What would be even worse than losing the entire stored value of your gift cards after a few years? Having the state seize it as unclaimed property and use your money to pay its bills. [More]
government
FTC Wants To Ban Mortgage Mod Services From Charging Up-Front Fees
By 12.30.10
To combat mortgage relief fraud, the FTC would like to make a new rule that would ban mortgage modification services from charging up-front fees. “Homeowners facing foreclosure or struggling to make mortgage payments shouldn’t have to contend with fraudulent ‘companies’ that don’t provide what they promise,” FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said in a statement. “The proposed rule would outlaw up-front fees so companies can’t take the money and run.” Indeed, there are some shady operators in this area and consumers need to beware. [More]
Government Bans Drop-Side Rail Cribs
By 12.15.10
In order to prevent kids from dying, the government has issued a ban on selling or making traditional drop-side cribs. If the gate or slate on the side of the crib gets loose, a baby can fall in there and get trapped, eventually hanging themselves to death. [More]
GM Wants To Be Able To Pay Executives More Money
By 12.10.10
General Motors Co. Chief Executive Daniel Akerson says he’d like a little more leeway on executive compensation from the Obama administration because the company is having trouble attracting quality executives. [More]
FAA Missing Info On 119,000 Planes
By 12.10.10
The FAA says its records are in such disarray that its afraid that criminals could buy planes “without the government’s knowledge” or use the registration numbers of other planes. The agency has ordered all aircraft owners to re-register. [More]
Alabama Schools Paddle Kids With No Way For Parents To Opt-Out
By 11.11.10
Here’s an type of opt-out list we don’t often write about: Corporal punishment in schools is legal in lots of states, but if you assumed parents could always opt-out, you’d be mistaken. According to a report from WHNT in Alabama, one student was beaten until he was bruised because he failed a science test. [More]
FDIC Seizes 4 More Banks
By 11.9.10
The FDIC seized four more banks on Friday. That brings the total number for 2010 to 143, the most in a year since the S&L fiasco back in the 80’s. Here’s who went down: [More]
Fed Clamps Down On Credit Card Loopholes
By 11.5.10
To shut down “fee harvesters” and other crafty tricks credit cards cooked up to escape the CARD act, the Federal Reserve has proposed three ways to tighten and clarify the rules. [More]
NY DMV Doesn't Believe I Already Paid Fee, Wants More Money
By 10.28.10
New York’s Department of Motor Vehicles doesn’t believe that Danjalier already paid the fees to have his driver’s license un-suspended. Never mind that he used a credit card, the charge from the DMV posted to his credit card, and the credit card company (American Express) tried to convince the DMV that yes, Danjalier had in fact already paid them. [More]
Bureaucrats Abuse Gov Databases, Snoop On Neighbors And Lindsay Lohan
By 10.15.10
Low-ranking government apparatchiks are wasting taxpayer dollars and violating our trust by exploiting their access to massive government databases to look up private information on their neighbors and ex-spouses, and “doc gawk” on celebrities like Lindsay Lohan, Matt Damon, James Taylor, and Tom Brady. [More]
Tell The FCC To Nix The NBC Comcast Deal
By 9.28.10
If you don’t want Comcast to own NBC, you can use this handy dandy online petition Consumers Union put together for you to tell the FCC. As the agency continue to mull over the deal, perhaps your opinion may help sway theirs. But why might Kabletown owning the peacock be bad for consumers? [More]
California Decides Not To Ban Plastic Bags
By 9.1.10
California lawmakers rejected a proposed statewide ban on plastic bags late Tuesday. [More]
New Rule Makes It Easier For Shareholders To Usurp Board Members
By 8.26.10
As of yesterday’s 3-2 SEC ruling, the little guy just got a little more power in the boardroom. When shareholders want to nominate people to the board, the company now has to include those names on the regular ballots passed out to everyone before the annual meeting, even if the company doesn’t like them. [More]
Utility Offering Oregon Residents $5,000 To Not Complain About Wind Turbine Noise
By 8.1.10
Think fast: if a utility offered you $5,000 not to complain about the noise from their wind turbines, would you accept? What if the noise was so loud that it caused headaches and nausea? It’s a choice Caithness Energy is asking some Oregon residents to make as the utility tries to build one of the largest wind farms in the country. [More]
Foreclosure Prevention Program Still Having Trouble Preventing Foreclosures
By 7.21.10
The government program that is supposed to stop 4 million foreclosures continues to have trouble keeping homeowners in the program. [More]
More Than 40 Experts Issue Call For More Government Stimulus And Tax Credits
By 7.20.10
Online news site The Daily Beast is apparently tired of this whole “floundering economy” thing, so it got more than a dozen economists and historians to come together and issue a manifesto yesterday calling on the U.S. government to “reboot America.” By the end of the day, the number of experts supporting the manifesto increased to more than 40. They argue that the government has to help return lost purchasing power to the unemployed and must use tax cuts and stimulus to boost overall demand, or we’ll never make it out of this slump. [More]
Cities Are So Broke They're Outsourcing The Police
By 7.19.10
The new trend in government cost-cutting involves disbanding the police department, says the WSJ. The paper has an article about Maywood, a tiny city southeast of Los Angeles. The city lost its insurance after its carrier decided to cancel its policy “because of the $21 million in legal expenses and judgments against the city stemming from the conduct of its police department.” This means that Maywood can’t employ anyone. [More]
Tobacco Companies Say Menthol Cigarettes Don't Encourage Kids To Smoke
By 7.16.10
The FDA is having a hearing to determine whether or not it should ban the sale of menthol cigarettes. The Tobacco Control Act already banns most tobacco flavorings, but does not include menthol — which makes up about one third of the $70 billion cigarette business. [More]
