2015 Consumer Policy Agenda – National Consumers League

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January 13, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Consumer Action • Consumer Federation of America • Consumers Union • Association of Consumer Advocates • National Consumers League • National Consumer Law Center • Public Citizen • U.S. Public Interest Research Group

Consumer Groups Urge President, Congress to Support “Robust Agenda” for Consumers in 2015 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – With a new session of Congress underway, eight of the nation’s leading consumer organizations are calling on President Obama and lawmakers to help “level the playing field for consumers” by supporting a comprehensive agenda for consumer rights. In letters to the President and members of the House and Senate, the organizations wrote, “American consumers want and deserve a fair shake in the marketplace.  The safety of the food we eat, the products we buy, the healthcare we receive and the financial services we choose depend upon it.  Yet too often, the scales are tipped in favor of industry.  As the financial crisis made brutally clear, unchecked abuses in the marketplace can wreak havoc on individuals, families and the economy at large.  Now more than ever, consumers need the strong support of the Administration and Congress to defend existing consumer protections and promote further improvements where needed. The groups presented a list of priorities and concerns for the 114th Congress entitled “A Robust Agenda for Consumers.”  The priorities include:

  • Ensuring financial security for consumers
  • Making health care affordable, accessible and safe
  • Protecting regulatory safeguards
  • Making sure our food, products and cars are safe
  • Building on environmental progress
  • Ensuring the Internet remains affordable and accessible
  • Keeping legal avenues open to all consumers
  • Working for greater competition and consumer choice
  • Promoting fair trade
  • Reducing the influence of money in politics

The letters were signed by presidents and chief executive officers of Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, National Association of Consumer Advocates, National Consumers League, National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients), Public Citizen and U.S. Public Interest Research Group. “By working together and helping consumers make more informed decisions, we want to build an influential consumer movement that will be a force for change,” the groups wrote. Available online are the agenda and the letters to the President, the Senate, and the House.

National Consumers League statement on Obama Administration action on data security – National Consumers League

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January 13, 2015

Contact: Ben Klein, National Consumers League, benk@nclnet.org, (202) 835-3323

Washington, DC – The National Consumers League (NCL), the nation’s pioneering consumer advocacy organization, today applauded the Obama Administration’s efforts to better protect consumers from the threat of cyber attacks. In a speech yesterday at the Federal Trade Commission, the President proposed a new Personal Data Notification and Protection Act that would set a 30-day national data breach notification standard.

NCL has supported a strong national data breach notification standard, modeled after state law in California, which would set a national floor for breach notification without preempting stronger state laws. NCL has also called on Congress to strengthen civil and criminal penalties for malicious hacking and welcomes the recent announcement that the President’s proposal addresses this by criminalizing the overseas trade in stolen identities.

The following statement is attributable to Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director:

“The threat of criminal hacking is eroding consumers’ faith in our interconnected digital economy. We must not allow the immense benefits of our information revolution to fall victim to those who would steal consumers’ personal data for their own gain. The President’s proposal for a national data breach notification standard is an important step forward in giving consumers more control over their data, but there is much more to do. We look forward to learning more about the Administration’s proposal so that consumers will benefit from the strongest possible protections.”

As part of the #DataInsecurity Project, NCL has called on the new Congress to enact a range of reforms to better protect consumers’ data. In addition to data breach notification, NCL has called on Congress to create national data security standards, strengthen the Federal Trade Commission’s civil penalty authority; promote the growth of cyber insurance underwriting standards; increase criminal and civil penalties for malicious hacking; and strengthen international anti-cybercrime partnerships.

For more information on NCL’s 2015 Congressional Data Security Agenda, click here.

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About the National Consumers League

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

Seven tips to creating a winning LifeSmarts team – National Consumers League

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This post originally appeared on the LifeSmarts blog.

Hello all, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Over the break the members of the LifeSmarts team were hard at work making sure that the 2015 Nationals will be the best one yet! In addition to our usual preparation we have put together the top 7 tips to creating a winning LifeSmarts team. Below, I have included a few highlights from our list.

The first tip for a winning team is of course…PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. Work with your teammates daily using our quizzes and vocab calendars. When practicing, make sure to use buzzers if at all possible. Buzzers help to simulate live matches and make sure you are following all of the rules correctly.

Another tip includes looking back at previous LifeSmarts questions as well as creating your own questions. By creating your own questions and checking archived questions you will be able to create personal flashcards that help to reinforce knowledge that can be shared with your coach and teammates during practice sessions.

Lastly, USE IT ALL. LifeSmarts.org has tons of resources to help students prepare for competition. For example, be sure to check out our monthly TeamSmarts quizzes, they are a wonderful way to stay ahead of the game.

If you follow these tips, have a positive attitude, and remember to have fun, I guarantee you will be prepared for anything in LifeSmarts!

Check out our LifeSmarts infographic. 

An end to secret settlements could save lives – National Consumers League

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en, corporations are able to settle lawsuits brought against them in secret, paying off litigants and hushing up the hazards that lurk in their products. Consumers deserve more transparency and accountability from these corporations. USA Today editorialized last week on this very problem, focusing on a product I’d never heard discussed in this debate, ironically a rifle. 

 

In 2000, a nine-year-old Montana boy, Gus Barber, on a family hunting trip, was killed when his mother released the safety on a Remington 700 rifle to unload it and the gun discharged. Gus’ father later discovered that the company knew they had a safety problem for decades and never changed the design, admitted the problem, or recalled the rifles. By the time Gus was shot, more than 100 people had been injured and two-dozen killed. All these cases were buried through secret settlements, with judges sealing these confidential settlements, thus depriving the public from knowing about this deadly hazard.

The practice of sealing health and safety hazards, many of them deadly is unconscionable and dangerous. NCL and our fellow safety advocates have supported legislation introduced over the years in Congress to stop this practice, requiring judges to reject requests from plaintiff and defense lawyers to enter into secret settlements where dangerous products remain in the marketplace.

Gus Barber’s case is so outrageous that Montana joined four other states in adopting an anti-secrecy statute that prohibits their state courts from concealing information about public hazards.

Things may finally be turning around on this issue. In a recent case in Missouri, federal judge Ortrie Smith refused to seal a case against Remington for safety issues. That’s a hopeful sign. If we could get a federal bill passed, every judge would be required to follow Judge Smith’s example and refuse to deprive citizens of critical safety information that could have saved nine-year-old Gus Barber’s life. 

You committed to being healthier in 2015. Now what? – National Consumers League

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A new year is upon us and once again the time has come for New Year’s Resolutions. Making goals can be a rewarding or loathsome experience based on your ability to achieve them. By making extreme resolutions you could be setting yourself up for failure. It might not be feasible to exercise every day or never eat another cookie. Instead try making small changes and staying committed to those changes. By devoting yourself to something that doesn’t seem like that big of a change for a whole year, you can make a huge difference in your health.  

Here are a few ideas:

  1. Scale back on portion sizes: Instead of embarking on a full diet, cutting your portion sizes to 2/3 or 3/4 of what you would normally eat can have a significant impact over the course of a year. It can be difficult to know what a normal serving size should look like as restaurants often serve big portions so consumers feel like they are getting a good deal. In reality, it’s a bad deal for the environment if you waste the food and a bad deal for your health if you overeat. More information on appropriate portion sizes can be found here.
  2. Limit consumption of processed foods: These foods tend to have more added salt, fat and sugar.  Spotting processed foods at the grocery store is easier than it might seem. Avoid foods in boxes, bags or other packaging that list unfamiliar ingredients.
  3. Eat more meals at home:  Meals prepared in the home tend to be lower in calories fat and sodium. It can be challenging to make a fresh meal every night but cooking food in large batches a couple times a week helps provide ample homemade lunches and dinners. 
  4. Decrease soda consumption:  Soda is a large, nutrient-void source of calories. Drinking too much can increase your risk of diabetes, heart disease and other obesity related diseases. It can be difficult to cut back if soda has become a part of your daily food routine. Try limiting the amount you drink each week until it becomes a treat enjoyed on special occasions.
  5. Cut back on alcohol:  Similar to soda, alcohol is a large source of empty calories in many American’s diets. Alcohol doesn’t need to be completely eliminated from your diets. Instead put a cap on how many drinks you will allow yourself each week or each day. It will make the drinks you do consume that much sweeter. And remember, the Dietary Guidelines recommend no more than one alcoholic drink a day for women and two a day for men.
  6. Increase the amount of fruits and vegetables at every meal:  USDA’s “My Plate” recommends making half of each meal fruits and vegetables. Doing so is one simple way to ensure you are filling up on nutrient dense low calorie foods instead of those that are high in calories but neglect to provide adequate vitamins and nutrients.   
  7. Incorporate whole grains into your daily food routine: Try to switch the grains you eat on a daily basis to whole grains, substituting white rice for brown rice or buying whole grain bread instead of white bread. Experiment with baking with whole grain flour instead of white flour. If using all whole grain isn’t palatable to you, use half white and half whole grain. Consuming more whole grains provides more naturally occurring fiber and other vital nutrients. 
  8. Eat less meat:  Cut back especially on fatty processed meats like bacon, pepperoni and prosciutto. Instead, try replacing the meat in your favorite dishes with tofu or fish, both of which are high in protein but low in fat. 
  9. Commit to being active, not to exercise: Setting out to exercise daily can be a daunting. While it is still good to hit the gym or go on a run a few days a week, signing up for a class like dancing, rock climbing or kick boxing ensures you get plenty of movement in an enjoyable way.  Develop a new active hobby such as kayaking, biking, or hiking. Taking more walks, committing to taking the stairs, or parking at the furthest corner of the parking lot can all make a difference.
  10. Accept yourself as you are:  Imagine how hard life would be if you had someone following you around constantly criticizing you every minute. That’s what happens sometimes when we are displeased with ourselves.  If you accept and love yourself you will make achieving your new year’s goals that much easier. 

Changes do not need to be extreme to matter. Only create new goals that seem sustainable for a lifetime otherwise you may eventually give up and reverse the positive progress you have made. Have a happy and healthy 2015!