Tag Archives: consumers

NEW CONSUMER PROTECTION

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NEW CONSUMER PROTECTION AGENCY COMES INTO OPERATION !

The following is being shared with us by the AFL/CIO today and I think it is important that every American read this and urge the President to appoint Elizabeth Warren as indicated in the AFL/CIO piece as follows:

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ELIZABETH WARREN, THE CHAMPION WE NEED !


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Richard L. Trumka, AFL-CIO Thu, Jun 9, 2011 at 7:26 AM


Reply-To: peoplepower@aflcio.org
Want to make sure Wall Street isn’t able to prey on Americans again—and create another Great Recession?


Urge President Obama to appoint Elizabeth Warren the next time Congress goes on recess.
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Editor Note: Following is the text of the important message I received today from the President of The AFL/CIO:

“Dear John,



The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)—which was created as part of the landmark financial reform law President Obama fought hard to pass—is scheduled to open on July 21. The new agency is designed to protect consumers from abusive lending practices by banks, credit card companies, mortgage companies and others.



But 44 of Wall Street’s friends in the Senate are flat-out refusing to consider any nominee to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau—unless they’re given the right to defund it, which is just the first step in weakening the bureau and ultimately repealing the entire Wall Street reform law. According to The Hill:






Senate Republicans have vowed to hold up any nominee to lead the CFPB and say the blockade will not end until changes are made to curb the bureau’s authority.






Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) recently called this “the worst abuse of the confirmation process I’ve ever seen.” He added, “What it clearly says is that the president will have to make a recess appointment.” We agree.






To begin its work to protect consumers, the CFPB must have a strong director from Day One. And in our view, there is only one candidate who is uniquely qualified and equipped to head this new agency: Elizabeth Warren.






Urge President Obama to appoint Elizabeth Warren to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau when Congress goes on recess.






By refusing to make any appointment to lead the CFPB, Senate Republicans effectively have recused themselves from having any input into whom President Obama appoints. It’s a dereliction of their constitutional duty to “advise and consent” on the president’s nominees.






Fortunately, President Obama can bypass these obstructionists by making a recess appointment.






No matter who gets the recess appointment of President Obama, Republicans have made it clear they’ll scream and holler. This reflects a sorry state in our politics—but it’s also a historic opportunity to recess appoint Elizabeth Warren, who’s already shown as acting director of the CFPB that she’s a true champion for working families.






Urge President Obama to recess appoint Elizabeth Warren—who will truly stand up for consumers.






Working families need Elizabeth Warren to launch and lead the bureau because she is uniquely qualified for the job. She’s proven herself to be a fearless advocate for the American public. She originated the idea of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She’s strong and brave, smart and fearless (I’ve met her, and I’m very impressed).






But Warren’s also fair—not one-sided. She does know how to work alongside banks, despite how vilified she is by some vocal Wall Street naysayers. As The Wall Street Journal recently reported:






Oklahoma Bankers Association President Roger Beverage thought Elizabeth Warren was the “Antichrist.” But now he wants President Barack Obama to use his recess appointment powers to make her the first director of the new consumer protection agency.






Elizabeth Warren is the right choice for working families—let President Obama know we need her to get to work.






We should all be grateful for President Obama’s hard work to create the landmark Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. We fought with him, pushing Congress hard to pass a strong law with an independently funded agency that has the potential to be a strong voice for working families.






Now, we need President Obama’s help again to make sure the agency he envisioned can begin its critical work.






Please let the president know we support the recess appointment of Elizabeth Warren: a strong, pro-consumer director who will get the agency up and running.






Thank you for fighting to have Elizabeth Warren lead the CFPB. She’s the candidate who is most likely to keep Wall Street from gouging consumers and creating another Great Recession.






In Solidarity,






Richard L. Trumka


President, AFL-CIO






P.S. Congressional Republicans are only interested in repealing Wall Street reform—and they’ll even use personal attacks to try to achieve their goal. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC)—whose top campaign contributors are Wall Street banks—went so far as to accuse Elizabeth Warren of lying.






Let President Obama know working families will stand behind him as he works to open a strong agency with a strong director who will protect consumers from scams and another Great Recession.”



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Note From John Liming
Editor and Publisher
The Liming Liberal Digest

“I am always pleased to support the cause of Organized Labor in The United States. This message from the AFL/CIO about a new consumer protection is very important for all Americans and that is why I have included it on the blog.










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To find out more about the AFL-CIO, please visit our website at http://www.aflcio.org.
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A LIMING LIBERAL DIGEST CONSUMER ALERT

Lifestyle, , , ,
John R. Liming
The Liming Liberal Digest

MAYBE YOU  CAN SAVE SOME MONEY

Check That Electric Bill:

If you live in an area where Electric Companies “Estimate” your monthly electric usage, there is something that you should look into.

In some states, if you have had your bill estimated for several months, you can ask the utility for an itemized bill for the period during which the usage was “Estimated.”

Sometimes this shows that the consumer has overpaid the bill by significant amounts. If this is found to be the case, the consumer can ask for and receive a refund of the overpayment. This is usually applied as a credit to the bill.

In many instances, I am told, if the consumer does not check into this and fails to apply for the adjustment in the bill, it is rarely ever noticed or taken care of.

I did this a few years back and got a substantial adjustment to my bill that saved me around Two Hundred dollars as I recall.

If you are uncertain as to whether this applies in your area, just get in touch with your utility regulatory agency and ask.

Self Check Out Machines:

If you regularly use those convenient self check-out machines at the grocery, you need to keep an eye on a couple of things:

1. You have to insure that the price for the merchandise that appears on the tag on the store shelf matches the price that appears on your printed ticket at the checkout. It is sometimes different. You think the item is priced at one price and when you look at the checkout receipt, you find that it is different–usually higher in my experience.

So what if it is only a few cents? It does matter! It is your money and it does add up over time. If you see something like this, it is time to communicate with the friendly “Live” cashier/attendant and have the matter resolved.

Second Item:  I have found some of these self-service scan things will, occasionally (Not often) double charge for a single item on a single transaction. This is usually evidenced by the same “Transaction Number” being applied to two different items. If this happens, it is time to speak to that smiley store manager and get it taken care of. I have personally lost as much as $60 in a year on this kind of thing before I got wise enough to start checking those receipts out before leaving the stores.

That Friendly Bargain Store:

There are a couple of those big chain stores that love to shout about their “Closeout” prices and their “Bargains.”

O.k., here is what I have found:

Sometimes the cologne and after shave that I love is priced just the same (Or even slightly higher sometimes) at the so-called “Bargain” outlet than it is at say the grocery store or the drug store. You have to keep an eye out for that possibility.

I have seen ordinary bread selling at the so-called “Bargain” store for as much or even a few cents more than at the grocery.

I think, sometimes, that the some of these ”Bargain” stores  might not be such a bargain after all. I think sometimes some of them play on their recognized “Name” and that this is not always to the consumers’ advantage.

So, does any of this information help you at all?

GAS PRICES INCHING HIGHER AND HIGHER!

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John R, Liming
Author
The Liming Liberal Progressive

MAYBE THE AMERICAN TAX PAYER SHOULD OFFER MORE IN SUBSIDIES! 

I cringed a little this morning when I looked at the gas price sign at my friendly local station. It read, $3.77 per gallon.

I guess I should feel good about it, though, because my buddy in England tells me they are paying (Or were paying) around  $7.97 U.S. Dollars per gallon as of April 6, 2011.

Now check this out, folks: The U.S. Oil Industry boasts profits, right now, at about the rate of $200  billion (With a “B”) dollars per year, according to readily available information sources.

In addition to that “Pittance,” the oil companies are also reported to collect an outright gift from the U.S. Taxpayer of $36.5 billion dollars in the form of a “Subsidy.” Imagine that!

It has been reported that as much as Ten Percent of the “Subsidy,” (Or about $380 million (With an “M”) goes to pay lobbyists in Washington whose job it is to see to it that the oil companies continue to receive their little stipend from all of us.

You see? Some right wing economic policies do create jobs, after all—lobbyist positions! (That’s my little joke, there, friends!)

Now, it has also been reported that President Obama has been trying to get that subsidy to the oil giants repealed in an effort to cut the Federal Deficit,, but the right wing is said to have been fighting him tooth and nail because they want desperately to preserve that “Entitlement” for Big Oil.

I am thinking that some of this spending on behalf of Big Oil is part of the reason that there ain’t no money for the “Entitlements” that some of the right wingers are working so hard to reduce to bare bones or eliminate altogether.

You see, folks, it only makes sense if you are an extreme right winger to pay the Oil Firms their big bonuses on the backs of the American Middle Class and the poor, right?
Who has always paid the lion’s share for America’s debts? The Middle Class, of course!

You know what though, friends? I sometimes think we are all responsible for the high oil prices and the beating we are taking at the pumps today.

Why?

Because, a long time ago, we, as a nation, somehow let some of the big automobile companies and a few of the oil giants talk us into getting rid of our vast interurban transportation systems and our railroads in favor of building an expansive (And expensive) Interstate Highway System so that everybody could aspire to having own their own car.
Is anyone out there old enough to remember that?

We have no one to blame but ourselves for letting ourselves become virtual slaves to Big oil. I guess we thought that the picnic would go on forever. (I am so old that I can remember when you could fill your tank for Five Dollars. That was in 1954, I believe–or thereabouts.)

As a consumer, I wouldn’t ever expect  much  consideration from many of the Oil Giants either. They do not have to be concerned about whether high gas prices hurt the average customer or not. They are obligated to only their share holders. You and I are just pawns a really large chess game.

The ones the American Voter have to hold accountable are those elected officials who go to Washington and fail to look out for the best interests of the voting citizen.

Right now, it seems, the ones in Washington who are working hardest against the best interests of the ordinary citizen (Whatever that might be) are the newly elected right wingers who seem to want to change the world with the wave of some kind of magic wand, while absolutely tearing the guts out of many of our traditional programs designed to help where help is needed the most.

Is none of this obvious to anyone?

BEEF PRICES GOING THROUGH THE ROOF??

Politics, , , , , , ,
John R. Liming
Editor – Owner – Author
“The Liming Liberal Progressive” Blog

WILL IT BECOME A MUSEUM PIECE?

Beef prices are already pretty high according to my way of thinking and now, news sources are telling me that it is more than likely to surge upward once again.

I suppose that this is to be expected. Inflation tends to run rampant when certain right wing principles get into the way of Government, right?

I mean, after all, “The Free Market” can charge whatever the market will bear, can’t it?

I remember when there was some common sense in the Retail Sector of American Enterprise.

I remember when ground beef sold at three pounds for a dollar. Now, I guess, in some places, it is more than three dollars a pound! How about $3.87? Is that just normal progression or is that something else? (I guess nothing ever remains the same. I have to be fair, after all.) I am sure there is no fortune to be made in the manipulation of food prices, right?

“The Beef Producers,” are reported to be  claiming  that it is all a matter of “Production Costs.” A “Jump” in over all consumer prices is supposed to be the culprit driving some foods out of the reach of the ordinary citizen.

In my opinion, there is”Inflation in everything needed to run a business” because there is little or no Government intervention or oversight in this area. I don’t think that so-called “Beef Producers” are at fault at all! I think it is the politicians who mess with government market regulation and “Budget Deficits” that cause all this inflation stuff. But that is just me!

When things got really out of hand a few years back, we at least had the Office Of Price Control Administration (OPA) and Mr. and Mrs. ordinary American (The ones who actually work for a living in the fields and factories and the Mom and Pop stores) could actually afford to feed their families.

But that was before the advent of Market Place Salvation preached by the Trickle Downers and the Free Globalized marketeers…the extreme right wing saviors of our Economy…and, perhaps, the world, itself!

Some are blaming the soaring beef prices on the surging prices of corn and soy beans. (Usually used in food for beef cattle.) You see? This is not the fault of “The Beef Producers” at all as some might believe. (Whoever these “Beef Producers” might be, that is.)One certainly cannot fairly include everyone who makes a living at producing beef in a definition of any pricing problem, now can one? I can’t and I won’t!

John Liming says, “If we would get out of the business of making ethanol out of our corn supply, there wouldn’t be the depth of the problem–maybe no problem at all.”

But, then, what do I know?

THIS ISN’T THE FIRST TIME, FOLKS!

I remember a few years ago when I lived in Michigan and worked at one of those automobile assembly jobs (You remember them, don’t you? The jobs  with the living wage and the benefits and the Union for protection? The ones that some of the right wing enthusiasts allowed to be shipped to foreign countries for the sake of Free Global Competitive markets?)

Well, anyway, when I was living there, the price of meat and coffee went through the roof for some reason. It was the same old song and dance back then too…productivity and inflation and all that smoke screen crap.

Well, I got to the point where I would go into the supermarket and stand by the meat case, just looking and remembering what the stuff tasted like. I sure as heck (Politically correct word for the bad place) wasn’t about to fork over a kings’ ransom for hamburger!

I used to tell store personnel that I was just visiting their “Meat Museum.” My idea was to let the overpriced merchandise rot on the store shelves.

That was my personal formula for getting the attention of our food producers, distributors and retail sellers. Let it rot on the shelves! It may not have been pretty, but a lot of people apparently started to think that way and it eventually seemed to have gotten the message across because those prices started to inch downward once more into more consumer-friendly turf.

I wasn’t alone in my anguish, apparently. It wasn’t long before many of the American Meat Producers couldn’t give the stuff away and the supermarket chains started importing some of the better grades from places like Argentina. We bought that because we could afford it. They complained that we were UnAmerican, but we bought it and our families had meat on the table again.

We soon discovered that we adored chicken too. We got some protein from peanut butter. We got some protein from soy bean products. Hey! When the American People are backed up against a wall, they are resourceful!

Remember, folks, it is all political! It is always always political. My Opinion, of course.)

What substitutions will you make in your diet if the price of beef goes too high? Do you use any beef now? How much? What kinds and cuts? Do you buy in bulk and do your own slicing and portioning?

Send us your comments and tell us how you are coping and how you plan to cope with the ever-rising prices of everything in this more or less right wing-dominated Economy.

And, if you want more of the story, hook up with CNN Money.com  and other places on the Internet. Just enter “Rising Beef Prices” into the search window and browse to your heart’s content. By the way, neither  myself nor this blog is affiliated with any other Internet source whatsoever. I mention these things strictly as a service to my readers.

MORE WOES FOR DEBIT CARD USERS?

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BILL TO CAP DEBIT CARD USER FEES SET TO BEGIN

If you are like me you already know that every time you use your bank-issued “Debit” card, you’re going to fork over some extra money for the transaction. In my case it is Twenty-Five Cents per transaction. If I used my debit card twice a day for a year, I could end up paying as much as $182.00 per year for just the privilege of swiping that piece of plastic through a reader somewhere. (Paying to use my own money..can’t emphasize this enough! My money!)

That is money the bank is charging me to access my own funds!
Write this indelibly on your brain somewhere! Part of the benefit of using your debit card is that every time you  use it to gain access to your own money, you are going to pay for the privilege of gaining access to your own money! How does that sit with you?

It doesn’t sound like much, does it? We all know that the banks have our best interests at heart, don’t we? We all know that the banks, operating under conservative Free Market principles are the primary watchdogs of our financial welfare, right?

So in April of this year, an amendment to the new Financial Overhaul Bill that will allow the Federal Reserve to reign in run away debit card fees is set to go into effect.

WHAT WILL BANK RETALIATION BE LIKE?

Well, how about this: What if your bank decides to limit the number of purchases you can make per day on your debit card?
It is rumoured that one of the largest debit card organizations is thinking of doing exactly that! Their proposal is reported to be a cap on purchases of $50 to $100 per purchase.

According to some reports, there are some major banks already in process of doing their debit programs over and I will bet you a dollar to a doughnut that whatever they come up with will be a bigger benefit to them than to their consumer customers!

The banks want us  to believe they can’t make money if the government puts any kind of restriction or controls on the amount they can charge their consumer customers. Yeah, right!

Well of course, they want us to believe that! But I ask you, do you actually believe there is a bank that cannot make a profit on everything they do no matter what? Hmmm??

THE END OF FREE CHECKING ACCOUNTS?

According to every news report I have read–and they are everywhere–(In newspapers, magazines and on The Internet), banks are considering eliminating “Free” checking accounts and a host of other “Perks,promotions and gimmicks” (Quotes are mine) in order to “Protect Their Bottom Line.”

So much for the Right Wing-Touted “Free Market” benefits to the consumer theories! Run away bank fees and practices have really been good for the consumer, haven’t they? Now, at last, the government recognizes the need for some kind of consumer protection and here comes the new bill to do exactly that.

What do you expect the giant corporate banks to do? Lie down and roll over? Nope! I think we can expect aggressive retaliation! This new legislation is an “Obama” Bill after all, isn’t it? Do you think that might have anything to do with conservative opposition to it?

This legislation is designed to protect the “Little Guy.” Have you ever known of any conservative measure designed to help, protect or assist the “Little Guy?” Well, now…Of course we might expect some in the Right Wing  to be virtually rabid in opposing this measure, can’t we?

Unless, of course, enough of us do what I do. What do I do? I pay cash whenever I can! I am sick and tired of spending extra money to use money that is already mine in the first place. Neither plastic nor the banks rule my life!

Some conservatives are very happy, according to reports that I have read, that they have a “Courageous band of renegade legislators willing to continue the fight for conservative principles.” (The principles of take from the poor and give to the rich.”

Well, that is good for them, I guess! I imagine the Liberals can find out who these “Courageous” few are and remember them at election time.

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