Want to know who you need to call when disputing an error on your credit report? Are you curious about what a “reverse mortgage” is? Well, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has just launched a new interactive service that fields questions like these and provides answers without all the usual fancy finance jargon. [More]
Government Policy
Court Orders FDA To Investigate Use Of Antibiotics In Animal Feed
By 3.23.12
Back in 1977, the FDA proposed a ban on putting penicillin and other antibiotics in animal feed solely for the purpose of promoting growth. Amazingly, that proposal has been gathering dust long enough to begin losing its hair and regretting its life choices. That is until yesterday, when a federal court ordered the FDA to finish what it started 35 years ago. [More]
Senate Passes Weakened Version Of Bill To Prevent Lawmakers From Insider Trading
By 3.22.12
It’s been a few months since we last heard much about the STOCK Act, the legislation intended to close the loophole that has allowed lawmakers (and their aides) to profit from insider trading. Well, it’s finally worked its way through the Senate, but not without losing a few teeth. [More]
House Votes To Cap Malpractice Damages
By 3.22.12
While the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments next week over the constitutionality of the nearly two-year-old health-care reform package, members of Congress have been busy trying to chip away at the legislation. [More]
FTC Cracks Down On Bogus Mortgage Relief Lawsuits
By 3.22.12
If you live in an area hit hard by the collapse of the housing market, you might have received a letter from a company promising that if you join other struggling homeowners in filing lawsuits against your lender, you can get mortgage relief, a cash reward and maybe even the title to your home. What it doesn’t mention is that you could end up being scammed out of thousands of dollars. [More]
Tax Nightmare: What Did I Do To Deserve An Audit By The IRS?
By 3.22.12
Moaning and groaning won’t make it go away when the IRS comes a’calling with an audit. Ask the auditor what you did to deserve such a terrifying experience and you’ll likely be met with a shrug, or perhaps a vague reason involving some kind of forms. So really, why did they pick you? [More]
Sponsor of Arizona's "Why Are You On Birth Control?" Bill Amending It
By 3.21.12
The state representative who was sponsoring a bill that would let employers ask why female employees are on the pill, and then decide whether or not they’d pay for it based on the answer, says she’s doing a bit of amending. She’s claiming we all just misunderstood the controversial parts. Oh, of course. [More]
Supreme Court Limits EPA's Ability To Enforce Clean Water Act
By 3.21.12
Earlier today, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in a case that has been a hot-button topic for both environmentalists and advocates for the rights of land owners. In the end, the Supremes came down on the side of landowners, allowing them to take legal steps to void Environmental Protection Agency compliance orders. [More]
Believe It Or Not, People Want More Oversight Of Implanted Medical Devices
By 3.20.12
It seems almost silly to think that anyone would want to scale back the amount of regulatory control on the safety of medical devices, and a new poll shows that an overwhelming number of Americans believe in strong oversight of these products. Yet members of the House and Senate are considering legislation that could allow potentially unsafe items to hit the market. [More]
Appeals Court Rules Graphic Cigarette Labels Don't Violate Free Speech
By 3.20.12
The latest battle over those graphic anti-smoking labels on cigarette packaging has been won by the FDA, after a federal appeals court ruled yesterday that requiring the warnings does not violate tobacco companies’ First Amendment right to free speech. [More]
Federal Student Aid Service Doesn't Know When The Federal Tax Filing Deadline Is
By 3.15.12
UPDATE: FAFSA has sent out an email correcting their earlier assertion that the deadline to file federal income taxes has already passed. They’ve admitted they were wrong and apologized for any confusion. [More]
FBI Begs Google For Help Unlocking Alleged Pimp's Android Phone
By 3.15.12
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has a few tricks up its sleeve when it comes to figuring out crime stuff. But in one case, either the FBI is unwilling or unable to unlock an Android phone belonging to an alleged pimp they’re investigating, prompting them to ask Google for help. [More]
TSA's Expedited Precheck Program Doesn't Guarantee You'll Always Whisk Through Security
By 3.15.12
We’ve written before about the Transportation Security Administration’s Precheck program, which is intended to allow prescreened travelers to get through airport screening checkpoints in a flash without having to kick off their shoes or wait in the snaking lines of sighing passengers. But membership in the program doesn’t guarantee that you’ll always zip through with a high-five from a TSA agent. [More]
TSA To Take It Easy On Elderly Terrorists
By 3.14.12
The terror threat from septuagenarians is apparently not as high as those young whippersnappers who are merely of retirement age. At least according to the Transportation Security Administration, which next week will begin testing new, less-intrusive, screening procedures for travelers 75 years of age and older. [More]
FTC Goes After Car Dealers For Lying To Customers About Trade-Ins
By 3.14.12
Have you ever seen a car dealership ad that promises to pay off the loan balance of your trade-in, even if you owe more than the value of the trade-in? Well, the Federal Trade Commission has stopped a handful of dealers from continuing to deceive buyers with this too-good-to-be-true offer. [More]
Government To Banks In Mortgage Settlement: We're Going To Keep An Eye On You
By 3.12.12
Lest they turn around act like the jerky big banks that they are, federal officials say they’re going to keep a watchful eye on five major banks as the final terms of a mortgage settlement were filed today in federal court. The $25 billion deal was announced in February and the government wants to make sure banks will offer wide housing relief to Americans like they promised. [More]
Safety Regulators Investigating Claims Of Sticky Throttles In Ford Tauruses
By 3.12.12
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is looking into claims that 2005-2006 Ford Tauruses are having acceleration problems, reminding us that the Ford Taurus still exists. Those cars have been around so long, it’s more like, dino-taurus! Am I right? [More]
Arizona Bows To Amazon, Ditches Plan To Collect Sales Tax
By 3.12.12
Like the nation as a whole, Arizona’s state government is sending Amazon mixed messages on sales tax. Just weeks after news broke that Arizona had sent Amazon a $53 million bill for sales tax it failed to collect between 2006 and 2010, the state senate has killed a bill that would have required the company to start adding sales tax to orders. [More]
