By 4.26.17
In a reversal of the normal narrative of the fight between ride-hailing app drivers and traditional taxi drivers, an organization of Uber drivers in Atlantic City is suing the companies that operate yellow cabs in the region, claiming that they’re stealing customers and transporting those customers without insurance coverage. [More]
FDA Issues New Warning On Giving Kids Codeine Or Tramadol
By 4.25.17
The Food and Drug Administration warned that cough and pain medications containing codeine or tramadol should not be given to children after reports that the drugs caused life-threatening breathing problems. [More]
Federal Appeals Court: After 11 Years, There’s No More Reason For Big Tobacco To Delay Warning Ads
By 4.25.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
It’s been more than a decade since a federal court ruled against the tobacco industry and ordered the nation’s largest cigarette producers to produce a new series of warning ads. Those warnings have yet to happen, as Big Tobacco has repeatedly appealed just about every aspect of the ruling. Today, one federal appeals panel handed the industry some very minor concessions while basically telling the companies to quit it already with all the legal butt-dragging. [More]
Sexual Enhancement Supplements With Ridiculous Names Contain Prescription Drugs For Sexual Dysfunction
By 4.25.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
A supplement company that must let their 12-year-old cousin name its products has recalled a slew of sexual enhancement supplements — for men and women — after tests showed that these items contained actual FDA-approved prescription drugs used to treat sexual dysfunction. [More]
Supreme Court: General Motors Can’t Use Bankruptcy To Avoid Lawsuits Over Deadly Ignition Defect
By 4.24.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
The Supreme Court has denied General Motors’ legal efforts to use its 2009 bankruptcy to block lawsuits over injuries and financial losses related to the carmaker’s long-ignored ignition switch defect. [More]
‘Financial Choice Act 2.0’ Would Eliminate Government’s Ability To Go After Shady Payday Loan Operations
By 4.21.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
Even though recent surveys indicate that the overwhelming majority of Americans want more regulation of payday lending, federal lawmakers are attempting to strip the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau of any authority over these short-term, high-cost loans. [More]
Visa Under Investigation In Ohio For Debit Card Verification Practices
By 4.21.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
Visa has revealed that at least one state attorney general’s office is looking into several aspects of the company’s debit card practices. [More]
In One Day FCC Voted To Both Streamline Competition And Disregard Competition
By 4.20.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
It was a busy, if confusing, morning for the FCC. The Commission held its monthly open meeting, where it considered more than a half-dozen items, resulting in everything from harmoniously unanimous votes to contentious disputes among the three sitting members. Oh yeah, and Chairman Ajit Pai also got “rickrolled” in person. [More]
Should RadioShack Executives Get $1.4 Million In Bonuses? No, Say Creditors
By 4.20.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
When a company has filed for bankruptcy and is closing stores, should the leaders who helped it to get there be rewarded with bonuses? That question has come up in the proceedings for RadioShack’s second bankruptcy in just over two years, and the company’s creditors and court-appointed trustee have responded with a resounding “nope.” [More]
Bank Regulator Knew Of Problems At Wells Fargo In 2010, Did Nothing
By 4.20.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
Now that Wells Fargo has completed its internal investigation into the fake account fiasco that resulted in millions of bogus accounts being opened in customers’ names, one federal banking regulator is admitting that it was aware of hundreds of related complaints nearly a decade ago, but failed to do anything to correct the problem. [More]
VA To Refer Some Vets To CVS MinuteClinics For Care
By 4.18.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
Veterans Administration, the VA and CVS have partnered for a test program that will have the pharmacy chain’s MinuteClinic urgent care centers treating some veterans for minor injuries and ailments. [More]
As Congress Preps To Scrap Prepaid Card Protections, Lawsuit Seeks Release Of Emails Between Lawmakers & Lobbyists
By 4.18.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
At some point in the coming weeks, Congress is set to consider a fast-tracked proposal that would nullify a slew of new protections for the millions of Americans who use prepaid debit cards. With the clock ticking down to that vote, a lawsuit is trying to compel the release of any communications about these rules between industry lobbyists, lawmakers, and federal regulators. [More]
NYC Will Require Uber App To Allow Tipping (Eventually)
By 4.17.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
Tipping is a confusing issue when it comes to ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft in New York City. Drivers are allowed to accept cash tips, but they aren’t allowed to ask for them. What’s more, the Lyft app includes the ability to put that tip on your credit card, but Uber’s app is still tip-less. That will change later this year, as NYC will require Uber to include tipping on its mobile platform. [More]
Killing Privacy Is Fine Because “Nobody’s Got To Use The Internet,” House Rep Says
By 4.17.17
From a distance, it can often be easy to criticize Congress as being out of touch, no matter what members are actually doing or what policies they’re proposing. But every once in a while, you get a response so staggeringly clueless you wonder if a lawmaker is living on the same planet you are. [More]
Senators Urge FDA To Ban Possible Carcinogen Found In Shampoo, Lotion
By 4.14.17 — Updated: 5.10.17
You might not be familiar with “1,4-Dioxane” but it’s a chemical component commonly used in everyday products, such as shampoos, lotions, and cosmetics. It may also cause cancer, which is why a pair of U.S. Senators are urging the Food & Drug Administration to begin the process of eliminating this chemical from consumer products. [More]
Librarians To Ivanka Trump: If You Support Libraries, Why Is Your Dad Trying To Defund Them?
By 4.14.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
In celebration of National Library Week, Ivanka Trump — eldest daughter and assistant to President Donald Trump — Tweeted about the important role that libraries and librarians play in “opening our eyes to the world of knowledge, learning and reading!” This statement, however well-intentioned, did not go over well with the institutions whose funding would be slashed or eliminated if the President’s budget is passed. [More]
Hyland’s Officially Recalls All Homeopathic Baby Teething Tablets Over High Levels Of Belladonna
By 4.14.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
Even though the Food and Drug Administration warned the public in 2016 about elevated levels of belladonna, a potentially dangerous toxin, in homeopathic teething tablets produced by Hyland’s — and then confirmed this risk in January — the products remained on store shelves and in family’s medicine cabinets. Now, under pressure from the FDA, Hyland’s has officially issued a recall for all of its homeopathic teething products. [More]
