If you were to subtract the cost of health care expenses from family incomes, an additional 10 million more Americans would be considered in poverty by official measures, the U.S. Census Bureau said this week in a new report. [More]
Government Policy
Coca-Cola Helps Put Kibosh On Grand Canyon Water Bottle Ban
By 11.10.11
Discarded plastic bottles account for around 30% of trash at the Grand Canyon, so in an effort to reduce the amount of waste left behind by the oodles of visitors, the park was all set to launch a ban on the sale of bottled water. But then, after the folks at Coca-Cola voiced their concerns, a top national park official decided to pull the plug on the program. [More]
Should Employees Be Paid For Time It Takes To Change Clothes?
By 11.10.11
Some jobs require more than just a uniform; they require specific clothing that must be taken on and off at the place of work. But that doesn’t mean that the employee gets paid for the time slipping in and out of these necessary duds. And that’s why a pair of nurses in Colorado have filed a class action lawsuit. [More]
Police Say Man Threatened To Bomb Best Buy Because It Didn't Have Game
By 11.10.11
Authorities say a Colorado man was so irate over not being able to buy the game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 at a Colorado Best Buy that he said he would shoot staffers and blow up the store. The man allegedly went into a rage at the customer service desk after employees revealed the store ran out of copies of the game early Tuesday morning. [More]
White House Gets Dept. Of Agriculture To Delay Christmas Tree Tax
By 11.9.11
Less than 24 hours after the Dept. of Agriculture announced a program that would charge a $.15/tree “tax” to Christmas tree growers in order to fund a campaign to promote those very trees, the White House has responded to the flurry of criticism by asking the regulators to rethink the idea. [More]
Theft Victim Catches Guy Returning Her Stuff To Macy's
By 11.9.11
Rachel thought she would never see her stuff again. Someone had stolen the Christmas gifts she left on the backseat of her car parked in front of her house overnight, along with her iPod. It was $460 out the window. But when she went back to Macy’s to replace some of the gifts, her Spidey-sense started tingling. [More]
Senators Introduce Bill To Compel Amazon & Others To Collect Sales Tax
By 11.9.11
As has been discussed here on numerous occasions, even though Amazon.com didn’t charge you sales tax on that laptop you purchased, you still may owe it (though very few people ever pay). Thus, once again, a bipartisan group of Senators in D.C. have introduced legislation that would require online retailers to collect sales tax. [More]
Recalls Issued For 420,000 Toyota & Lexus Vehicles Over Steering Concerns
By 11.9.11
Earlier today, the folks at Toyota issued a recall of approximately 283,000 Toyota vehicles — Avalon, Camry, Highlander, Sienna, Solara — and 137,000 Lexus vehicles — ES330, RX330, RX400h — over concerns that a potential problem in these vehicles may suddenly make it much harder for the driver to steer. [More]
That Honey In Your Cabinet Probably Isn't Honey
By 11.9.11
Most of the honey on store shelves isn’t the genuine article. This according to testing findings, which found that most products labeled as honey are actually flower nectar with pollen filtered out. This filtering process disqualifies the product form passing most worldwide quality standards. [More]
Fannie Mae Needs $7.8 Billion Because It Lost Its Fanny Betting On Derivatives
By 11.9.11
Like the irresponsible son who goes to his daddy asking for money to cover gambling losses so loan sharks don’t bust his kneecaps, Fannie Mae is begging taxpayers for $7.8 billion because it lost so much money last quarter on derivatives. The $5.1 billion loss in the third quarter dwarfs last year’s awful third quarter shortfall of $1.3 billion. [More]
Apple Replaces Frayed Magsafe Adapter Cables For Free
By 11.9.11
Apple will replace or refund out-of-warranty frayed Magsafe adapters, according to the terms of proposed class action lawsuit settlement. [More]
Walmart Gets 10 Million Reasons To Keep Aisles Clean
By 11.8.11
A delivery woman who slipped and fell at a Colorado Walmart will collect $10 million from the company, thanks to the state Supreme Court, which gave a thumbs-up to the majority of the settlement decided in a jury verdict. Before you go getting jealous of the victim, bear in mind that she underwent three spinal surgeries, couldn’t return to work and lost her truck. [More]
Judge Approves BofA's $410M Overdraft Settlement
By 11.8.11
To settle a class-action suit over reordering transactions to maximize overdraft fees, Bank of America agreed to pay out $410 million months ago. A judge has now approved the settlement, and the bank has coughed up the money into an escrow account from which it will be distributed to customers who were part of the suit. Those who had a Bank of America debit card between January 2001 and May 24, 2011 will automatically receive a payment of at least 9 percent of the fees they paid. [More]
Can My Job Only Pay Me For 8 Hours Instead Of 9 Because Of Daylight Saving Time?
By 11.7.11
A man says that he worked on Sunday, and, because of daylight saving time, his boss only wants to pay him for 8 hours instead of the 9 he worked. Is this legal? [More]
Verizon Class Action Settlement: Get Refunds For Accidentally Pressing "Get It Now" Button
By 11.4.11
If Verizon “erroneously” charged you for accidentally pressing the “Get it Now” or “Mobile Web” buttons on your phone, you can file for a refund, thanks to a recent class action settlement. [More]
Hundreds Of People's Tax Returns Found Dumped In Front Of Jackson Hewitt Office Because They Were "So Heavy"
By 11.4.11
A soggy pile of hundreds of old tax returns was found in front of an abandoned Jackson Hewitt tax prep office in San Francisco in late October. The papers had social security numbers, names, addresses, and phone numbers, a potential goldmine for any identity thief who got their hands on them. [More]
Government Kept Adding Jobs As Economy Sputtered
By 11.4.11
While many industries were forced to downsize over the past few tough years, the government found a way to grow. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the federal government increased its workforce by 12 percent since the start of the recession in December 2007. Meanwhile, overall employment has fallen almost 5 percent in that span. [More]
