AUTO SALES AND ADVERTISING
TOPS IN Consumer Complaints for 2009 and 2008
So why were autos exempted from the new Consumer Protection Agency?
It is very troubling to see another example of Congress obviously legislating not in the public interest but for the benefit of the Special Interests, in this case the auto dealers. One has to wonder what type of people are these Congressional people?
If there was ever a consumer group that needed protection from their suppliers, it is auto buyers who need protection from their suppliers, the auto dealers.
The 2009 Consumer Complaint Survey Report was conducted by the Consumer Federation of America, the National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators and the North American Consumer Protection Investigators and is their 15th report on top consumer complaints. The latest results are based on a survey of 33 state, county, and city agencies from 18 states on the most common complaints received from January 2009 through December 2009.
Top Types of Consumer Complaints for 2009
1. Auto: Misrepresentations in advertising or sales of new and used cars; lemons; faulty repairs; leasing and towing disputes. Also No. 1 in 2008.
2. Credit/Debt: Billing and fee disputes; mortgage-related fraud; credit repair; debt relief services; predatory lending; illegal or abusive debt collection tactics. Up from No. 3 in 2008.
3. Home Improvement/Construction: Shoddy work; failure to start or complete the job. Down from No. 2 in 2008.
4. Utilities: Service problems or billing disputes with phone, cable, satellite, Internet, electric and gas services. Also No. 4 in 2008.
5. Retail Sales: False advertising and other deceptive practices; defective merchandise; problems with rebates, coupons, gift cards and gift certificates; failure to deliver. Also No. 5 in 2008.
6. Services: Misrepresentations; shoddy work; failure to have required licenses; failure to perform. Also No. 6 in 2008.
7. Internet Sales: Misrepresentations or other deceptive practice; failure to deliver online purchases. Up from No. 9 in 2008.
8. Household Goods: Misrepresentations; failure to deliver; faulty repairs in connection with furniture or appliances. Down from No. 7 in 2008.
9. (tie) Landlord/Tenant: Unhealthy or unsafe conditions; failure to make repairs or provide promised amenities; deposit and rent disputes; illegal eviction tactics; Down from No. 8 in 2008. Home Solicitations:Misrepresentations or failure to deliver in door-to-door, telemarketing or mail solicitations; do-not-call violations. Also No. 9 in 2008.
10. Health Products/Services: misleading claims; unlicensed practitioners; failure to deliver. Also No. 10 in 2008.
Source: The 2009 Consumer Complaint Survey Report
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
WILL A HANDGUN MAKE YOUR HOME SAFER?
WILL HAVING A HANDGUN AT HOME—
MAKE YOUR FAMILY SAFER?
THE FACTS BEHIND THE NEWS
Ellen S. Alberding President of the Joyce Foundation points out, in the July 9th issue of the New York Times, a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that in 2007 in the US more than 2,000 children were killed and another 12,370 were injured by gunfire.
According to the Journal of Trauma “guns in the home are 11 times more likely to be used in suicide attempts and four times more likely to be involved in accidents than used in self defense".
The article goes on to say there is little evidence of any public health or safety benefits of privately owned guns. Keeping a gun at home puts your children at risk. During the last few days the papers have given a lot of publicity to two instances of homeowners shooting and killing home invaders. Much less attention was given to an 8 yr old shot by her13 yr old brother, or a wife shot and killed by her husband, or a 16 yr old who killed himself with his father’s gun.
Many gun owners believe they can keep guns away from children. In a recent survey of parents and children at a family health clinic in rural Alabama, 39% of the parents thought the children did not know the location of household guns, 22% thought their children had never handled a household gun. The children’s reports told a different story. The result were the same even when the guns were locked up and the parents had discussed gun safety.
Having guns in the household can make a tragic difference when teenagers get emotionally depressed or angry. Access to guns means increased suicide risk. The Harvard School of Public Healthsays most often young suicide victims use a gun belonging to a family member usually a parent. A gunshot is quick and irreversible. 90% of suicide attempts with a gun are fatal compared with 2% of drug overdoses and 3% of cutting.
Women are particularly at risk in household with guns. The Illinois Coalition against Domestic Violence, states that 300,000 women and children are subject to violence in their homes each year in the State of Illinois. Abused women are five times more likely to be killed by their abuser if the abuser owns a gun.
Dr. David Hemenway of the Harvard School of Public Health< “where there are more guns, there is more death, more homicide, and more gun accidents". BE CAREFUL! The life you save maybe your own.
MAKE YOUR FAMILY SAFER?
THE FACTS BEHIND THE NEWS
Ellen S. Alberding President of the Joyce Foundation points out, in the July 9th issue of the New York Times, a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that in 2007 in the US more than 2,000 children were killed and another 12,370 were injured by gunfire.
According to the Journal of Trauma “guns in the home are 11 times more likely to be used in suicide attempts and four times more likely to be involved in accidents than used in self defense".
The article goes on to say there is little evidence of any public health or safety benefits of privately owned guns. Keeping a gun at home puts your children at risk. During the last few days the papers have given a lot of publicity to two instances of homeowners shooting and killing home invaders. Much less attention was given to an 8 yr old shot by her13 yr old brother, or a wife shot and killed by her husband, or a 16 yr old who killed himself with his father’s gun.
Many gun owners believe they can keep guns away from children. In a recent survey of parents and children at a family health clinic in rural Alabama, 39% of the parents thought the children did not know the location of household guns, 22% thought their children had never handled a household gun. The children’s reports told a different story. The result were the same even when the guns were locked up and the parents had discussed gun safety.
Having guns in the household can make a tragic difference when teenagers get emotionally depressed or angry. Access to guns means increased suicide risk. The Harvard School of Public Healthsays most often young suicide victims use a gun belonging to a family member usually a parent. A gunshot is quick and irreversible. 90% of suicide attempts with a gun are fatal compared with 2% of drug overdoses and 3% of cutting.
Women are particularly at risk in household with guns. The Illinois Coalition against Domestic Violence, states that 300,000 women and children are subject to violence in their homes each year in the State of Illinois. Abused women are five times more likely to be killed by their abuser if the abuser owns a gun.
Dr. David Hemenway of the Harvard School of Public Health< “where there are more guns, there is more death, more homicide, and more gun accidents". BE CAREFUL! The life you save maybe your own.
Friday, July 9, 2010
REPUBLICANS USE HOOVER'S 1929 FISAL POLICY
REPUBLICANS ADOPT HOOVER’S 1929 FISCAL POLICY!
GET THE FACTS BEHIND THE NEWS!
In 1929 Pres. Herbert Hoover was said to believe that the US had over speculated and fiscal austerity, cutting spending, would increase business confidence and bring back good times. It is amazing that the Republican Party in 2010 has resurrected, almost word for word, the failed policies of Herbert Hoover in 1929.
Even before start of the recession in 2007, the United States job market had already been performing weakly, relative both to the 1990s and to the rest of the industrialized world.
Alan Krueger, Treasury Dept Chief Economist in his testimony at the hearing, said that from 1900 to2000 the US economy added 21.7 million jobs. The economy lost 944,000 from December 1999 to December 2009, The fraction of the working-age population that reported being employed peaked at 64.7 percent in March 2000, and fell to 58.6 percent in March 2010, its lowest level since the two recessions of 1980-82, he said.
Small businesses, which shed large numbers of workers during the recession, have been particularly slow to resume hiring.
While Mr. Krueger’s remarks at the hearing were not widely reported, their implications were clear: raising taxes can support both deficit reduction and job growth. He testified that the tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003 “did not result in better performance in the labor market than was achieved in the 1990s, a period when government revenue increased, and the deficit was reduced and eventually eliminated.”
Whether that perspective will shape the policy debate will become clear in the coming months. In the meantime, some experts say that job creation and deficit reduction are not mutually exclusive.
GET THE FACTS BEHIND THE NEWS!
In 1929 Pres. Herbert Hoover was said to believe that the US had over speculated and fiscal austerity, cutting spending, would increase business confidence and bring back good times. It is amazing that the Republican Party in 2010 has resurrected, almost word for word, the failed policies of Herbert Hoover in 1929.
Even before start of the recession in 2007, the United States job market had already been performing weakly, relative both to the 1990s and to the rest of the industrialized world.
Alan Krueger, Treasury Dept Chief Economist in his testimony at the hearing, said that from 1900 to2000 the US economy added 21.7 million jobs. The economy lost 944,000 from December 1999 to December 2009, The fraction of the working-age population that reported being employed peaked at 64.7 percent in March 2000, and fell to 58.6 percent in March 2010, its lowest level since the two recessions of 1980-82, he said.
Small businesses, which shed large numbers of workers during the recession, have been particularly slow to resume hiring.
While Mr. Krueger’s remarks at the hearing were not widely reported, their implications were clear: raising taxes can support both deficit reduction and job growth. He testified that the tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003 “did not result in better performance in the labor market than was achieved in the 1990s, a period when government revenue increased, and the deficit was reduced and eventually eliminated.”
Whether that perspective will shape the policy debate will become clear in the coming months. In the meantime, some experts say that job creation and deficit reduction are not mutually exclusive.
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