Tag Archives: Consumers Union

Foster Farms won’t budge. With nearly 300 sick so far, and antibiotic resistant salmonella strains linked back to particular Foster Farms processing plants, it’s time for a recall.

More than that, it’s long past time our nation’s food producers stop overusing antibiotics on food animals — a practice that makes our life-saving drugs less effective at fighting deadly bacteria.

Despite the government shutdown, we’ll get you heard on this important health issue! Send a message now, and we will get it into the right hands at USDA and FDA.

Demand an immediate recall and new rules for antibiotic use!

When antibiotic resistant strains make people sick, industry reminds us to cook the food more. Wipe everything with bleach. While these precautions certainly help, they don’t address the underlying problem.

Our nation’s meat and chicken industry relies heavily on the overuse of antibiotics to speed growth and help animals survive filthy, crowded conditions. Overuse spurs the emergence of antibiotic-resistant ‘superbugs’ on both the farm and in our communities.

That’s why we’re also asking that FDA finally take a strong stand for reduced antibiotic use in agriculture. The current outbreak should serve as a warning. Let’s make real progress before the antibiotics we need for human health no longer work.

Send your message now. We’ll get it to the right people, even with the shutdown.

And don’t forget — get rid of this chicken. Learn how to tell whether you have it in your house or if it’s for sale at your store.. Then forward this email to friends and family so they can check their fridge and join our movement to save our nation’s antibiotics for human health.

Sincerely,
Meg Bohne, NotInMyFood.org,
A project of Consumers Union, Policy and Action from Consumer Reports

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What the banks don’t want you to know!

04/11/2013 Nativegrl77

Policy and Action from Consumer Reports

They’re out to weaken your rights – and your watchdog!

Our financial watchdog is under attack right now in the Senate. Without a confirmed director to hold them accountable, the financial industry can get away with a lot more tricks! Tell your Senators to hold the banks accountable!

Lax banking and mortgage oversight tanked our economy, so Americans like you demanded a real financial watchdog, not a bank lapdog.

You got one in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In a little more than a year, this watchdog made the banks pay back $425 million to consumers they duped, made sure borrowers can pay back their loans, and demanded an end to hidden credit card fees.

But rather than being celebrated, your watchdog is under attack. A minority of Senators is holding up the CFPB director’s confirmation unless they can weaken his ability to protect the public – and turn him into a lapdog!

If you’re tired of these politics, email your Senators now and demand the accountability you were promised!

For more than a year Richard Cordray has successfully led the CFPB, not only holding the banks accountable but going after the giant credit reporting and student loan industries.

But this success is rubbing the financial lobbyists the wrong way. They want to weaken the bureau by subjecting it to the highly politicized and sluggish Congressional funding process; replace the director with a five-member commission; and let other bank regulators (those who failed to prevent the economic meltdown) veto the bureau’s decisions.

A block of Senators is holding up Cordray’s confirmation for a new term until they get these changes. And without a confirmed director, each of us is at greater risk of being scammed – the CFPB can’t exercise its full powers over payday lenders and certain mortgage operators, as well as student loan servicers and credit reporting agencies.

Email your Senators here and tell them you want a watchdog that holds the financial industry accountable!

The best way to stymie this plan is to flood the Senate with a tidal wave of constituent messages demanding the watchdog we were promised. Please take action, then forward this to as many people as you can so they can act too.

Sincerely,

Pamela Banks, DefendYourDollars.org
Consumers Union, policy and action from Consumer Reports

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Check your Gift Card …

12/18/2012 Nativegrl77

Policy and Action from Consumer Reports

Ever get a gift card that lost its value? One day, it promised you $50 or $100, then when you went to use it, the card had been drained.

Maybe there were unexpected fees. Some cards charge you if you don’t use them in a certain period. Others expire.

Maybe the store went belly up. Your cash money went to pay their creditors and you got nothing.

If the card was a “rewards” card purchased with credit card, airline, or other “points” — well then, all bets are off. The card could have been loaded with fees and expire at any time.

Tell us your own gift card story — and we’ll use it to make sure your card is worth what you paid for it.

This holiday season, lawmakers are working on a bill to eliminate fees and expiration dates. Money doesn’t expire. Neither should money stored on a gift card.

The bill would also require companies to treat cards purchased with rewards points the same as cards purchased with cash.

But this bill isn’t a slam dunk. Retailers and banks benefit when you give them cash but then they don’t have to honor that cash amount in goods or services. To pass this bill, in the face of opposition from industry, lawmakers need the stories of real people.

Tell us your story, and we will put it in front of lawmakers and news outlets!

Share your story, or forward this email to a friend, co-worker or family member who may have gotten less than their money’s worth from a gift card.

Sincerely,
Pam Banks, DefendYourDollars.org
A project of Consumers Union

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Health reform: 7 things to know now!

10/16/2012 Nativegrl77

Policy and Action from Consumer Reports

Seven things you need to know.Consumer Reports digs in to tell you the major things you should know right now about the new health law. Donate and we will send you our 16-page guide so you’ll know how the law could affect you and your family. Help us distribute even more copies during this critical time!

Obamacare. The Affordable Care Act. Health reform. No matter what you call it, one thing is certain – the new health-care law will have some impact on your life.

But if you’re like most people, you’re not exactly sure how it will. Or, if what you’re hearing from the media, friends or family is really accurate.

Now there’s something you can do. Consumer Reports dug into the health law and picked out the most important ways it could affect you and your family. They tell it in their no-nonsense style in a 16-page colorful guide so you know exactly what is, and what isn’t, real.

Give a $5 tax-deductible gift to get your own Consumer Reports’ guide. Give more and we’ll distribute more copies during this critical time!

We believe it’s important that every American understands how the law affects them without the misinformation, hype or spin. Your $5 gift gets you this guide and helps cover the cost of distributing it to someone else. If you can give $10, we’ll distribute 25 more copies; give $25 and we’ll distribute 100 more. And your gift is tax deductible.

We know you and millions of others have questions, because we hear them everyday: If I already get health insurance through my job, what changes? Is Medicare going to be different? What exactly is that ‘mandate,’ and who does it apply to? Can I get a break on the cost of my coverage? Are there new taxes?

Consumer Reports answers these and other questions, and spells out what has already changed and what’s to come when the law is fully in place. Your donation helps get this easy-to-read guide out to you and as many other people as we possibly can.

Give $5 and get your own copy of the guide. Give more and we’ll distribute even more!

Your donation puts valuable information into your hands. And it helps us to continue getting you more affordable, decent health care and fair treatment from insurance companies. Thanks for helping spread the word!

Sincerely, De Ann Friedholm, YourHealthSecurity.org, a project of Consumers Union