senate

—>The Senate just released 88 pages of a confidential 270+ page marketing plan by Forest Laboratories, created in 2004 and focused on how to get doctors to prescribe the antidepressant Lexapro over similar but cheaper alternatives such as Celexa. The New York Times notes that the line between marketing and education seems to be heavily blurred, which may not surprise you. There are, however, two interesting notes for consumers who may be taking Lexapro.  More »

—>The Senate has approved $2 billion in additional funding for the CARS or Cash for Clunkers program. Of course, the perennial buzzkills at Consumer Reports Cars had to find a downside to the program's continuation.  More »

—>Tomorrow, a Senate committee will hold a hearing on legislation that grants passengers the right to deplane if their plane is delayed on the runway for more than 3 hours. The legislation will also require that airlines provide water, food, and bathroom facilities during delays. If passed, it will be ignored by Delta.  More »

—>Radio Shack is charging New York City consumers an extra half-percent of sales tax, even though the State hasn't approved a new tax rate. Before descending into a chaotic mess of embarrassing inaction, the New York State Senate was widely expected to hike the sales tax New York City's local sales from 8.375% to 8.875%. That never happened, a minor detail that isn't stopping Radio Shack from collecting more tax, as reader Jeff discovered...  More »

idk y txts r so $$. Consumers Union's Joel Kelsey says what all already knew—text messages are way overpriced—only he got to say it during testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights. [Consumer Reports Electronics]  More »

—>As we prepare to talk credit card reform with the Obama folks, we want to make sure you're all able to follow along at home. Inside, we present a cornucopia of fact sheets, charts, and links about the fight for credit card reform.  More »

—>Besides banning forced arbitration in consumer and franchise contracts, the Arbitration Fairness Act bans mandatory binding arbitration clauses in employment contracts. John's story illustrates why this is necessary, inside.  More »

—>The Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights is back in the news, and with Congress considering the legislation, we offer a refresher on what's in this bill and why it's important.  More »

—>Senators Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Bill Nelson, D-Florida, have introduced the m-SPAM Act, which would update the CAN-SPAM law to include text message spam. "The m-SPAM Act would explicitly bar marketers from sending text messages to any mobile number in the national Do-Not-Call registry maintained by the FTC," reports InternetNews.   More »

—>The House this week voted to empower the FDA to regulate tobacco, just in case people still smoke even after new taxes push the cost of cigarettes to over $9 per pack and the recession bankrupts everyone. Under the measure, which passed 298-112, the FDA would be able to set nicotine levels, control cigarette advertising, and require companies to provide a full list of cigarette ingredients. As usual, the killjoys in the Senate may force the House to smoke a light version of the cigarette bill...  More »

—>Following up on the multiple Obama nominees who've had tax troubles, Politico asked the 99 members of the Senate whether they've ever had mistakes on their tax returns or filed back taxes. Yes and yes.  More »