Why is Elizabeth Warren Against Part of the Affordable Care Act?

Here's an explanation: U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren is a superstar within the Democratic Party and a lightning rod for Republican outrage over the issue of tax fairness. But there is one tax that Warren doesn't like and it's part of Obamacare. The 2.3 percent excise tax on medical devices is a little-known provision in […]

State Highway Safety Officials Want to Ban Hand-Held Cell by Drivers

This Washington Post article from last Friday explains that a coalition of the top state highway safety officers want to ban hand-held cell phone use by drivers. But their ultimate goal is probably a ban on all cell-phone use by drivers — hand-held or hands-free — because, as we've explained earlier, studies show that hands-free cell […]

The Limits on “Agreements” to Arbitrate

One of things that bothers opponents of binding pre-dispute mandatory agreements in consumer contracts is that often they don't seem like agreements at all. In most cases, the arbitration clauses are buried in take-or-leave-it contracts that the consumer doesn't read (and sometimes has little opportunity to read). Arbitration opponents sometimes say that contracts of adhesion […]

The Honest Truth About Dishonesty and Consumer Protection

by Jeff Sovern I have been listening to the audio version of Dan Areily's book, The Honest Truth About Dishonesty, and it may shed some light on consumer protection.  Ariely explores the causes and limits of dishonesty.  He reports on a series of experiments that suggest that many people cheat a little, but not so […]

A Comment on Eric Grover’s Essay on the CFPB in the Washington Times

by Jeff Sovern A fellow named Eric Grover had a piece atacking the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the Washington Times this week titled "CFPB’s unchecked power."   A line at the end of the essay explains "Eric Grover is a principal at Intrepid Ventures."  I had never heard of Intrepid Ventures, but their web site […]

Forgiven Mortgage Debt May Increase Homeowners’ Income Tax Liability Starting Next Year

The cancellation of indebtedness generally produces income for federal and state income tax purposes. But as LA Times writer Jim Puzzanghera explains, "in 2007, Congress enacted the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act to give struggling homeowners a break. If the debt is forgiven because of a drop in a home's value or a decline in […]

Ninth Circuit Revises Opinion Rejecting Cereal Settlement

In July, we wrote about the Ninth Circuit's rejection of a settlement of claims that Kellogg's had misrepresented that kids could improve their attentiveness in school by nearly 20 percent by eating Frosted Mini Wheats for breakfast. The court held that the cy pres was not properly related to the claims and the class, and […]

Report on National Mortgage Fraud Settlement

We reported earlier on the national mortgage fraud settlement between the federal government, state attorneys general, and the five largest mortgage servicers. (Go here and here, for instance.) The settlement's official website has lots of information, including an executive summary, which sets out some of the settlement's key terms. The summary discusses the billions of […]

More on a Constitutional Amendment to Overrule Citizens United

Yesterday, we posted on President Obama's statement that if other means of curbing corporate election spending fail, he would consider a constitutional amendment to overrule the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision. The President thought it possible that the Court would itself overrule Citizens United, but that seems unlikely in the near term in light of […]