An Induction into LifeSmarts Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Posted by savvyconsumer in LifeSmarts, finances, health, kids, the economy.Tags: 2009 National LifeSmarts Championship, Oconto High School
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by Brandi Williams, LifeSmarts Program Assistant
As a newcomer to the National Consumers League, the 2009 LifeSmarts National Competition, held in St. Louis, Missouri from April 25 – 28, was my first opportunity to experience the energy that teens from around the country bring to the realm of consumer education. More than 300 students, coaches, families, sponsors, and volunteers from across the country converged in St. Louis for the four-day event, which was brought to an exciting conclusion when the final match between Washington state and Wisconsin was decided, and the Oconto High School team from Wisconsin emerged as the 2009 LifeSmarts National Champions . The semi-final and final matches were streamed live online by our friends at NextGenWeb! You can view the archive here.
Teens face similar challenges as their parents in making wise consumer choices. They are using the Internet to search for jobs, scholarships and information; they are opening bank accounts and depositing paychecks; they are analyzing costs and benefits to make responsible purchases of items like wireless phones, laptops, MP3 players, clothes and cars – and all the while developing the necessary skills for making financially and environmentally sound decisions. LifeSmarts teaches teens life skills and the value of consumer savvy in a variety of situations where marketplace skills and responsible decision-making are needed.
Coaches use the LifeSmarts.org site for finding relevant curricula to educate teens in the areas of health and safety, technology, personal finance, consumer rights and responsibilities, and the environment. Then, in a format that teens can relate to – a game-show – teens test their skills and knowledge through an online competition. Teams are formed, compete, and those with the highest scores then move on to an in-person state-wide competition, where the 1st place team is then invited to represent their state at the National LifeSmarts Championship.
Being at the National Competition showed me that these teens are excited about learning. The current state of our economy has shocked many teens into understanding the importance of making responsible financial decisions, making them eager to learn the skills they need and put them to use. Many people use the LifeSmarts.org site for personal education only. Participating in LifeSmarts, which is an extracurricular activity, is a personal choice for young adults who want to develop consumer and marketplace skills and carry them into adulthood. And while Oconto High School is the 2009 LifeSmarts National Champion, all LifeSmarts participants are champions in my book.
Tenenbaum a Good Match for Important CPSC Post Monday, June 22, 2009
Posted by savvyconsumer in Sally Greenberg, kids, legislative issues, safety, toy safety.Tags: Consumer Product Safety Commission, Inez Tenenbaum, Preside, President Obama
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by Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director
Late last week, the Senate Commerce Committee held its confirmation hearing for Inez Tenenbaum, the President’s nominee to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Tenenbaum comes with a set of impressive credentials – she was State Superintendent of Schools for South Carolina for 9 years and in 2004 ran for the U.S. Senate – and lost against Jim DeMint (R-SC), one of the most right-of-center members of the Senate serving in Congress today. Tenenbaum is credited with working for child health and safety while State Superintendent and being a popular vote getter in the state.
Her performance during tough grilling by Commerce Committee members showed her mettle. She maintained her composure, answered a series of tough questions, and exuded Southern charm throughout the hearing. Indeed, as a testament to her winning style, the hearing began with Tenenbaum flanked on either side with both Republican Senators from South Carolina – Lindsay Graham and DeMint – both giving her their endorsement.
Tenenbaum will need all of her skill, talent, and experience: she is likely to face many challenges while implementing the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, the most comprehensive overall of the product safety law since the CPSC’s establishment in 1974. The CPSIA will require a handful of new standards for durable baby products, items you would find child’s nursery that have too often proved hazardous to children. The new law calls for mandatory standards on such products.
Tenenbaum will also oversee regulations on third party testing requirements for products before they hit the market, the opening up of the CPSC Web site to the public, and providing the public the ability to research product safety histories at the CPSC site. Of great concern to Senators in the South, particularly in Louisiana, is the use of imported Chinese drywall products in homes that have proved hazardous and made thousands of houses unlivable. Senator David Vitter (R-LA) urged Tenenbaum to make Chinese drywall a top priority when she is confirmed.
The CPSC, which regulates the safety of 15,000 household products, is in dire need of an infusion of funds and new leadership. Tenenbaum’s performance on Wednesday before a tough audience of U.S. Senators was impressive. She seems dedicated to and engaged in the task of making products safer, especially for children. Her winning personality will smooth the waters and help her to bridge the gap between the business and consumer communities on product safety.
Food Safety Bill Goes to House Floor Friday, June 19, 2009
Posted by savvyconsumer in food and nutrition, health, legislative issues, safety.Tags: FDA, food, food safety, Henry Waxman, Jan Schakowsky
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by Amos Budde, NCL Policy Intern
Once again, news from Capitol Hill: The House Energy and Commerce committee held a full committee markup on the Food and Safety Enhancement Act yesterday, and it was unanimously adopted and to be sent to the House for a full vote. Each year, 76 million Americans suffer foodborne illnesses; 5,000 die. After the recent food scares and recalls of peanut butter, spinach, beef, berries, pet food, tomato products, and more, restoring confidence in the safety of our food supply has finally become a priority in Congress. This bill aims to fix the gaps in our regulatory system, so that consumers can be sure that their food is safe to eat.
The Food Safety Enhancement Act gives the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) much-needed regulatory authority in a variety of areas, including:
- Registering food facilities – All food producers in the US must register with the FDA and pay a $500 registration fee that will fund the new safety measures.
- More inspections – “High risk” food facilities will be inspected every 6 – 18 months. Many of these facilities are currently inspected only once per decade!
- Electronic traceability – Food producers must have a “trace back” and “trace forward” system to track of where food is coming from and going to.
- Giving the FDA more enforcement bite – The bill substantially increases fines for noncompliance with safety legislation.
- Mandatory recalls – The FDA did not have the authority to do so previously; with the passage of this bill, they will.
The FDA will now be better able to detect problems when they arise and then respond more quickly and effectively. Follow this link for a more in-depth look at the bill’s contents.
The most encouraging thing about this new approach is that stakeholders from all sides of the debate are coming together to support this bill. Both Democrats and Republicans in the committee shared personal stories about how food poisoning or other illnesses had affected their own lives and those of their constituents. Agricultural corporations and organizations like the Grocery Manufacturers of America recognize that food safety concerns were costing industries hundreds of millions of dollars each time a recall was required.
To build consensus and get broad support, the legislation failed to address some important issues, such as the extensive use of human antibiotics in livestock. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) offered an amendment on this issue, and while Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-CA) said he sympathized with Schakowsky, he noted that the issue was not being addressed because it was too controversial.
In what will certainly be a contentious year for the Energy and Commerce Committee, (it has to produce both the Climate Change and Health Care Reform legislation) it seemed like the members were enjoying yesterday’s bipartisanship. As long as this bill remains free of deal-breakers, it should soon become law.
Momentous Bill to Regulate Tobacco Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Posted by savvyconsumer in health, legislative issues, safety.Tags: FDA, Phillip Morris, President Obama, tobacco
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By Amos Budde, NCL Public Policy Intern
Amos Budde is a rising senior and Mathematics major at Brown University, also studying Economics and Public Policy. He hails from Minneapolis, MN and is excited to be working on consumer rights issues with the National Consumers League.
There was strong bipartisan support for consumer rights last week, as both the Senate and the House passed legislation by wide margins allowing the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate tobacco. President Obama has said he intends to sign the bill.
Tobacco has long been a hold-out in the regulatory system, as tobacco companies have spent millions each year lobbying against FDA regulation. Meanwhile, smoking continues to be linked to 400,000 deaths annually and results in enormous medical costs for the treatment of smoking-related illnesses. While smoking will never be part of a healthy lifestyle, we consumers will now be better able to tell what ingredients are in tobacco products, and the FDA will work to ensure that the inclusion of dangerous chemicals is limited to a safe amount.
Congress will also give the FDA strict rules on the marketing of tobacco, especially to adolescents. Candy and sweet flavoring in tobacco products will be banned, and tobacco companies can no longer use words such as “light,” or “low” that suggest that the products are less dangerous. Check out Project Vote Smart to learn more about some of the major provisions of the bill.
This is all welcome news. Tobacco companies in the past have offered to voluntarily curb their marketing to teens, but these efforts have failed to reduce the number of under-age smokers. This bill provides comprehensive reform on the relationship between tobacco companies and consumers, and will allow us more informed decisions when it comes to using tobacco.
Interestingly, tobacco giant Phillip Morris has been a staunch supporter of the new rules and regulations, while smaller rivals have been opposed. Increased regulation will be a larger burden on smaller tobacco companies, and a restriction on advertisement makes it difficult for new brands to enter the market. This allows the already popular Philip Morris brands to benefit from reduced competition, and democrats and republicans alike have benefited from having such a powerful corporate ally in a bill to regulate tobacco.
While this is a landmark moment for consumer rights, it will still require active review of the lobbying efforts of Phillip Morris and other tobacco companies. Now that the power is with the FDA, we need to make sure the regulation still focuses on the consumer. Keeping us safe and able to make informed decisions should be the FDA’s top priority.
Consumer Advocates Crossing the Atlantic Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Posted by savvyconsumer in National Consumers League, Sally Greenberg, global issues, safety, the economy.Tags: TACD, nanotechnology
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By Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director
Over the past few days I’ve been participating in the annual Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue, or TACD in Brussels. The organization is celebrating its 10 year anniversary, these days bringing together more than 80 consumer organizations, from both the American and European sides, to discuss issues jointly and press international officials on their responses to a range of consumer concerns. On the European side, 31 countries participated with the group “BEUC” acting as the European umbrella consumer organization.
TACD was launched by consumer advocates on both sides of the Atlantic as a way of balancing the Trans Atlantic Business Dialogue. TACD has proved a valuable tool for advancing the consumer cause internationally. In Brussels, consumers had a day of meetings, consulted with one another about joint concerns, shared our respective legislative or administrative initiatives, and planned for our meetings with government officials. On the second day, we talked with these officials and shared questions and concerns. From the United States, we met with representatives from the office of the U.S. Trade Representative, the FDA, and the FTC stationed in Brussels. On our last evening, we were invited to the American mission in Brussels for a reception and a meeting with the top American officer, the Charge d’Affaires Christopher Murray.
On our agenda were many current pressing consumer issues, including financial services, advertising to children, global warming, food safety, nanotechnology, product safety, and intellectual property concerns.
Sadly, when the American economy goes south, markets across the globe are brought down with it. With the world’s economy in a tailspin and unemployment rates up higher than they’ve been in decades, the condition of the banking systems in Europe and the United States has greater significance than it has in many decades. Consumer advocates at TACD talked at length about efforts to learn from this economic crisis – a crisis that has reduced by 40 percent the value of retirement and college savings. We are keenly aware that our system collapsed under the weight of an array of risky financial products and faulty mortgages in the areas of the American banking system that are lacking in proper regulation. We all discussed strategies for putting better protections in place for consumers.
Another issue growing in importance to consumers is nanotechnology, the use of tiny particles now found many of the products consumers use daily – sunscreen lotions, lipstick, baby powders. We don’t really know what the effect of these nano products might be on our safety and health, and consumer advocates are concerned that our product safety agencies don’t have the expertise or resources to properly study these effects. So much work is needed here in the coming years.
During my decade-plus of working on consumer issues, learning about what other countries are doing on financial protections, product safety, or any other consumer issue is extremely valuable. It tells us that something we are asking for is possible, and regulation and consumer protections won’t bring down an entire industry, as our adversaries sometimes argue.
Among the comments I’ll remember from the conference, here are two of my favorites: Jim Guest, president of Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, predicted that the next 10 years – with a new administration in Washington and a far more consumer friendly Congress – would be the “decade of the consumer.” Monique Goyens, the charming new head of BEUC, told TACD that consumer advocacy was far more than simply educating consumers and expecting them to know how to protect their interests. Complicated documents with many pages of fine print or hard to understand safety manuals are unacceptable. Goyens closed with this: “being a consumer shouldn’t be a full time job.” I couldn’t agree more. TACD is a valuable tool for addressing risks consumers face in a global economy.
Busy Time for NCL’s Telecom Work Friday, June 12, 2009
Posted by savvyconsumer in John Breyault, National Consumers League, finances, telecommunications, the economy.Tags: broadband, Debra Berlyn, DTV conversion, FCC
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By John Breyault, Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud
The past several days have seen two important developments for NCL’s work on behalf of telecommunications consumers. First, we are proud to announce that the FCC has appointed the National Consumers League to its Consumer Advisory Committee (CAC). Representing NCL on the CAC will be NCL Board member Debra Berlyn, who will be continuing in her role as CAC Chair. Debbie had previously represented the DTV Transition Coalition at the CAC. The FCC’s official notice of the appointment is available here.
The Consumer Advisory Committee was originally chartered by the FCC in 2000 (then known as the “Consumer/Disability Telecommunications Advisory Committee”) to provide advice to the Commission on issues pertaining to access for people with disabilities to telecommunications technologies, consumer education and protection, and improving consumer participation in the FCC’s rulemaking processes. Now in its fifth term, the CAC continues to provide advice to the FCC on a range of consumer issues. We are extremely pleased that the Commission has appointed NCL to the CAC and grateful to Debbie for agreeing to represent NCL at the CAC meetings.
The second important development in NCL’s telecom work was our filing of comments in the FCC’s Notice of Inquiry for the Commission’s national broadband plan. The Notice was issued in response to requirements in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA — the much-ballyhooed “stimulus” bill), which directed the FCC to submit a national broadband plan to Congress by February 2010. This effort will effectively frame the FCC’s policy with regards to the nation’s broadband infrastructure for years to come. As such, hundreds of interest groups from the private sector, organized labor, government, and non-profit communities filed comments. The main points in our comments include:
- The National Broadband Plan should encourage robust competition – The one-constant in broadband going forward is that consumers will want more of it, at faster speeds, and accessible on a variety of devices.
- Broadband access should be affordable – Universal access is insufficient if that access is unaffordable. Broadband is as essential to life in the 21st century as electricity was in the 20th. The national broadband plan should seek to keep rates affordable for low-income consumers.
- Broadband should help create jobs – The ARRA places great emphasis on the job-creation potential of broadband and associated programs such as broadband mapping. Special emphasis should be placed on innovative public-private partnerships that help to create jobs.
- Innovative solutions that reduce the Digital Divide should be encouraged – Broadband solutions that help connect difficult-to-reach audiences should be encouraged. In particular wireless broadband solutions (including Wi-Fi, WiMAX, and 3G cellular technology) connecting low-income consumers should be explored. Tele-health programs should include strict measures of quality to ensure low-income users benefit.
- Basic consumer protections should be safeguarded – Consumers should have greater control over the information they share online. Anti-competitive business practices such as mandatory binding arbitration clauses should be restricted and anti-fraud provisions should be strengthened.
To read NCL’s full comments, click here.
Health Reform – For the Health of the People and the Economy Monday, June 8, 2009
Posted by savvyconsumer in Mimi Johnson, National Consumers League, health, legislative issues, the economy.add a comment
by Mimi Johnson, NCL Health Policy Associate
All signs point to health reform happening in time for Congress to take their August recess. It will be a busy two months in this town, but everyone agrees that SOMETHING has to happen … if only we could figure out what that something will look like.
In a paper released last week, Obama’s economic advisors outlined a few of the main ways in which health care costs link to the economy, and how fixing the health care system can help fix the economy.
The Administration outlines just how our broken health care system hurts our workforce; we currently burden small employers with skyrocketing costs for covering their employees, lock workers to jobs for fear of losing health benefits, and have a workforce unable to be as productive as possible because of their health.
We were also excited to see that the President is supportive of efforts to engage and educate consumers. The National Consumers League is committed to educating consumers about their health and the tools available to help manage it. There is increasing evidence of the cost savings and improved health outcomes when a consumer is educated and engaged in their health care.
Because there are so many players vested in the outcome, there are a lot of competing ideas about how best to approach reform. In fact, even those on the same side cannot always agree. Yesterday, President Obama hosted Senators Kennedy (chair of the Senate’s HELP – Health, Education, Labor and Pensions – Committee) and Baucus (chair of the Senate’s Finance Committee) to try to find some common ground. As follow-up to the meeting, President Obama released a letter to Senators Kennedy and Baucus reiterating his commitment to reform, including:
- ensuring quality and affordable health care for all Americans – offering choices, an insurance exchange, and a public plan
- managing chronic care
- promoting best practices
- sharing responsibility – including for the cost of coverage
- working towards a more effective, efficient, and quality-driven system
We’re pounding the marble on the Hill, trying to get our voice heard. If you can’t make it to Washington, here are some other good ways to stay informed and be heard:
Stay tuned throughout the summer for additional updates!
School May Be out, But LifeSmarts Lessons Are Always in Session Friday, June 5, 2009
Posted by savvyconsumer in LifeSmarts, Lisa Hertzberg, child labor, finances, health, worker's rights issues.add a comment
by Lisa Hertzberg, LifeSmarts Program Director
Students across the country are sprinting toward the school year finish line. We feel confident that the consumer smarts that LifeSmarts participants gained this year will stay with them, and won’t get thrown in the dumpster along with their biology notes on the last day of school.
While participating in LifeSmarts, students learned about their rights as workers, which will help ensure that they are treated fairly at their summer jobs this year. For a quick refresher, check this out. LifeSmarts students also know that some jobs are inherently dangerous, and before accepting a summer job they will check out which jobs to avoid at NCL’s “Five Worst Summer Jobs.“
When they get their first paycheck, LifeSmarts students they will pay themselves by putting some earnings directly into savings. This will help them work toward goals they’ve established, such as purchasing a car, saving for prom, or saving for post-secondary education. To learn, visit the LifeSmarts Financial Literacy Pilot.
Summer is the time to get more activity in their lives, and LifeSmarts students will follow the advice of sites like this one. While staying active outdoors, they will be sure to wear the appropriate sunscreen (for a quick review here), and follow the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s tips to keep themselves and others safe.
Summer is certainly a welcome time to shift gears, and we want to wish everyone a safe and fun summer!
The LifeSmarts Spring Training site remains open through June 15, but then LifeSmarts also goes on a summer schedule. Summer is our opportunity to refresh the LifeSmarts Web site, retire questions, update the questions in the online competition and practice areas, and get new materials ready for educators and students to use when they check us out again in August or September. (Coaches and students can register again beginning August 1, and students may compete beginning September 14, 2009.)
To everyone involved with LifeSmarts this year – thank you for another wonderful year!
Downey’s Perkins Bio a Must-Read Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Posted by savvyconsumer in National Consumers League, Uncategorized.Tags: FDR, Frances Perkins, Kirsten Downey, New Deal, Washington Post
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by Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director
It’s rare for me to read a work of nonfiction that is a page turner, but I’m reading such a book right now. It’s the new biography of nation’s first female cabinet member and Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins. The author is the former Washington Post business reporter Kirsten Downey, and she has produced a riveting biographical sketch of Perkins, who changed her name from Fannie to Frances because she thought the latter was more dignified. I didn’t want the book to end; I pored over each chapter as though I was reading a work of great suspense, eager for the next chapter.
The book title is “Woman Behind the New Deal – The Life of Frances Perkins, FDR’s Secretary of Labor and His Moral Conscience,” and it’s written with clarity and filled with valuable nuggets of information, has a feminist perspective, and includes a unique perspective that is not found in the usual accounts of this New Deal era.
The National Consumers League figures large in the life of Frances Perkins. Florence Kelley, the League’s first leader, spoke at Perkins’ college, Mt. Holyoke, in 1902, and Perkins was captivated by this powerful orator. Kelley spoke about her new organization, the National Consumers League, and its efforts to eradicate child labor and eliminate sweatshops. Kelley was fiery, energetic, and filled with idealism. Perkins, after graduating from college, ran the League’s New York chapter, focusing on four areas: poor conditions in cellar bakeries, long hours and poor wages for children, child labor, and workplace fire hazards.
Shopgirls suffered some of the worst conditions working for Bloomingdales, Altman’s and Macy’s: they worked very long hours (14-16 hours) for very low pay. While lobbying for the League, Perkins developed a friendship with Former President Teddy Roosevelt, who endorsed the NCL’s efforts to restrict child labor in a letter he allowed Perkins’ to circulate widely.
Again, while lobbying for the League in Albany, Perkins became acquainted with Franklin Delano Roosevelt. When he was elected president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt asked Perkins to be his Secretary of Labor. Perkins went on to serve all of FDR’s four terms – the last was cut short by his untimely death – but FDR so relied on and trusted Perkins he rejected her offers to resign as Labor Secretary. All the while, her fellow cabinet members – all male – mocked her style of speaking and were jealous of her close relationship to FDR.
Perkins is responsible for so much more than any of us probably realize. That is why Downey’s book title is so apt. As labor secretary, Perkins worked to pass unemployment insurance, Social Security, and the law setting wage and hour restrictions known as the Fair Labor Standards Act.
In an interesting historical twist, Downey suggests that Perkins was probably also responsible, indirectly, for the election of Harry Truman as president, once he ran on his own after serving out FDR’s aborted final term. Perkins persuaded Eleanor Roosevelt to endorse Truman, something she had been reluctant to do because she was unhappy that the new president had let Perkins go as Labor Secretary in his new cabinet. Eleanor thought it was important to have a woman in the cabinet.
But Perkins prevailed on Eleanor, who was a highly respected democrat in 1948 whose voice carried a lot of weight, to make a strong appeal to democrats to support Truman for President. As history reminds us, this was a very close race between Truman and Thomas Dewey, so much so that newspapers called the election for Dewey. Eleanor’s voice probably turned the tide of history and resulted in Truman’s ultimate victory.
Downey brings out aspects of Perkins’ life (her husband was bi-polar, couldn’t work for much of his life, spending many years in an institution, and her daughter suffered from mental illness as well) and career that have been missing in other biographies of the first female labor secretary. Perkins soldiered on, never allowing prejudices to hold her back.
Today we have another female labor secretary, Hilda Solis, who works at DOL in the federal building named for Frances Perkins and is supportive of the needs and concerns of working men and women. This book is a timely and invaluable contribution to our understanding of the New Deal and programs intended to provide that social safety net that made America a model for the rest of the world.
