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News Release | Food

Representative Jeff Flake Introduces REAPS Act

Statement of U.S. PIRG Federal Legislative Office Director Gary Kalman on the introduction of the Reducing the Deficit through Eliminating Agriculture Direct Payment Subsidies Act.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG | Tax

Senator Carl Levin Introduces Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act

Statement of NCPIRG Federal Legislative Office Director Gary Kalman on the introduction of the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act.

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News Release | Tax

House Committee Approves Cut to Agriculture Subsidies

Statement of U.S. PIRG Public Health Advocate Elizabeth Hitchcock on the House Appropriations Committee’s vote to approve an amendment to the 2012 Agriculture appropriations bill  to limit agriculture subsidies called direct payments to farmers with adjusted gross incomes lower than $250,000.

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Report | U.S. PIRG | Financial Reform

Big Banks, Bigger Fees

Since Congress largely deregulated consumer deposit (checking and savings) accounts beginning in the early 1980s, the PIRGs have tracked bank deposit account fee changes and documented the banks’ long-term strategy to raise fees, invent new fees and make it harder to avoid fees. 

Over the last six months, PIRG staff conducted inquiries at 392 bank branches in 21 states and reviewed bank fees online in 12 others. This report, “Big Banks, Bigger Fees: A National Survey of Bank Fees and Fee Disclosure Policies,” examines the following questions: 

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News Release | NCPIRG | Tax

Obama Budget Proposes Important First Cuts to Ag Subsidies

Statement of NCPIRG Federal Public Health Advocate Elizabeth Hitchcock on the President’s proposed 2012 budget, which includes more than $1 billion in cuts over five years to agriculture subsidies that are achieved by reducing the cap on Department of Agriculture direct payments and tightening eligibility standards.

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News Release | NCPIRG | Health Care

Obama Health Care Plan Challenges Congress to Act

 “Tonight, drawing ideas from left and right, the President put forward his own healthcare plan. It tackles rising costs head on and ends insurance company abuses which threaten the coverage stability of Americans with insurance. It’s past time for Congress to come together and pass this bill.”

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News Release | NCPIRG | Health Care

Ordinary Americans to Congress: Get Health Reform Done. Now!

Today, Congress will be gaveled back into session, with leadership promising to deliver health insurance reform.  “It’s time for our representatives to finish the job,” said Rachel Weiss of NCPIRG, a consumer group that has been building grassroots support for reform.

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News Release | U.S. PIRG | Financial Reform

U.S. PIRG's Wall Street Bailout Briefing #7

When an institution can dish out trillions of dollars without so much as a whisper to Congress, let alone the American taxpayers, it has no incentive to be accountable – to act in our best interest. In fact, the Federal Reserve is, economist Dean Baker recently observed, “by design, more answerable to the banking industry than democratically elected officials,” and by proxy, to the American taxpayers.  

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News Release | NCPIRG | Transportation

Traffic Congestion Badly Hurts Triangle Area

According to data released today, North Carolinians in the Triangle area wasted 19.5 million hours of additional time stuck on the roads, and 12 million gallons of additional gas as a result of traffic congestion in 2007. The wasted time and fuel cost the public an equivalent of $421 million, according to the Urban Mobility Report produced by the Texas Transportation Institute.  The delays experienced in Charlotte were even greater, with the wasted time and fuel costing the public the equivalent of $525 million.

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News Release | NCPIRG | Transportation

Study of Private Roads Shows Signs for Caution

A major new report identifies problems in a national trend toward private toll roads. The study entitled Private Roads, Private Costs: The Facts About Toll Road Privatization and How to Protect the Public examines 15 completed private road projects and 79 others that are proposed or underway.

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Tools & Resources

  • YOUR TAX DOLLARS BECOME CORN SYRUP
    At a time when one-in-three kids is overweight or obese, over a billion taxpayer dollars go to high-fructose corn syrup and junk food ingredients.
    Take Action
  • FIGHT HIGH Rx Costs
    Prescription drugs cost too much. Brand-name drug companies have been paying off generic drug makers to delay competition and keep prices high, and it's costing us billions. Together, we can stop them.
    Learn more
    TAKE ACTION
  • STOP TAX DODGERS
    Corporate tax avoidance cost taxpayers $100 billion last year. We're working to close the loopholes that allow companies to avoid paying the taxes they owe.
    Learn more
    Take Action
  • Beat High Bank Fees
    Consumers can change the way big banks do business, and fortunately, you can still find many low fee and low cost options.
    Learn more
    Get Tips

Priority Action

The CUT Loopholes Act would put an end to the price and profit shifting that allows publicly traded companies to engage in pervasive tax avoidance.

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