Counter-Corporateering Blog
CORPORATEERING is a project site of Consumer Watchdog. The following links will take you to articles found therein.
Dump the donors
Tonight, Arnold Schwarzenegger is to return to the Beverly Hilton for the first time since his contrite apology to voters after the defeat of every single one of his ballot measures in last year's special election. The governor will probably be anything b
Going Low Octane
The truth is, unless you're driving a higher performance car, or an old muscle car of the past, gas is gas. Oil companies' marketing claims over the need for higher octane fuel used to be ever bigger hooey. The FTC stepped in back in the 1990s to force
Killer prices?
It turns out there is a cure for cancer, or at least a pretty good treatment for recurrence of colon, lung and breast cancer. It's called Avastin. In fact, it's so effective that Genentech says it's doubling the price. To 100,000 dollars a year.
Sacramento's scandal-in-waiting
In the wake of the Abramoff, Cunningham and DeLay scandals, all eyes have turned to lobbying reform in D.C., and deservedly so. But Washington is just the beginning. In fact, the lobbying that goes on in the nation's capital also exists in every state
Arbitrary Rights?
You should not have to give up your right to trial by jury to use a credit card, have surgery in a hospital or buy a house. But more and more, that's exactly what we're expected to do in mandatory, binding arbitration clauses.
Release the cells!
You very likely paid for your cell phone when you signed up for service. But what your service provider didn't tell you is they secretly put a programming lock on your phone that prevents it from being used on another company's system.
Why are the Dems caving in on Cox?
Cox, a right-wing Republican who wrote a 1995 law making it harder for investors to take corporate swindlers to court. Cox's Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, which became law over President Clinton's veto, has been blamed for allowing some of the
Chris Cox's Past Should Block His Road to the SEC
Never mind that Cox has one of the worst anti-consumer records as a Congressman on Capitol Hill. Put out of your mind that back in 1995, Cox co-authored the law that limited CEO accountability for stock fraud...
Junk Fax Solution
Coming soon to the Senate floor, the Junk Fax Prevention Act of 2005. Consumer advocate and commentator Jamie Court says don't let the name fool you.
Campaign Finance Reform Hypocrisy
Schwarzenegger clearly believes money is power, and that the cash to market himself and his spin will determine what voters remember, not the positions he takes.
Medical Malpractice Math
When a doctor's, hospital's or drug company's negligence seriously injures a patient, someone's got to pay the medical bills and living expenses. If it's not the wrongdoer, then it's likely gonna be the America taxpayer through programs like social securi
The governor's mega-bucks bid for a special election
Schwarzenegger may be accustomed to big-budget Hollywood productions, but taxpayers should not have to pick up the tab for an extra election just so the governor can skirt campaign-finance laws and wage a no-limits ballot fight financed largely by industr
A Special Election For Special Interests
We can't we wait until the statewide election in June 2006 -- saving the $60 million that a November special election would cost? Is it because Arnold can't wait a few more months to pass ballot initiatives that read like a wish list for many of his donor
President Bush and the choice word...
The truth is the new economic freedoms the president will promote come at the expense of political freedoms the nation was founded on -- open courts, representation for taxation, and our collective financial security.
Arnold Goes to Washington
Schwarzenegger marketed himself in California as the anti-politician. He told voters he's so rich and famous he can't be bought. That label stuck -- even though the self-professed Collectinator took in $72,000 per day in campaign cash during his first yea
The Next Four Years -- Consumers
In the Next Four years, we'll see Greed Breed. That's the Bush Administration's agenda. And to accomplish it, the top tactic will be to make you terrified of government itself.
Ballot Battles
Special interests are spending more than a quarter of a billion bucks on backing or opposing 163 ballot measures this election season. That's big money, mostly from big corporations, and professional associations. And it will buy a lot of big lies
Reducing lawsuit abuse
You don't hear too much about frivolous corporate litigation. That's because big business pays to publicize other things-like ambulance chasers out to bankrupt America.
US government's war on prescription drugs
The US government is prosecuting a new war on drugs: prescription drugs. The FDA is shutting down storefront pharmacies that import cheap drugs from Canada like they're crack houses.
This Democratic National Convention is brought to you by...
Lots of folks don't like the way the naming rights game is played - attaching corporate brands to what are commonly thought of as public spaces. But our consumer activist argues at least its more honest than the way the game is played by the political par
REDRESS WHEN WRONGED? FORGET ABOUT IT
Congress and the president should learn from the state patients' rights movement. Voters don't like being have-nots in the health care system but they will not stand for their politicians being have-mores.
Shouldn't We Be Able To Charge Companies For Our Lost Time?
If time is money, why are corporations the only ones who charge for wasting it? When our bills are late, banks, credit card companies and insurers charge us money. But no matter how much of our time it takes to fix their mistakes, we never get paid.
Sued a Physician, Did You? The Doctor Won't See You Now
Society depends on doctors to be there to treat everyone who is ill, not to select their patients based on their occupations or whether or not they've ever sued a doctor in the past. If the AMA won't stand up for this principle, it's up to patients
How class-action legislation will hurt small business
Mergers among banks, health insurers and oil companies were supposed to create economies of scale and savings for all. Instead, we've got bigger corporations gouging small businesses without the leverage to negotiate.
A Litigious Schwarzenegger Wants to Close the Door to Others
The real question may be whether Arnold Schwarzenegger values the public's legal rights as much as his own. His stand on the initiative will be the litmus test of whether damage to the environment, public health and society is as important to him as his i
Fighting Mad Doctors' Disease
Mad doctors disease is out of control. Striking doctors are not targeting insurance companies even though their profits went up a 1000 percent last year. Or threatening the few doctors who commit the majority of malpractice. They're targeting patients.
Federal Insurance Deregulation? It's no April Fools Joke
When any big industry says it's time to reregulate, that means one thing: Let's deregulate. That's the game the insurance industry is playing.
Gasoline Prices: a Case of Cheating, Not Competing;
Until our political leaders start talking tough about greater public control over the flow of gasoline, however, the in-state refining oligopoly will continue to extract even greater prices.
Manhattan elite lining up for pricey Schwarzenegger fund-raiser tonight
Schwarzenegger isn't in politics at all; he's in business. And tonight, Schwarzenegger will be selling California to New York.
Feasting on an Ailing California
Schwarzenegger is turning out to be a master salesman. If the who's who of Wall Street comes out Tuesday night to Arnold's fundraiser at Johnson's, we'll know exactly what our governor is selling: California to New Yorkers.
Consumer Protection Week Or Weak On Consumer Protection?
Imagine the uproar if George W. Bush declared it "Give Peace A Chance Week." Arnold Schwarzenegger's dedication of this week as "California Consumer Protection Week" should be met with similar jeers.
The Worst Corporateers and Best Counter-Corporateering Of 2003
2003 Worst Corporateers Of The Year Are... The notion that the free market is more important than the free society was pushed to new heights during 2003. At the same time, the counter-corporateering movement scored some major victories that could set a ne
Medicare "Reform" Gives Sellers, Not Seniors, Benefits
President Bush's signing of Medicare "reform" legislation threatens to usher in a new era in health care where the only rule is "the seller knows best." Insuance is the fastest unraveling social compact in America.
Governor Schwarzenegger's Wayward Broom
Arnold's "housecleaning" puts special interests first.
Will The French Rescue Americans' Privacy?
Last week the US Senate joined the House of Representatives in bowing to the powerful banking and insurance lobbies.
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