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News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund | Democracy

Governor's Race Dominated by Big Money

CALPIRG's new analysis shows that big donors have accounted for nearly 98% of all contributions from individuals and businesses in California in the governor's race. 

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News Release | CALPIRG | Public Health

NEW POLL REVEALS OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF DOCTORS CONCERNED ABOUT ANTIBIOTICS USE ON HEALTHY FOOD ANIMALS

The overwhelming majority of doctors -- a total of 93 percent -- are concerned about the common meat industry practice of using antibiotics on healthy animals for growth promotion and disease prevention, according to a new poll released today commissioned by Consumer Reports and released by Consumers Union and U.S. PIRG.

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Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Democracy

Big Money Dominates in Congressional Primaries

Our analysis of fund-raising data from 2014’s congressional primaries examines the way these dynamics are playing out state by state across the country. While some states show markedly more inequity than others, the picture painted by the data is of a primary money race where large donors carry more weight than ordinary Americans. Nationwide, just under two-thirds of all candidate contributions came from the largest donors (those giving over $1,000). And fewer than 5,500 large donors matched the primary contributions coming from at least 440,000 donors nationwide.

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News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund | Democracy

Big Money Playing an Outsized Role in California Elections

Primary elections suffer from the same disparity between big money and small money as general elections: even leaving aside Super-PAC-dominated outside spending, candidates relying on small contributions from ordinary citizens are often at a disadvantage compared to those relying on large, often out-of-district donors, or able to self-finance. Our analysis of fund-raising data from 2014’s congressional primaries examines the way these dynamics are playing out state by state across the country.  

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News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund | Transportation

New Report Shows Mounting Evidence of Millennials’ Shift Away from Driving

“Millennials are different from their parents, and those differences aren’t going away,” said Emily Rusch, Executive Director at CALPIRG Education Fund. “After five years of economic growth with stagnant driving, it’s time for federal and California governments to wake up to growing evidence that Millennials don’t want to drive as much as their parents did. This change has big implications and policy makers shouldn’t be asleep at the wheel.”

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News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

New FTC Report Highlights Top 10 Consumer Complaints for 2012.

California sees big increase in fraud and identity theft complaints.

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Media Hit | Budget

The Conversation: Tax havens let billions vanish into thin air

Pulitzer Prize wining author David Cay Johnston uses our report for the theme in his op-ed, explaining how ordinary taxpayers bear the cost of tax havens and loopholes "through higher state taxes, fewer services or the state taking on more debt to fund current operations".
Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/02/17/5194645/tax-havens-let-billions-vanish....

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News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund | Health Care

Anthem hikes rates 22%

Anthem Blue Cross is moving forward with a new rate hike on California consumers which will leave hundreds of thousands of individuals paying an average 22 percent more for insurance this year. Anthem had proposed raising rates 26 percent, but trimmed the rate to 22 percent after the California Department of Insurance (CDI) found the original increase unreasonable.

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Media Hit | Health Care

Letter to the Editor: Why healthcare costs so much

Wesley Samms' letter to the editor regarding the recent LA Times article: "Small surgery, huge markup," Business, Jan. 31

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News Release | CALPIRG Education Fund | Tax

Offshore Tax Dodging Blows a $7 Billion Hole in California Budget:

Sacramento, February 5th – With California “on the move” with its budget CALPIRG released a new study revealing that California lost $7.147 Billion due to offshore tax dodging in 2012. Many of America’s wealthiest individuals and largest corporations, including Wells Fargo in California, use tax loopholes to shift profits made in America to offshore tax havens, where they pay little to no taxes.

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Report | CALPIRIG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Privacy Denied

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Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Common Sense Accounting Reforms For California Investors And Taxpayers

The California marketplace is plagued by increasing conflict-of-interest problems that lead to inaccurate corporate audits, an upsurge in “earnings restatements”, and a loss of investor confidence.

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Report | CALPIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Rent-A-Bank Payday Lending:

One consequence of deregulation of interest rates, high credit card interest rates and high bank fees has been the rapid growth of the alternative financial services (or fringe banking) industry, which includes check cashing outlets, payday loan companies, rent-to-own stores, high cost second mortgage companies, sub-prime auto lenders, traditional pawn shops and the growing business of auto title pawn companies. This report examines payday lending in detail.

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  • Trouble In Toyland
    Our report highlights the toys that have been recently recalled, explains the hazards they pose, and shines a spotlight on those that may still be available for sale online.
    Get the tips
  • Why are health experts alarmed?
    More than 93% of doctors are concerned about the overuse of antibiotics on factory farms, yet factory farms still use up to 70% of all antibiotics sold in the U.S.
    Learn why
  • Reclaim our democracy
    Our democracy is based on the principle of one person, one vote, but our research shows the increasing dominance of big money in our elections.
    Get The Facts
  • PROTECT YOURSELF
    We've created consumer tips to help protect you from unfair bank fees, identity theft, loan rip-offs and more.
    Get The Tips

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