One of the best parts of Watchdog Nation’s blog is the ability to share the latest and not-so-greatest scams with you. Take the easy pickin’s when it comes to cars for sale, new cars, used cars, any and all.
President Barack Obama’s proposal to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency came in with a bang. But it appears to be going out with a whimper. Before the proposal was introduced in Congress last year, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said of the economic meltdown. “This crisis was caused, in part, by a lack of consumer protections.” And? Watchdog Nation checked in with several Washington, D.C., sources last week to learn what’s happening to the proposal in Congress. The answer? Not much.
Our 21st century lives are filled with the worst examples of “customer” service. Yet in this short tale, we learn about how one company — and its billionaire founder — can run against the grain. Ikea sells more than furniture, according to WatchdogNation.com guest columnist Monty Snow. Ikea also sells good attitude.
I have never seen a threat to our democracy such as the one we now face. Gosh, I hope I’m wrong, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that gave corporations the power to donate funds to political campaigns could be our ruination. The case of former West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Warrent McGraw shows how this could play out.
As business lobbyists play a larger role in public life than ever before, who speaks for the poor? For example, in Texas, payday loans are among the most expensive in the nation. That’s because the payday loan industry in Texas is unregulated. Why? Last year, there was a hearing in the Texas state senate, but hardly anyone spoke in favor of regulating the industry. Do poor people, often hurt by these loans, even know about these hearings? Of course not! No surprise that the hearing room was packed with business lobbyists. Bills regulating the industry never emerged from committee. Texas Gov. Rick Perry has appointed a veep of one of the larger companies, Cash America, to the Texas Finance Commission, which that businessman now chairs.
