A former tax examiner for the Washington, D.C. government was efficient enough at collecting funds, but not so great at handing them over to her employer. That was the case for a woman who pleaded guilty to wire fraud, swiping $400,000 over four years in fraudulent refunds. [More]
Government Policy
Fewer People Filing For Unemployment
By 10.21.11
The Labor Department provided a sign that the job market may be creeping out of its dreadful depths. For the fourth consecutive week, the rolling four-week average of people applying for unemployment benefits declined. The 403,000 applicants in the span ending last week were down from 409,250 in the frame ending the week before. [More]
DOT Investigates Airlines For Not Disclosing Fees On Their Websites
By 10.19.11
Starting August 23rd, airlines were supposed to start being more upfront on their websites about the fees they charge you. Guess what? They didn’t. [More]
FDA: Dirty Equipment Likely Responsible For Deadly Cantaloupes
By 10.19.11
While authorities are still investigating the source of the listeria-tainted cantaloupe outbreak that killed 25 people and sickened more than 100 others, the FDA now believes that puddled water and dirty packing equipment is the likely culprit. [More]
Feds Deport Record Number Of Immigrants
By 10.19.11
The United States gave away a record number of its poor, tired, hungry and huddled masses in the fiscal year that ended in September. According to the director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency deported nearly 400,000 illegal immigrants, adding that more than half of the deported had convictions of felonies or misdemeanors. [More]
Louisiana Outlaws Cash For Trading Used Goods More Than Once A Month
By 10.19.11
In order to combat the rising threat of metal theft, Louisiana passed a law that prohibits anyone who trades used property more than once a month from conducting that transaction in cash. This should cut down on metal vultures stripping down the infrastructure to turn it into money for their drug habit. However, this also means you can’t really hold a garage sale more than once every 30 days without some burdensome restrictions. [More]
Psychic On Trial For Theft, Tax Evasion
By 10.19.11
There’s no word about what Tarot cards, life lines or crystal balls have to say about a Colorado psychic on trial for theft and tax evasion, but common sense says things don’t look good for the suspect. She’s accused of telling clients that their money was evil and she needed to cleanse it before returning it to them. She didn’t follow through with the promise to give it back and allegedly made off with $300,000. [More]
States, Banks Close To Foreclosure Deal
By 10.19.11
Several states and major banks are said to be close to sealing a deal that would protect banks from civil suits over sketchy mortgage practices in exchange for $25 billion that would help underwater homeowners refinance their loans. The deal could help the weak housing market. [More]
Class-Action Lawsuit Claims Fruit Roll-Ups Are Unhealthy, Contain Little Fruit
By 10.19.11
Do phrases like “low fat,” “gluten-free,” “made with real fruit” and “good source of vitamin C” on the package of a processed fruit snack product make you think that the product is a healthy food? These phrases have all been on the packaging of fruit-like snack substances from General Mills: Froot by the Foot, Fruit Roll-Ups, and Gushers. Marketing copy on the front of a box is no substitute for taking a moment to read nutrition information and ingredients. But that hasn’t stopped the Center for Science in the Public Interest from filing a class-action lawsuit alleging that the company tried to make consumers believe that their products were wholesome and fruit-based, not full of trans fats, preservatives, and food coloring. [More]
Big Dairy Accused Of Pricefixing Milk By Paying For Cows To Be Killed
By 10.18.11
A new class action lawsuit accuses several dairy industry juggernauts of paying mainly small farmers to send their entire herds to the slaughterhouse in order to reduce the supply of milk and jack up milk prices. [More]
Target Manager Sues, Says Was Fired For Working Through Lunch
By 10.18.11
An ex-Target manager is suing his former employer, accusing the retailer of firing him for working during his lunch break. Ironically, he says it was retaliation for the complaints he had made about being denied uninterrupted breaks. [More]
No Amount Of Drunkenness Will Turn A Taco Into Your I.D.
By 10.18.11
Grabbing whatever is around is not going to get you far when the police ask for your I.D. Even if it’s a delicious taco! A man in Florida tried the taco trick, handing one over to officers after he was asked for I.D. [More]
Wireless Customers To Receive Free Text Alerts To Avoid Overage Charges
By 10.17.11
After months of talking about the issue, the FCC and the nation’s wireless providers have announced a deal that will provide almost every wireless customer in the country with free text alerts to help them avoid “bill shock” from unexpected overage charges. [More]
ATM Council Sues Visa And Mastercard For Forcing Them To Charge Consumers Set Fees
By 10.14.11
Visa and Mastercard have been accused of price fixing in a lawsuit filed Wednesday by the the National ATM Council. The suit alleges that nonbank ATM operators could charge customers lower ATM fees when they use other, cheaper payment networks, but are prevented from this by the set access fees Visa and MasterCard charge. [More]
High School Bans Cheerleaders From Wearing Breast Cancer Awareness Shirts
By 10.14.11
High school cheerleaders in Gilbert, Ariz. aren’t allowed to wear shirts meant to boost breast cancer awareness that read “Feel for Lumps, Save Your Bumps.” Administrators call the slogan objectionable and have banned the girls from wearing the shirts at football games. [More]
Your Taxes May Go Down Thanks To Prices Going Up
By 10.14.11
Don’t cry over the price of milk spilling upwards. It could actually mean that you pay lower taxes. [More]
Senate Bill Would Streamline Medical Device Approval
By 10.14.11
When it comes to approving medical devices for patients to use, the Food and Drug Administration is handcuffed by conflict of interest rules that it says slow the process. A bipartisan trio of senators have introduced a bill that would ease the rules in favor of getting devices approved quicker, possibly at the expense of medical ethics. [More]
