Corporations

News

CMD Opposes Gutting of Telemarketing Regulations

by Patrick Moran — November 18, 2011 - 9:44am
  • Topics: Corporations, Marketing, U.S. Government

    • The Center for Media and Democracy is asking Congress to reject a bill that could "open up everyone's cell phones, land lines, and business phone numbers, without their consent, to a flood of commercial, marketing and debt collection calls," according to a letter signed by the Center and a number of public interest groups. The Mobile International Call Act of 2011 amends the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), a statute that regulates telemarketing and limits telephone solicitations and robo-calls. The bill purportedly makes sensible updates to the TCPA to allow consumers to be notified about fraud, appointment cancellations, drug recalls, late payments, and the like. However, other provisions of the bill would allow businesses to make pre-recorded robo-calls "for any commercial purpose that is not a solicitation." This applies to any consumer's cell phone, even for those that have placed themselves on the Do-Not-Call list. The bill also exempts modern automated predictive dialers from the TCPA, "permitting repetitive 'phantom' calls to cell phones doctor's offices, hospital rooms and pagers."

    Op-Ed

    The Supreme Court Will Uphold Health Care Reform, and Here's Why

    by Wendell Potter — November 17, 2011 - 2:45pm
  • Topics: Corporations, Health, U.S. Government

    • Opponents of the Affordable Care Act who believe the Supreme Court will declare the law unconstitutional are going to be disappointed next year when a majority of the nine justices vote to uphold it. It will likely be a 5-4 decision, but moderate conservative Anthony Kennedy will, I'm confident, recognize that without the law, the free-market system of health insurance, so highly valued by conservatives, will implode, sooner rather than later.

    The high court announced earlier this week that it will hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of the law next March. A decision is expected in June, just a few weeks before the parties hold their conventions. Regardless of which way the justices go, the decision will ensure that health care reform will be as contentious a campaign issue as it was in 2008.

    Guest Contributor

    Occupy Wall Street: Crafting A Constitutional Amendment To Stop The 1%

    by PRW Staff — November 16, 2011 - 3:21pm
  • Topics: Corporations, Election Protection, Politics

    • This is a guest post on Citizens United by Greg Colvin, who is a partner at the firm Adler & Colvin. It was originally published on OurFuture.org.

    We've seen the signs and heard the chants: "Abolish Corporate Personhood!"

    I'm very sympathetic to the cause of reducing the power of big business corporations to control our government, our economy, our consumer culture, our society, and our lives. We can't have democracy without a major shift of power into the hands of the people.

    But would an amendment to remove all rights of corporations from the US Constitution accomplish that? Would there be unintended consequences?

    There are two problems with a constitutional amendment that abolishes corporate personhood. One, it does too much, and two, it does too little.

    Op-Ed

    Consumers Could Save Billions on Health Insurance If This Dog Succeeds

    by Wendell Potter — November 15, 2011 - 12:46pm
  • Topics: Corporations, Ethics, Health, U.S. Government

    • If there is one organization that insurers despise and fear more than any other, it surely must be Consumer Watchdog.

    Since its founding in 1985, Los Angeles-based Consumer Watchdog has dogged insurers relentlessly and played a key role numerous times in forcing them to change business practices and price their policies more fairly. I first heard of the organization in 1996, when I was still an insurance industry spokesman. Consumer Watchdog seemingly came out of nowhere to take the lead in trying to put a halt to a new practice in the insurance industry: requiring women to be discharged from the hospital within a day after delivering a baby or undergoing a mastectomy. Largely because of Consumer Watchdog's efforts, insurers had to rewrite their discharge policies.

    Op-Ed

    As Zuccotti Park is Cleared, Congress Moves to Gut Financial Reform

    by Mary Bottari — November 15, 2011 - 12:09pm
  • Topics: Banking, BanksterUSA, Corporations, Democracy, Economy

    • In the dead of night November 14, the movement to hold big banks accountable for their crimes took two major hits. Occupy Wall Street activists were swept from Zuccotti Park as radical members of Congress moved to gut funding for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and advance a series of shocking proposals to roll back financial reform.

    Op-Ed

    Rove's Crossroads GPS Attacks Occupy Movement, Elizabeth Warren

    by Brendan Fischer — November 11, 2011 - 9:59am
  • Topics: Banking, BanksterUSA, Corporations, Democracy, Economy

    • Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS is running an ad in Massachusetts attacking the Occupy Wall Street movement and U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren with some questionable assertions.

    News

    Koch's Americans for Prosperity Fails in Effort to Smear Critic

    by Brendan Fischer — November 11, 2011 - 9:42am
  • Topics: Corporations, Democracy, Ethics, Media, Politics

    • An effort by the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity (AFP) to brand a frequent critic as a "liar" has been contradicted by a recording of the alleged deceit. AFP has not issued a retraction.

    On November 8, Americans for Prosperity published a blog post on their website titled "Lee Fang Lies: The Real Face of 'Think Progress.'" Fang is a researcher and blogger for Think Progress and has written many articles about the Koch brothers, including about their business practices and lobbying efforts, and about their role in manipulating the Tea Party.

    Op-Ed

    Insurers are Recycling a Front Group to Cheat Us Out of Benefits

    by Wendell Potter — November 10, 2011 - 10:18am
  • Topics: Corporations, Ethics, Health

    • The special interests seeking to gut those portions of the health reform law that would be of greatest benefit to consumers clearly believe there is no such thing as historical memory in Washington.

    Why else would they bring one of their old front groups out of the storage locker, with just a single new word added to its name? A front group designed to persuade Americans that what they might have thought was in their best interests really isn't after all.

    Op-Ed

    How the Koch-Funded ALEC Works to Deny Voting Rights; Brave New Film Highlights Voter Suppression

    by Lisa Graves — November 8, 2011 - 4:38pm
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Right Wing, Corporations, Democracy, Race / Ethnic Issues

    • A new film from the Brave New Foundation outlines the role of the Koch-funded American Legislative Exchange Council in new voter suppression tactics; the Center for Media and Democracy is one of the voices featured in the film.

    Through the corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), global corporations and state politicians vote behind closed doors to try to rewrite state and federal laws that govern your rights. The so-called "model bills" of this corporate bill mill -- which has been funded by Koch profits and other corporations -- reach into almost every area of American life, including the right to vote.

    News

    CMD's Quick Guide to the Mark Block "Blocktopus"

    by PRW Staff — November 8, 2011 - 1:06pm
  • Topics: Election 2012, Corporations, Election Protection, Ethics, Politics, Wisconsin Protests

    • By Brendan Fischer and Sara Jerving

    The Center for Media and Democracy filed a letter this week requesting that the Internal Revenue Service investigate Prosperity USA, a charity founded by Herman Cain's Chief of Staff Mark Block, for potentially violating the Internal Revenue Code by fronting tens of thousands of dollars worth of Mr. Cain's campaign travel expenses. But Prosperity USA is only one node in a network of charities and nonprofit organizations associated with Mr. Block, the former head of the Wisconsin arm of the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity.

    Syndicate content