Consumers Union

Here's How Much Closing A Bank Account Will Cost You

AP | PALLAVI GOGOI | Posted 05.30.2012

Read More: JP Morgan Chase, Consumers Union, Bank Fees, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Closing a Bank Account, Citibank, Big Banks, Bank Account Closure, Money News

Want to close your bank account? It could cost you as much as $55. In a survey of the practices of the 10 largest banks in the country – includ...

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Fighting for Consumer Rights, Fifty Years After Kennedy's Call

Jim Guest | Posted 05.15.2012

Read More: Consumers Union, Consumer Rights, Privacy, Consumer Reports, John F. Kennedy, Consumer Protection, Business News
Jim Guest

Today marks the 50th anniversary of a watershed moment in the consumer movement -- the recognition by a president that consumers deserved their own set of rights.

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Paying By Phone May Not Be As Secure As You Thought

Reuters | Mitch Lipka | Posted 02.13.2012

Read More: Consumers Union Pay by Phone Program, Video, Consumers Union, Gift-Guides, Reuters, Consumers Union Pay by Phone, Pay by Phone Consumers Union, Consumers Union Phone Payments, Pay by Phone Program Consumers Union, Technology News

By Mitch Lipka (Reuters) - Holiday shoppers are increasingly pulling out their phones instead of their debit cards when it comes time t...

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Insurers Pressuring Obama to Defy Law So They Can Continue Keeping You in the Dark

Wendell Potter | Posted 12.31.2011

Read More: Consumers Union, Unitedhealth, Obamacare, Ahip, Health Care Reform, Chamber of Commerce, Cigna, Healthcare Reform, Aetna, Health Care, Humana, Consumer Reports, Wellpoint, Politics News
Wendell Potter

If you have no idea what you're paying good money for when you enroll in a health insurance plan, there's a good reason for that: insurers profit from your ignorance. And they're waging an intense behind-the-scenes campaign to keep you in the dark.

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Test the Toys, Not Our Kids!

Ami Gadhia | Posted 12.19.2011

Read More: Consumers Union, Consumer Product Safety, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Product Safety, Child Safety, Parents News
Ami Gadhia

Consumers cannot afford to wait any longer to be sure that the products they're buying for their children are safe. Recalls are simply not an adequate solution to this safety problem.

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Despite Consumer Outrage, Bank Fees May Be Here To Stay

AP | By PALLAVI GOGOI | Posted 12.19.2011

Read More: Citi, Interest Rates, NAB Research, Video, Consumers Union, Regions Financial Corp., Bank of America Corp., Bank Fees, Anti-Wall Street Protestors, President Barack Obama, SunTrust Banks Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co., Business News

NEW YORK -- Higher bank fees are here to stay. The latest third-quarter earnings reports from this week confirm that banks are struggling to make mon...

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Just Label It: We Have a Right to Know What's In Our Food

Naomi Starkman | Posted 12.05.2011

Read More: Consumers Union, Gmos, Just Label It, Fda, Center for Food Safety, Genetically Modified Organisms, Genetically Engineered Foods, Green News
Naomi Starkman

Yesterday, a broadbased coalition of nearly 400 businesses and organizations dedicated to food safety and consumer rights called on the FDA to require labeling of genetically engineered (GE) foods.

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Governor Brown: It's Up to You to Ban BPA in Baby Bottles

Elisa Odabashian | Posted 11.20.2011

Read More: Bpa, Bisphenol A, Consumers Union, Governor Jerry Brown, Toxin-Free Infants and Toddlers Act or AB 1319, Bpa Baby Bottles, Green News
Elisa Odabashian

Harmless alternatives to BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups are in demand. With the signing of this bill, California can signal that big chemical company money cannot trump the health of babies and toddlers.

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Nonprofit Insurers: Reaping Profits at the Expense of the Consumer

Wendell Potter | Posted 08.27.2011

Read More: Health Care Reform, Consumers Union, Blue Shield, Kaiser Permanente, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Business News
Wendell Potter

Nowhere are health insurers working harder to thwart reforms that could save consumers billions of dollars than in California, where a proposed bill that give state regulators the authority to reject rate increases that were excessive or discriminatory.

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Turning the Clock Back on Child Safety Protections

Ami Gadhia | Posted 08.08.2011

Read More: Consumers Union, Consumer Product Safety, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Consumer Reports, Product Safety, Toy Safety, Child Safety, Politics News
Ami Gadhia

The House Energy and Commerce Committee is preparing to consider a bill that would poke serious holes in the product safety net. Here is a breakdown of some of the ways this bill would put consumers at risk:

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Are Insurers Writing the Health Reform Regulations?

Wendell Potter | Posted 07.05.2011

Read More: Health Care Reform, American Diabetes Association, Consumers Union, American Cancer Society, Naic, Kathleen Sebelius, Obama Health Care, Health Care, Barack Obama, Politics News
Wendell Potter

Health insurance company lobbyists know the media are not paying much attention. And so they are able to influence what health reform regulations actually look like -- and how the law will be enforced -- with little scrutiny, much less awareness.

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Kerry, McCain, and Your Online Privacy

Ioana Rusu | Posted 06.13.2011

Read More: Consumers Union, John McCain, Do Not Track, Online Advertising, John Kerry, Online Marketing, Opt-in Marketing, Opt-Out, Online Privacy, Privacy, Technology News
Ioana Rusu

In their comprehensive online privacy bill, Senators Kerry and McCain have laid out a plan that could give consumers a clear way to opt out of having their information shared indiscriminately with advertisers or other businesses.

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Yepoka Yeebo

AT&T's T-Mobile Deal: A Chance To Fix Competition 'Charade'

HuffingtonPost.com | Yepoka Yeebo | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: At, Cell Phones, Spectrum, AT&T, Consumer's Union, Mark Cooper, Wireless Carrier, David Butler, Sprint, Jeffrey Chester, Verizon, Brooklyn Law School, Early Termination Fees, T-Mobile, Jonathan Askin, Consumer Reports, Technology News

NEW YORK -- AT&T's $39 billion plan to buy T-Mobile, a marriage of two heavyweights, threatens to hurt consumers who would have fewer cell phone carri...

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Don't Pull the Rug Out From Health Reform

Jim Guest | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Health Care Reform, Consumers Union, Health Care, Consumer Reports, Health, John Boehner, Health Care Repeal, Politics News
Jim Guest

As an organization that looks out for consumers, we're already seeing positive changes in health care, with more improvements on the way.

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New Data Confirms High Mercury Levels In Certain Tuna

Naomi Starkman | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Consumers Union, Epa, Mercury, Fda, Tuna, Mercury in Tuna, Consumer Reports, Food News
Naomi Starkman

Consumer Reports' latest tests confirm that white (albacore) tuna usually contains far more mercury than light tuna.

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Comcast/NBC: Don't Make Consumers the Biggest Losers

Parul P. Desai | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Internet, Comcast, Consumers Union, Fcc, Roku, Nbc, Department of Justice, Cable Tv, Netflix, Media Conglomerates, Telecommunications, Mergers, Media News
Parul P. Desai

A combined Comcast and NBC would instantly become a telecommunications colossus, wielding unprecedented influence over the news and entertainment we see and the price we pay for it.

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Beat the Clock to Make Food Safer

Ami Gadhia | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Consumers Union, Food Safety, Food, Salmonella, Food and Drug Administration, Consumer Reports, Football, E. Coli, Food Politics, Politics News
Ami Gadhia

It's Thanksgiving week, when food and football take center stage in homes across America. Food has been center stage in Congress lately, too. And fo...

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G20 Needs to Do More to Protect Consumers From Financial Abuses

Jim Guest | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Consumers Union, World News, Subprime Mortgages, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Financial Services, Seoul, g20, Consumers International, Consumers, Business News
Jim Guest

Governments have a duty to consumers to show that they are not simply a means for the financial services industry to make a profit at all costs.

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Health Reform -- The Early Benefits

Jim Guest | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Consumers Union, Health Reform, Health Care, Health, Healthcare, Consumer Reports, Politics News
Jim Guest

Though it's far from perfect, the health reform law points us in the right direction. If you examine what's really in the law, there are many good provisions that help a lot of people. Here are a few examples.

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Food, Inc.'s Eric Schlosser Urges Senate to Pass Food Safety Bill

Jean Halloran | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Consumers Union, Food Safety, Food Inc, S. 510, Eric Schlosser, US Senate, Green News
Jean Halloran

Schlosser is joining with Consumers Union to urge consumers to fight for passage of FDA food safety reform legislation, which passed the House last year and is now stalled awaiting action in the Senate.

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80-Plus Groups Urge FDA, USDA to Change U.S. Position on Food Labeling

Naomi Starkman | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Genetically Modified Food, Kathleen Merrigan, Consumers, Usda, Fda, Consumers Union, Genetically Modified Foods, Michael R. Taylor, Green News
Naomi Starkman

A proposed U.S. policy on food labeling would create major problems for American producers who want to label their products as free of genetically modified or engineered ingredients.

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The Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE Competition is Heating Up

Peter Diamandis | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE, Peter Diamandis, X Prize, X Prize Foundation, Michigan, Consumers Union, Fuel Efficiency, Green News
Peter Diamandis

Step aside oversized SUVs, and welcome in the more compact, earth-friendly wheels. Out with the luxurious and in with the parsimonious. What was once considered nerdy is now haute couture.

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The Payday Industry's Powerful Friend

Gary Rivlin | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Consumers Union, Payday Lending, Lynn DeVault, Consumer Federation of America, Community FInancial Services Association, Financial Reform, National Consumer Law Center, Richard Shelby, Payday Loans, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Kay Hagan, Politics News
Gary Rivlin

The country's payday lenders and check cashers gave more in campaign donations to Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) than any other Republican in Congress.

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Stop GE Alfalfa: Consumers Care About GE Contamination

Naomi Starkman | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Food Safety, Genetically Modified Food, Consumers Union, Usda, Organic Food, Center for Food Safety, Alfalfa, Food Politics, Green News
Naomi Starkman

The Center for Food Safety (CFS) sued USDA on behalf of farmers and others regarding its approval of Monsanto's Roundup Ready alfalfa.

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Shahien Nasiripour

Mortgage Lenders Making Record Profits, Consumers Suffer

HuffingtonPost.com | Shahien Nasiripour | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Mortgage Brokers, Mortgage Lenders, Mortgage Crisis, Lending Crisis, Mortgages, Mortgage Bankers Association, Consumers Union, Bailout Bandits, Bailout, Guy Cecala, Inside Mortgage Finance, Financial Crisis, Banks, Consumers, Business News

Never ones to let an opportunity go unexploited, mortgage lenders are taking advantage of a market fueled by low interest rates and massive government...

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