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Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Tax

The Hidden Cost of Offshore Tax Havens

When U.S. corporations and wealthy individuals use offshore tax havens to avoid paying taxes to the federal government, it is an abuse of our tax system. Tax haven abusers benefit from our markets, infrastructure, educated workforce, and security, but they pay next to nothing for these benefits. Ultimately, taxpayers must pick up the tab, either in the form of higher taxes, cuts to public spending priorities, or increased national debt.

Media Hit | Budget

Editorial: City gets poor grade for transparency

In a report out this month, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group ranked Sacramento next to last among 30 large cities in providing online databases of its spending with "checkbook level" detail. The study also looked at how easily residents can track their service requests online.

News Release | CALPIRG | Consumer Protection

CALPIRG Applauds FTC’s New Privacy Guidelines for Online Apps

“When less than one-third of Americans feel that they are in control of their personal information on their mobile devices, clearly there is a problem,” said Jon Fox, consumer advocate with CALPIRG.

News Release | CALPIRG | Consumer Protection

Facebook Search Puts Privacy at Risk

CALPIRG calls on consumers to update privacy settings in light of Facebook's new social search engine, Graph Search.

News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund | Budget, Democracy, Tax

California Cities Are Nation’s Best & Worst for Spending Transparency

New report reviews and grades the nation’s thirty largest cities on how effectively they allow the public to track budgets, contracting, subsidies, grants and requests for quality-of-life services.

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News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund

Taxpayers Bear Cost of Corporate Settlements

Can you write of your parking tickets as a tax deduction? Of course not. So why should coporations be able to write off fines as a business expense. This release highlights our new report

News Release | CA:PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Survey Finds Dangerous Toys on Store Shelves

“We should be able to trust that the toys we buy are safe. Unfortunately we can’t and until that’s the case, parents need to watch out for common hazards when shopping for toys.”

News Release | CALPIRG | Democracy

Youth Vote Posts Strong Showing in 2012 Elections, in California and Nationally

“Despite months of hand-wringing about a supposed young voter enthusiasm gap,” said CALPIRG State Director Emily Rusch, “yesterday’s results show that young people are willing to engage in our democracy, particularly if encouraged to do so.”

News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund | Democracy

Distorted Democracy: Big Money and Dark Money in the 2012 Elections

A new analysis of pre-election data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and other sources by CALPIRG and Demos shows that outside spending in the first presidential election since Citizens United is living up to its hype: new waves of “outside spending” have been fueled by dark money and unlimited fundraising from a small number of wealthy donors.

News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Higher Bank Fees Now the Norm for Consumers

New report confirms what consumers already know – bank fees are increasing and free checking accounts are harder to find.

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Report | Consumer Protection

Trouble in Toyland

The 2011 Trouble in Toyland report is our 26th annual survey of toy safety. In this report, we provide safety guidelines for consumers when purchasing toys for young children and provide examples of toys currently on store shelves that may pose potential safety hazards.

Report | CALPIRG | Budget

Caution: Red Light Cameras Ahead; The Risks of Privatizing Traffic Law Enforcement and How to Protect the Public

Local contracting for automated traffic enforcement systems may sometimes be a useful tool for keeping drivers and pedestrians safe. But when private firms and municipalities consider revenues first, and safety second, the public interest is threatened.

Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Health Care

Making the Grade

Health care exchanges, authorized by 2010’s health reform law, offer the states the chance to address the twin problems of cost and quality, and help consumers get a fair shake when buying insurance.

Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Budget, Democracy, Financial Reform, Tax

Tax Increment Financing: The need for transparency and accountibility in local economic development subsidies

Tax-increment financing (TIF) has been a widely used tool for municipalities seeking private investment. TIF allows cities and towns to borrow against an area’s future tax revenues in order to invest in immediate projects or encourage present development. When used properly, TIF can promote enduring growth and stronger communities for blighted neighborhoods; but TIF can also end up wasting taxpayer resources or channeling money to politically favored special interests.

Report | Food

Apples to Twinkies

America is facing an obesity epidemic – one that’s hitting children especially hard. Childhood obesity rates have tripled over the last three decades, with one in five kids aged 6 to 11 now obese.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection, Tax

FTC Supports Do Not Track, Meekly

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released today a new report calling on Internet companies to put in place a "Do Not Track" system that would give consumers more control over their personal data online by the end of the year . The FTC also called on Congress to pass privacy legislation that would allow consumers to see how their online data is collected, used and sold, and give consumers the ability to stop such practices.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection, Tax

CFPB launches new consumer Q&A resource page | Jon Fox

The CFPB launches a new interactive online tool that helps consumers find answers to their basic financial questions.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection, Tax

Paying Taxes, Safe and Sound | Jon Fox

With less than a month left to “Tax Day”, that special time of year when taxes are due, CALPIRG releases a new Questions & Answer guide to paying taxes.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

50 Years Ago This Week, JFK Ushered in Modern Consumer Protection Era | Ed Mierzwinski

I've got a new column at Huffington Post, "50 Years Ago This Week, JFK Ushered in Modern Consumer Protection Era." I discuss President Kennedy's visionary "Special Message to the Congress on Protecting the Consumer Interest" announced on March 15, 1962. He declared that consumers have rights and government should protect them. Read the full column after the jump.

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Blog Post | Consumer Protection

FTC Releases Top Complaints for 2011, Identity Theft Tops the List | Jon Fox

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released its list of top consumer complaints received by the agency in 2011. Unsurprisingly, identity theft complaints topped the list.

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Apples To Twinkies

Find out how government subsidies disproportionately benefit junk food over fresh fruit and vegetables.

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Bigger Banks, Bigger Fees

Our survey found that more than half of banks are not entirely upfront about their fees. Some even broke the law.

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DANGEROUS TOYS ON STORE SHELVES?

Find out what to watch out for — from toxic chemicals to choking hazards — in our “Trouble In Toyland” report.

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