Earlier this year, Bass Pro Shops offered to buy up one of its biggest competitors, Cabela’s, for $5.5 billion. The Federal Trade Commission is reviewing the deal now, and is raising concerns that this might be too much consolidation in the hunting and fishing market. [More]
Government Policy
Michigan Bans Local Governments From Banning Plastic Bags
By 12.30.16
While states like Hawaii and California have enacted bans on plastic bags, Michigan is going the exact opposite route, passing a law that bans local governments from banning plastic bags or putting fees on disposable containers. [More]
Lawsuit: Government Illegally Garnishes Disability Benefits To Repay Student Loans
By 12.30.16
Earlier this month, a Government Accountability Office report found that $171 million was garnished from older Americans’ Social Security benefits in order to repay federal student loan debts. Now, one of those borrowers is suing several government agencies accusing them of taking money from his monthly disability checks despite the fact he was eligible for a student loan discharge. [More]
Senators Ask Trump’s EPA Nominee To Disclose Oil Industry Connections
By 12.28.16
Earlier this month, President-elect Donald Trump selected Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as his nominee to head up the Environmental Protection Agency — an agency that Pruitt is also currently suing. Now, a group of six U.S. Senators has called on Pruitt to disclose his reported connections to the oil industry. [More]
Sales Of Antibiotics For Farm Animals Continues To Increase, Despite FDA Guidance
By 12.28.16
Three years ago, the Food and Drug Administration — in response to growing concerns about the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria — issued long-delayed guidance to the pharmaceuticals industry, asking drugmakers to voluntarily stop selling antibiotics to farmers solely for the purpose of growth-promotion in cows, pigs, and chicken. And while sales of these drugs have indeed slowed, the latest FDA report shows that they are still on the rise. [More]
Wells Fargo Customers: Bank’s Contract Can’t Be Used To Allow Illegal Activity
By 12.28.16
Even though Wells Fargo has admitted that bank employees opened millions of fraudulent, unauthorized accounts in customers’ names, the bank has avoided or delayed class-action lawsuits over this fake account fiasco by citing terms in customer contracts that prevent account-holders from bringing lawsuits against Wells. However, one group of customers is arguing that the bank can’t use these contracts to shield itself from being held liable for illegal activity. [More]
Uber Packs Up Its Self-Driving Cars And Takes Them To Play In Arizona
By 12.22.16
Not even 24 hours after the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the registrations of 16 self-driving Uber cars that had been operating in San Francisco, the ridesharing company has announced it’s found a new sandbox where it can play with its toys. [More]
Did Big Pharma Hire Dozens Of DEA Officials To Reduce Scrutiny Of Opioid Painkillers?
By 12.22.16
It’s not uncommon for folks at federal agencies to cash in on their public sector connections by taking a high-paying job with a company they used to regulate. But when it comes to the pharmaceuticals industry’s hiring of dozens of Drug Enforcement Administration officials, the question is whether these former DEA staffers were being hired because of what they could contribute, or because it was better for the industry to get them out of law enforcement. [More]
Alibaba’s Taobao.com Back On U.S. Government’s Counterfeiting Naughty List
By 12.22.16
Four years ago, e-commerce giant Alibaba managed to get one of its sites, Taobao, removed from the United States Trade Representative’s list of “notorious markets” around the world that are known for counterfeit or pirated products. Just as Alibaba is trying to be accepted as a respectable global brand, the USTR has put the site back on the list. [More]
Uber Pulls Plug On Self-Driving Cars In San Francisco After State Revokes Registrations
By 12.21.16
Uber announced Wednesday evening that it has pulled the plug on its controversial self-driving car program in San Francisco after only one very contentious week of operation. [More]
Many For-Profit Colleges Get More Than 90% Of Funding From Federal Government
By 12.21.16
For-profit colleges operate under the so-called “90/10 Rule,” which states that a school can’t receive more than 90% of its revenue from the federal government. However, there’s a loophole that does not count certain military-related education funds — like the GI Bill — against that 90%, meaning these schools can go over that 90% threshold without violating the 90/10 Rule. And according to a new report, hundreds of for-profit schools are indeed getting nearly every dollar of their funding from taxpayers. [More]
FDA Recommends Limiting Lead In Lipstick & Other Cosmetic Products
By 12.21.16
Though no one really wants to hear they are putting lead into or on their bodies, the fact is that many cosmetics contain low levels of lead. While the amount of lead in your lipstick might be too low to do any harm, the Food and Drug Administration is still taking steps to further limit the amount of the chemical found in such products. [More]
White House Report: Future Dominated By Artificial Intelligence Brings Productivity And Inequality
By 12.20.16 — Updated: 12.21.16
From talking speakers and virtual assistants to self-driving cars, artificial intelligence is slowly becoming part of our lives. As progress continues and computer programs are able to perform more human jobs, how can we protect people from being displaced from the job market and from worsening economic inequality that might come from rapid technological change? [More]
Report: $171M Garnished From Older Americans’ Social Security To Repay Student Debt In 2015
By 12.20.16 — Updated: 12.21.16
It can take years, even decades, for student loan borrowers to repay their debts. To that end, a new report has found that tens of thousands of older adults – including senior citizens – continue to be saddled with mountains of student debt later in life, often having their government benefits cut to repay the costs. [More]
Senator: Regulators Should Investigate E-Cigarette Explosions, Issue Recalls
By 12.19.16
Despite their popularity, e-cigarettes are a “ticking time bomb” that should be more closely investigated by federal regulators and recalled if necessary, according to New York Senator Chuck Schumer. [More]
Uber Claims It Doesn’t Need California’s Permission For Self-Driving Cars
By 12.16.16 — Updated: 12.20.16
The public slapfight between Uber and the California Department of Motor Vehicles continued on Friday afternoon, with the ridesharing service declaring that it’s new self-driving cars don’t need a special permit to operate in San Francisco. [More]
Settlements Allow Auto Dealers To Continue Selling Unrepaired Recalled Vehicles As “Safe”
By 12.16.16
If you bought a used car from a dealership that proudly claims to put each vehicle through “125-point” or “172-point” inspections, you might assume that your vehicle is safe to drive and that it isn’t under recall for a potentially deadly defect. However, a number of big names in used cars — including CarMax and General Motors — have recently entered into settlements with federal regulators that could allow used car dealers to continue marketing their vehicles as safe even while they may have unrepaired defects. [More]
The EpiPen Generic Is Finally Here, For $300 Per Twin-Pack
By 12.16.16
A day after Mylan was one of six pharmaceutical companies named in a multi-state lawsuit alleging price-fixing on generic drugs, the maker of high-priced emergency allergy treatment EpiPen announced that the generic version of the popular epinephrine auto-injector is finally hitting the market, giving people a lower-cost (but still pricey) option for buying the drug. [More]
