Special section: Printed on 100% recycled paper (45% post-consumer material)

The hard-fought financial reforms are now law. What’s next?

Public Citizen Takes on AT&T Before the U.S.Supreme Court

Public Citizen Pushes for BP Accountability

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NEWSVol. 30, No. 5 • September/October 2010

WIN! Reining in Wall Street

By Barbara HolzerThe fallout from the worst oil

spill in U.S. history is ongoing, and Public Citizen is keeping the pressure on to hold BP account-able for the damage it has done in the Gulf of Mexico.

In addition, we are work-ing to break the influence the energy industry has over our government.

“No one intended for BP’s well to explode, but that doesn’t mean it should be considered an accident,” said Robert Weiss-man, president of Public Citizen.

“It was the predictable result of a reckless company cutting cor-ners while compromised regula-tors looked the other way.”

Below are Public Citizen’s pri-orities for ending energy indus-try influence over our political system and preventing future disasters.

1) Tightening the rules The nation got a crash course

on how offshore oil drilling is handled by the government and the many shortcomings in that process. As a result, Congress

sprang into action and wrote bills that would tighten the rules.

The U.S. House of Represen-tatives made a start by passing the Consolidated Land, Energy and Aquatic Resources (CLEAR) Act on July 30 (H.R. 3534). The bill lifts the existing $75 million liability cap for oil damages; re-forms the Minerals Management Service, the agency tasked with overseeing offshore drilling op-erations; repeals a legislative provision that exempted projects

Public Citizen’s 2009-2010 Congressional Scorecard, pages 7-18

By Joe NewmanAfter spending much of the

past two years lobbying Con-gress to rein in the banking in-dustry’s reckless behavior, Pub-lic Citizen saw its efforts pay off in July when President Barack Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consum-er Protection Act into law.

There were plenty of reasons to celebrate: specifically, the cre-ation of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and curbs on some of the worst prac-tices in the derivatives market — measures that Public Citizen had pushed for in the wake of the 2008 financial meltdown.

The CFPB will have the au-thority to crack down on some of the banking industry’s most deceptive and abusive practic-es involving products such as payday loans, credit cards and mortgages.

This kind of oversight could have prevented much of the predatory lending that helped to crash the economy.

Another area where the law will have an impact is in the trad-ing of derivatives. Now, most of the previously unregulated over-the-counter derivatives must be traded on regulated exchanges. There also are new restrictions on banks making bets against their own clients, and on banks with federal deposit insurance and other federal benefits engag-ing in risky trading.

However, the fight for mean-

ingful financial reform is far from over.

The new law requires regula-tory agencies to write hundreds of new rules during the next sev-eral years, which will determine how they carry out Congress’ intentions. The effectiveness of the new law will depend on how the new regulations are written. If Wall Street lobbyists have their way, many of the potential bene-fits from the new law will be lost, said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen.

By Angela BradberyHidden charges. Early termina-

tion fees. Dropped calls. The perils of cell phone use are

all too common. Now, cell service giant AT&T is

trying to take away the ability of people to fight back when it does wrong.

In an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case, Public Citizen will stand up for consumers and take on AT&T. The implications of this case are huge: The court will decide whether consumers and employees can band together through class actions to stop cor-porate wrongdoing.

It all started with a ‘deal’ In February 2005, when Vin-

cent and Liza Concepcion heard that Cingular was offering dis-counted and free phones with cell service, they headed to a nearby store in Carlsbad, Calif.

There, Cingular, which later became AT&T, charged the Con-cepcions $149.99 for two cell

2 September/October 2010 PUBLIC CITIZEN NEWS

IN THIS ISSUE Vol. 30, No. 5

Government and financial reform

Win! Reining in Wall Street: The hard-fought financial reforms are now law. What’s next? .............................. 1

Public Citizen: Appoint Warren as CFPB leader ..........................................4

Senate reconsiders DISCLOSE Act — too late for 2010 elections ......................... 6

Pay czar, BP oil spill fund administrator speaks at Public Citizen ...........................21

Litigation

Public Citizen takes on AT&T before the U.S. Supreme Court .................. 1

Energy and climate

Public Citizen pushes for BP accountability ................................ 1

Win! Texas judges do not recommend White Stallion permit ...............................4

Public Citizen’s 2009-2010 Congressional Scorecard

A mixed performance: 2009-2010 Congress takes steps forward on some reforms, disappoints on others ............................... 7

Key legislation in the 111th Congress .........8

Tracking lawmakers’ records ............... 9-18

Health and safety

Win! After Public Citizen testifies, FDA panel rejects diet drug ..................... 20

Globalization and trade

New map highlights key pitfall of Korea trade agreement ........................... 22

For your entertainment

Public Citizen crossword ........................ 23

“Get Real” .............................................. 23

“Saved by the Sea” ................................. 23

“Generation We” .................................... 23

Other

Get to Know Public Citizen ....................... 2

President’s View ...................................... 3

A lifetime of achievement: Public Citizen honors Phil Donahue’s dedication to empowering all .................................... 5

Public Citizen names new board members ................................19

In the Spotlight .......................................211600 20th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20009 • (202) 588-1000 • pcmail@citizen.org • www.citizen.org

Public Citizen is a national nonprofit membership organization based in Washington, D.C. Since its founding by Ralph Nader in 1971, Pub-lic Citizen has fought for corporate and government accountability in order to guarantee the individual’s right to safe products, a healthy en-

vironment and workplace, fair trade, and clean and safe energy sources. Public Citizen is active in Congress, the courts, government agencies and the news media.

Public Citizen does not accept government or corporate grants. Our fund-ing comes from our supporters throughout the country who believe there should be full-time advocates of democratic principles working on their behalf, from foundations and from the sale of our publications. Public Citizen is an equal opportunity employer. To become a member of Public Citizen and receive the award-winning Public Citizen News, please call (202) 588-1000 or send a check payable to Public Citizen for $20 (or $35 to add one year of Health Letter) to Public Citizen Membership Services at the address below.

Public Citizen News (ISSN 0738-5927), entire contents copyrighted 2010. Soy inks and 100 percent recycled paper (45 percent post-consumer material) are used in the printing of Public Citizen News. Postmaster: Send address changes to Public Citizen News at the address below.

President Robert Weissman

Public Citizen Inc. Board of Directors Jason Adkins (chair), Joan Claybrook, Barbara Ehrenreich, Andrew S. Friedman, Jim Hightower, Joy Howell, Adolph L. Reed Jr., Cynthia Renfro, John Richard, Robert Weissman (ex officio)

Public Citizen Foundation Board of Directors Robert C. Fellmeth (chair), Jim Bildner, Mark Chavez, Joan Claybrook, Liz Figueroa, David Halperin, Annie Leonard, Steve Skrovan, Anthony So, Robert Weissman (ex officio)

Directors David J. Arkush, Congress Watch; Angela Bradbery, Communications; Chris Helfrich, Development; Tyson Slocum, Energy; Tom Smith, Texas; Joe Stoshak, Chief Financial Officer; Lori Wallach, Global Trade Watch; Sidney M. Wolfe, M.D., Health Research; Allison Zieve, Litigation

Editor Bridgette Blair

Graphic Designer James Decker

Get to Know Public CitizenAn ongoing series profiling Public Citizen staff members

While not on the phone assisting Public Citizen members or working with her staff, Lindsey Pullen, Public Citizen’s Member Services man-ager, often treats Public Citizen employees with gourmet home-made baked goods — from expertly deco-rated cakes to delicious brownies.

“I’m [Pub-lic Citizen’s] resident expert on all manner of baked goods!” Pullen said.

Pullen’s gener-ous and friendly manner extends to her work in Member Services. Her time is spent work-ing closely with Public Citizen members on specific requests or concerns they may have.

Pullen has held her current position since October 2009. During her 2½ years at the organization, she also has planned fundrais-ing events and provided support to the major gifts team.

Pullen has a love for economics, activism and politics. She first realized her passion for political issues when she joined her high school debate team in Hayward, Calif., and found herself wholly invested in policy is-sues. She then decided she wanted to leave California and attend college in Washington, D.C.

Pullen, who graduated from American University in 2008 after studying econom-ics, communications and government, spent 3½ years working in the university’s Office of Development, reaching out to alumni and raising money to build the school’s first en-vironmentally friendly building. During her senior year, she interned at Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch.

Q: What kinds of services do you provide for Public Citizen members? PULLEN: If members or subscribers have questions about membership, donations, publications, activism campaigns, etc., I am their first point of contact by phone, e-mail or mail. I can also relay member feedback to the appropriate staff at Public Citizen.

Q: What kinds of requests do you receive from members? PULLEN: The most common requests are for address updates and extra issues of Public Citizen News and Worst Pills, Best Pills News. Many members also call to enroll in our monthly giving program, Friends of Public Citizen. I receive a surprising number of calls from members who want to relay messages to the White House, but unfortunately, I don’t have a direct line to the president’s office.

Q: What do you enjoy most about interacting with Public Citizen members? PULLEN: Seeing the sheer volume of con-cerned citizens ready to take a stand on issues that matter most!

Q: What do you enjoy most about your job?PULLEN: Working with people who are as passionate as I am.

— Compiled by Arlene Tonoff

Lindsey Pullen

September/October 2010 3 PUBLIC CITIZEN NEWS

EDITORIAL

A Tool to Advance DemocracyCongressional Scorecard Identifies Key Lawmaker Decisions

1600 20th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20009 • (202) 588-1000 • pcmail@citizen.org • www.citizen.org

Letters to the editor can be e-mailed to editor@citizen.org or mailed to Editor, Pub-lic Citizen News, 1600 20th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20009.

Please include a daytime phone number for verifica-tion. Letters generally run 200 words or fewer. They may be edited for space, grammar or clarity.

The Internet has brought more information to our fingertips

than was imaginable just a decade ago. However, it is often still difficult to be well-informed.

One of our priori-ties at Public Citizen is to help members and supporters — as well as the broader public — be better informed about the key issues of our time. This involves advocating better disclosure of infor-mation husbanded by government and corporations.

But it also involves highlight-ing key pieces of information amidst a torrent of data, and interpreting and analyzing facts and figures.

Every issue of Public Citizen News aims to carry out the twin functions of providing you with vital information and interpret-ing what’s going on in the world around us.

In this issue, we pursue these objectives in a special way, with our popular Congressional Scorecard.

The scorecard lets you know how members of Congress voted on issues you care about and whether they sponsored legisla-tion to advance those issues. The

raw data we present is available on the Internet — a very good

development and a major advance in information avail-ability compared to the days when you had to go to the library and check the paper version of the Congressional Record to find out how a representative or senator voted. But while the legislative information made available by the Library of Congress

(see http://thomas.loc.gov) is a wonderful resource, it doesn’t do much to tell you what really matters in Congress.

Our Congressional Scorecard identifies key decisions by mem-bers of Congress through three functions: issue selection, vote selection and legislative sponsorships.

1) Issue Selection Congress casts many hundreds

of votes every year, mostly on matters of little importance. We sort through all of these votes to focus on vital pieces of legisla-tion. Our scorecard highlights the issues where we, together, have been working: Wall Street reform, campaign finance re-form, clean energy, a just trade policy, health care and more.

2) Vote SelectionIt’s not enough to look just

at the votes to pass or defeat a given piece of legislation. Often, the more controversial votes — where members are really tested on their positions — involve procedural votes in advance of final consideration. Sometimes, members don’t want to go on record as favoring corporate interests and opposing a popular proposal — but they are willing to advance corporate interests by working to prevent the pro-posal from being presented for an up-or-down vote. Because we are so intimately engaged with the legislative process for our priority issues, we show you which votes really matter.

Similarly, we highlight votes on amendments that may in-volve tougher issues than the final legislation. So, yes, we highlight the Wall Street reform legislation that passed the Sen-ate 60-39. But we also highlight the amendment to the legisla-tion that called for breaking up the biggest banks — that failed, 33-61.

3) Legislative sponsorships

As a new component of our Congressional Scorecard, we also highlight legislative sponsor-ships. Several of the bills we are championing have not yet come to a floor vote. In these cases,

where we are still building sup-port, the test is whether mem-bers of Congress sponsored the bills. For high-profile legislation like the TRADE Act or the Fair Elections Now Act, sponsorship — which means that a lawmaker adds his or her name to a bill to show support for it — is vital to provide momentum for the legislation.

Even without a floor vote, these bills may play a crucial role in shaping legislative delib-eration. This furthers our goal at Public Citizen of setting the terms of debate, of playing a pro-active rather than reactive role.

You’ll see from reviewing the scorecard that we’ve had some impressive wins in the past two years. We’ve had our share of defeats, as well. But that’s how it should be. If we had won every vote, we would know we weren’t pushing hard enough!

Of course, the purpose of presenting the Congressional Scorecard is to empower you.

This is a tool to advance de-mocracy. Now the tool is yours. Go forth, Public Citizens!

PRESIDENT’S VIEWROBERT WEISSMAN

Tell Us What You Think!

4 September/October 2010 PUBLIC CITIZEN NEWS

Financial Reform Legislation Becomes Law

Public Citizen: Appoint Warren as CFPB Leader

Financial, from page 1

The financial services industry surely will do its best, whether through public comments on rules or behind-the-scenes lob-bying, to make the new rules as industry-friendly as possible. But Public Citizen will fight to make sure the rules are properly writ-ten with consumers in mind.

And another round of legisla-tive reform is essential because Wall Street lobbyists prevented many crucial reforms from inclu-sion in the new law, Weissman said.

“The bill is an extraordinary achievement for regular Ameri-cans. It was passed by Congress and enacted into law despite a massive and deceptive opposi-tion campaign by Wall Street and its allies,” Weissman said. “How-ever, we have lots more to do. Wall Street remains far too pow-erful in Washington.”

Don’t take our word for it. Lis-ten to what the money people on Wall Street were saying after the new law was passed.

A Wall Street banker told The New York Times: “If you talk to

anyone privately, there’s a sigh of relief. It’ll crimp the profit pool initially by 15 or 20 percent and increase oversight and compli-ance costs, but there’s no break-up of any institution or onerous new taxes.”

“We dodged a bullet,” the spokeswoman for the National Venture Capital Association, Em-ily Mendell, told TheStreet.com.

Among the issues that Congress must still address are meaning-ful reforms of compensation for executives and top traders, rules to break up the biggest banks and limits on commercial banks owning hedge funds, said David Arkush, director of Public Citi-zen’s Congress Watch division.

“The new law is a significant, initial victory for Main Street over

Wall Street — and one that Con-gress should expand on soon,” Arkush said. “The law establishes a strong base of financial reform that we should build on in the near future.”

Joe Newman is deputy director for communications for Public Citizen.

For months, Public Citizen and other groups have urged President Barack Obama to appoint Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau because of her work promoting consumer interests through her writings and her position leading a congressional panel with oversight of the federal government’s $700 billion bailout fund.

In fact, it was the no-nonsense Warren who first proposed a consumer financial protection bureau as a way to hold financial institutions accountable for their predatory and abusive practices, such as payday loans and questionable mortgages. The banking industry has opposed Warren’s appointment.

In August, Public Citizen delivered a petition with more than 15,000 signatures to the White House, asking Obama to nominate Warren to the post.

And in September, Obama announced that Warren would have a major role in creating the CFPB. He named her to the post of assistant to the president and special adviser to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Still, Warren should be nominated to lead the agency, Public Citizen maintains.

— Joe Newman

Texas Judges Do Not Recommend White Stallion Permit

By Dorry SamuelsPublic Citizen and other op-

ponents of the proposed White Stallion coal- and petroleum coke-fired power plant near Bay City, Texas, won a battle in their ongoing fight to stop the plant from being built when two judges ruled in July against recommend-ing a permit necessary for the plant to operate.

Calling the application for an air quality permit “deficient,” the administrative law judges urged the Texas Commission on Envi-ronmental Quality (TCEQ) to re-quire that White Stallion Energy Center address the deficiencies in the application for an air qual-

ity permit. However, the TCEQ could decide to issue the permit, despite the judges’ hesitations.

The judges found that in the ap-plication, White Stallion relied on ozone monitoring data compiled by an air monitoring device that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not approved.

The device also is 100 miles away and upwind from the pro-posed site, said Ryan Ritten-house, a community organizer with Public Citizen’s Texas of-fice. Because the monitor is so far away, the emissions from the plant would likely never travel over the monitor, and thus the monitor would never register any of the pollution that the plant emits, he said.

Additionally, the judges said that White Stallion failed to con-duct a review of the health ef-fects that coal dust would have and failed to determine whether the plant would meet the ap-propriate emission limits for hy-drochloric acid and hydrogen

fluoride, which are hazardous air pollutants.

If the TCEQ does grant White Stallion the air quality permit, the plant could legally begin break-ing ground, even though it would still have to obtain a wastewater permit.

Public Citizen has been fight-ing the creation of White Stallion since fall 2008. The organization and its partners have contested permit applications (including the one that prompted the most recent ruling), organized letter-writing campaigns, submitted comments to the TCEQ, lobbied elected officials and provided legal aid, support and fundrais-ing help to the No Coal Coali-tion, which also opposes White Stallion.

Public Citizen also has par-ticipated in comments and cam-paigns to pressure the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) and the Army Corps of Engineers not to grant contracts or permits to White Stallion.

If it were allowed to be built, White Stallion would be a dirty source of toxic emissions from coal and petroleum coke — toxic waste material left over after crude oil has been refined — that would affect not only Matagorda County, where Bay City is locat-ed, but also Houston, which is about 85 miles northeast of Bay City, said Tom “Smitty” Smith, director of Public Citizen’s Texas office. 

“The last thing Texas needs is more coal plants,” Smith said. “The TCEQ should reject the plant’s air quality permit and take the opportunity to instead advance its record on environ-mental quality, as well as protect the lives and well-being of people throughout the state.”

The TCEQ commissioners are expected to meet about this issue on Sept. 29 in Austin.

Dorry Samuels is Public Citi-zen’s press office coordinator.

WIN!Public Citizen has been fighting the creation of White Stallion since fall 2008.

September/October 2010 5 PUBLIC CITIZEN NEWS

Public Citizen Honors Phil Donahue’s Dedication to Empowering All

A Lifetime of Achievement

By Bridgette BlairPhil Donahue has always been a

stalwart progressive, challenging political and social boundaries through his Daytime Emmy-win-ning talk show and his advocacy.

To honor him for his decades of dedication to empowering all people, Public Citizen awarded Donahue the first-ever Pub-lic Citizen Lifetime Achieve-ment Award at a July event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

The event drew a crowd of more than 200 people and gar-nered media attention.

Progressive leaders ad-

dressed the packed crowd at the celebration.

The evening’s speakers includ-ed Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.); Reps. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.); Pu-litzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and author Seymour Hersh; President of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defama-tion Jarrett Barrios; Public Citi-zen founder Ralph Nader; Public Citizen President Emeritus and board member Joan Claybrook; Public Citizen President Robert Weissman; and Public Citizen’s Health Research Group Director Dr. Sidney Wolfe. Public Citizen

board members Jim Hightower and Steve Skrovan served as the masters of ceremonies for the evening’s festivities.

Calling Donahue “the great-est educator we’ve ever had in this country,” Wolfe presented Donahue with his award. Wolfe appeared on Donahue’s show nu-merous times to talk about health safety issues.

Donahue entertained the crowd with his experiences in the broadcasting business and as an activist. Donahue and the “Donahue” show won 20 Day-time Emmy Awards (nine for out-standing host). He also has won

a George Foster Peabody Award. In addition, Donahue was co-director and executive producer of “Body of War,” an award-win-ning 2007 documentary focusing on a paralyzed Iraq war veteran, Tomas Young.

At the event, Donahue praised Public Citizen and the work the organization has done through the years.

“I can’t think of a better envi-ronment for a young person who cares about this nation than the environment provided by Public Citizen,” Donahue said.

Bridgette Blair is editor of Public Citizen News.

Public Citizen Photos/Dorry Samuels and Joe Newman

Left: Phil Donahue and Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) talk at a July event in Washington, D.C., where Public Citizen awarded Donahue its first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award. Above: Public Citizen board member Jim High-tower serves as one of the masters of ceremonies for the festivities.

Public Citizen Photos/Dorry Samuels and Joe Newman

Far left: Public Citizen President Emeritus and board member Joan Claybrook speaks at the July event honoring Phil Donahue. Left: Dr. Sidney Wolfe (left), director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, and Robert Weissman, Public Citizen president, also spoke at the celebration.

6 September/October 2010 PUBLIC CITIZEN NEWS

BP, from page 1

such as the Deepwater Horizon drilling from detailed environ-mental analysis; bars companies with poor safety and environ-mental records from receiving new offshore drilling leases; and reforms royalty rules.

Public Citizen is urging the Sen-ate to pass its companion version of the legislation (S. 3663).

2) Ensuring better oversight

Despite clear provisions in the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 that would have allowed the presi-dent and the federal government to direct the spill’s clean-up op-erations, the administration ced-ed authority to BP. After a pub-lic uproar, the government got more involved by choosing what information to make public and overseeing — and ultimately giv-ing final approval to — BP’s plans to plug the well. But the govern-ment seemed unable to limit the amount of chemical dispersants BP used to break up the oil. And throughout the unfolding disas-ter, members of the media re-ported being kept off beaches by police who were taking orders from BP contractors or employ-ees. Further, BP used contract provisions to prevent clean-up workers from recounting their experiences to media outlets.

Public Citizen is calling for a congressional investigation of these allegations and will press for the CLEAR Act to include lan-guage that requires the govern-ment to manage future responses to major oil spills.

3) Excluding BP from federal contracts

Public Citizen has taken the lead on calling on the Obama ad-ministration to suspend BP’s cur-rent contracts with the federal government and disqualify — or “debar” — BP from future federal contracts.

BP Oil International Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of BP, currently has six contracts with the Department of Defense to-taling more than $2.1 billion, pri-marily for fuel delivery.

BP’s history of criminal con-victions — including one for the company’s role in a 2005 explo-sion at a BP refinery that killed 15 workers — should have barred the company from serving as a federal contractor, Public Citizen maintains.

4) Ensuring compensation for victims

On June 16, President Obama announced that BP would set aside $20 billion in an escrow fund to pay economic damages to people and businesses affected

by the oil spill. While Public Citi-zen supports the creation of this fund, the organization is con-cerned about its structure.

Current plans to guarantee the fund with sales of oil and gas obtained from the Gulf give the government and BP a financial incentive to continue — and pos-sibly even expand — risky oil pro-duction in the Gulf.

This also could make the Obama administration hesitate to address BP’s well-documented systemic worker and environ-mental safety problems if they in any way threaten the bottom line.

A safety violation serious enough to shut down a rig also could slow the revenue stream that feeds the fund.

Other problems with the fund exist. For example, $20 billion seems to be the fund’s cap, not a minimum. Because the fund is being used not only to compen-sate victims but to reimburse state and local governments for response costs and help pay to restore the Gulf ecosystem, the fund could be depleted before the victims for whom it was in-tended have been adequately compensated.

BP’s terms for the fund provide that it has minimal reporting re-quirements, so the public may never be able to track exactly where the money is going.

5) Curbing Big Oil’s influence over government

In the wake of the BP disaster, the nation also got a glimpse at the extent to which the oil in-dustry controls the government — not only the agency that is sup-posed to regulate the industry but Congress as well.

Public Citizen and its allies are building public pressure on our elected officials to give their BP money — and all their oil and gas industry contributions — to the Gulf recovery effort.

If you would like to take action on these issues, visit Public Citi-zen’s “Beyond BP” page at www.BeyondBP.org.

We will keep you informed about the latest in Public Citi-zen’s efforts to hold BP account-able and diminish energy indus-try influence in politics.

“BP has put its political influ-ence and corrupt business prac-tices under a microscope,” said Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program. “There is no better time to achieve major reforms than when a bully cor-poration puts its own industry in stark relief on a world stage.”

Barbara Holzer is Public Citi-zen’s broadcast and marketing manager.

With BP, the Summer of Oil Calls for a Season of Intervention

By Joe NewmanThere’s some good news and

some bad news when it comes to bringing transparency to the cor-porate funding of election ads.

The good news is that the DISCLOSE Act (Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections), which would require corporations to disclose which political ads they are funding, was revived and re-considered for a Senate floor vote as we went to press.

You may recall that the U.S. House of Representatives passed it in July, but Senate Republi-cans blocked a vote on it. Public interest groups, including Pub-lic Citizen, urged the Senate to reconsider.

The bad news, however, is that even if the Senate passes the act, it will be too late for the law to have any effect on this fall’s elections.

Senate Reconsiders DISCLOSE Act — Too Late for 2010 Elections“When the U.S. Senate Re-

publicans blocked a vote on the DISCLOSE Act, it was partisan politics prevailing over the pub-lic interest,” said Craig Holman, Public Citizen’s government af-fairs lobbyist and an expert on campaign finance reform.

On July 27, Senate Republicans marched in lockstep to prevent the DISCLOSE Act from being brought up before the full Senate for a debate and vote.

“The failure of even a single Re-publican senator to vote for de-bate and consideration of the bill means the public will not know who is behind the onslaught of corporate spending in the 2010 elections,” Holman said.

The House had passed the DIS-CLOSE Act in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision ear-lier this year in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which gave corporations the

right to spend as much money as they want to defeat or elect candidates.

That Jan. 21 ruling reversed 100 years of campaign finance policy and decades of judicial prec-edent, and in essence gave cor-porations the First Amendment rights of people when it comes to political speech and the spend-ing of money on election issues.

Although Public Citizen lob-bied hard to get the DISCLOSE Act through Congress, the mea-sure by itself falls far short of re-pairing the damage done by the Citizens United ruling.

Because of that, Public Citizen also is backing the Sharehold-er Protection Act (H.R. 4790), which would ensure that corpo-rations do not spend sharehold-ers’ money on elections against their wishes. Holman said that it is unclear whether Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will give the

measure a floor vote this fall. However, Public Citizen is still

working on finding someone to champion the bill in the Senate, Holman said.

Taken together, the DISCLOSE Act, Shareholder Protection Act and the Fair Elections Now Act, which would provide public fi-nancing for congressional cam-paigns to ensure that candidates who do not have corporate back-ing have a foundation to run vi-able campaigns, are important counterweights to the Citizens United ruling.

But even if all three passed, they wouldn’t be enough. Ulti-mately, a constitutional amend-ment will be necessary to fix the damage done by Citizens United.

Public Citizen is running a cam-paign for such a constitutional amendment. Visit www.Dont GetRolled.org to learn more or get involved.

September/October 2010 19 PUBLIC CITIZEN NEWS

Public Citizen Names New Board MembersPublic Citizen welcomes new members to its boards of directors for Public Citizen Foundation and Public Citizen Inc. Public Citizen

Foundation focuses on research, public education and litigation, while Public Citizen Inc. focuses on lobbying and organizing.— Compiled by Harry Zieve-Cohen, former Public Citizen communications intern, and Dorry Samuels, Public Citizen’s press office coordinator

Barbara EhrenreichAlexandria, Va.

Public Citizen Inc.

Journalist; award-win-ning author; activist for health care, peace, wom-en’s rights and economic justice issues

Barbara Ehrenreich has written numerous award-winning, best-selling books, including the classic “Nickel and Dimed” and her new book, “Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Under-mined America.” Her work has appeared in Time magazine, The New York Times, Harp-er’s and The Nation.

“As a longtime advocate on health and workplace issues, I’m excit-ed to expand my range by working with the terrific people at Public Citizen!”

Andrew FriedmanPhoenix, Ariz.

Public Citizen Inc.

Attorney with Bonnett, Fairbourn, Friedman & Balint, P.C.

During his career, An-drew Friedman has rep-resented plaintiff classes in major consumer, securities fraud, anti-trust, civil rights and insurance sales practices cases.

He also sits on the Board of Directors at Public Justice.

“I am honored for the opportunity to work with Public Citizen. I am ener-gized to vigorously defend and expand the rights of con-sumers to receive truthful informa-tion and safe prod-ucts at fair prices.”

Annie LeonardSan Francisco, Calif.

Public Citizen Foundation

Environmental activist; author; documentary creator

Annie Leonard’s docu-mentary, “The Story of Stuff,” based on her book with the same title, has been viewed more than 12 million times on-line, and she continues to coordinate The Story of Stuff Project. In 2008, she was named one of Time magazine’s Heroes of the Environment. She is currently working on additional films.

She serves on the boards of the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives and the International Forum on Globalization.

“Too often, we are related to as con-sumers, when our real power lies in our role as citizens. Public Citizen is at the forefront of engaging people as citizens, lead-ing the way for us to engage in the political process to make positive change.”

Cynthia RenfroSeattle, Wash.

Public Citizen Inc.

Director of programs and evaluation for the Marguerite Casey Foun-dation, a private inde-pendent grant-making foundation dedicated to helping low-income families strengthen their communities

Throughout her career, Cynthia Renfro has championed corporate accountability, human rights and a clean environment both domestically and internationally.

She also serves on the boards of directors of the National Committee for Responsive Philan-thropy and the Neigh-borhood Funders Group.

“I’m very much looking forward to supporting the Public Citizen community in an official role. I hope to help amplify the voices of low-income families within Public Citi-zen’s ongoing and effective efforts to ensure that every-one has access to an accountable government.”

Anthony SoDurham, N.C.Public Citizen

Foundation

Professor of the practice of public policy and di-rector of the Program on Global Health and Tech-nology Access at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy

Anthony So’s career has taken him from advocat-ing more affordable ac-cess to AIDS medicines to enabling tobacco control efforts in Southeast Asia.

He is a member of the Board of Directors for Community Catalyst and the Advisory Board for Universities Allied for Essential Medicines.

“As Public Citi-zen works to build upon its remark-able legacy, I can imagine no greater calling than con-tinuing to ensure the people’s voice in the workings of government. Going forward, I am ex-cited to help sup-port Public Citizen to continue the tradition of this mission, step up to new challenges in a globalizing world, and inspire future generations to pur-sue social justice with equal vigor.”

20 September/October 2010 PUBLIC CITIZEN NEWS

After Public Citizen Testifies, FDA Panel Rejects Diet DrugBy Marina Harmon

This summer, Public Citizen helped persuade the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take the first step in stopping a dangerous new obesity drug, Qnexa, from coming onto the market.

On July 16, the FDA’s Endo-crinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee voted 10-6 against approving Qnexa after reviewing the drug’s risk-benefit assessment.

Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, testified before the pan-el on July 15 to explain Qnexa’s adverse effects and insist that the drug be kept off the market. Though the FDA advisory com-mittee acknowledged that using Qnexa results in weight loss, the panelists agreed with Wolfe’s concerns about the drug and its possibly adverse long-term safety.

Because of their potential for long-term use, diet drugs should be accompanied by safety data of at least two to five years, Wolfe said. Vivus, the California-based biopharmaceutical company that created Qnexa, applied for the drug’s approval using results of drug trials that had been con-ducted over only one year.

Recently, Vivus released data showing what happened to

WIN!people who took Qnexa for two years. Though it is possible, it is highly unlikely that the data will persuade the FDA to reverse the decision of the advisory commit-tee and approve the drug when the agency decides on Oct. 28 whether to approve the drug for sale. The FDA generally follows an advisory panel’s consensus vote. Public Citizen hopes that the FDA will uphold the Endocri-nologic and Metabolic Drugs Ad-visory Committee’s decision.

New name, old drugsQnexa is a combination of two

old drugs, phentermine and topi-ramate — each of which has sig-nificant risks.

Phentermine, an amphetamine appetite suppressant used for short-term weight loss, was one of two active components in the infamous diet pill Fen-phen, the other ingredient of which was pulled from the market in 1997 because it was linked to heart damage.

Though it’s still on the mar-ket in solo form, phentermine has serious adverse effects. The drug increases heart rate and blood pressure, heightens wake-fulness and decreases appetite. In high-dose Qnexa trials, heart rates increased by 15 beats per minute above a placebo. Arrhyth-mia occurred 4.7 percent of the

time compared to 1.8 percent for a placebo. In addition, rela-tively few people with a history of heart problems were enrolled in Qnexa trials, so there is no way of knowing how the drug would affect them.

Topiramate, the other drug that comprises Qnexa, is an anti-seizure medication. It has been shown to cause metabolic acido-sis, which can lead to arrhythmia, osteoporosis and kidney stones. Topiramate also impairs cogni-tion, which affects attention, memory and language.

Topiramate has been shown to increase thoughts of suicide 2.53 times more than a placebo, Wolfe told the panel.

This risk is especially concern-ing because Qnexa is being pro-posed for people who are obese. Dutch researchers have found that obese people are at increased risk of becoming depressed.

And in a study, pregnant wom-en who took topiramate had a greater risk of having babies with birth defects than women taking a placebo — 4.1 percent versus 1.6 percent, according to the North American Antiepileptic Pregnan-cy registry.

A dangerous combination

Vivus had counted on the ad-dition of an amphetamine (phen-

termine) to mitigate some of topi-ramate’s negative effects. Qnexa was supposed to be Vivus’ block-buster drug.

However, the combination has proved more dangerous than topiramate alone. In fact, adverse events were the major reason pa-tients failed to complete Qnexa trials. Eighteen percent of high-dose subjects withdrew from tri-als due to an adverse side effect (compared to 9 percent with a placebo).

And the day after the advisory panel vote, the Vivus (VVUS) stock experienced its largest drop since its initial public offering in 1994 — about 55 percent. Its shares, which had nearly doubled in the past year in anticipation of Qnexa’s approval, are now val-ued around $5 each as of Aug. 27 (versus nearly $13 per share be-fore the FDA panel’s vote).

“Given the literally insatiable appetite of doctors and patients for new drugs as a quick fix for obesity, there is every reason to believe that, if approved, a com-bination like this will be used by millions, over long periods of time far beyond its labeling indi-cations,” Wolfe said in his testi-mony. “Because of a long list of safety reasons, this drug should not be approved.”

Marina Harmon is managing ed-itor of Worst Pills, Best Pills News.

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September/October 2010 21 PUBLIC CITIZEN NEWS

The following are some highlights from our recent media coverage.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Pay Czar, BP Oil Spill Fund Administrator Speaks at Public CitizenBy Barbara Holzer

Kenneth Feinberg had a busy summer. Just as the nation’s pay czar was in the last stages of his final report on executive com-pensation at bailed-out banks, he was assigned a new and similarly daunting task: to administer BP’s oil spill fund.

Feinberg, who also adminis-tered the victim compensation fund for Sept. 11 victims, came to Public Citizen on July 27 to talk about his work. He spoke to a room packed with progressive ac-tivists, policy experts and report-ers. C-SPAN covered the event.

“Trouble seems to find Ken Feinberg, and Ken Feinberg seems to find trouble,” said Public Citizen President Robert Weissman in his introduction. Feinberg merely chuckled.

In June 2009, after Wall Street nearly toppled the economy, Feinberg was appointed special master of executive compensa-tion. Heading a new Treasury Department program looking into executive salaries at firms bailed out with taxpayer dollars, Feinberg was given the authority to cap salaries for the top 100 ex-ecutives at the seven companies that were the largest recipients of money from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). He also was empowered to collect execu-tive compensation records from another 400-plus rescued banks via so-called “look-back let-ters,” through which he required companies to provide within 30 days detailed information about executives earning more than $500,000 annually. Except for meeting IRS requirements, these firms were unaccustomed to this kind of scrutiny — but given Fein-berg’s position, they couldn’t re-fuse. In July, Feinberg released his final report, which found ex-traordinary payments had been made to corporate officials after banks got their TARP funds. One company gave $22 million to just two executives. Another bank squandered 25 percent of its tax-payer bailout on bonuses alone.

Feinberg told the audience at Public Citizen that the job at times was frustrating because of the limitations of his position.

“I had a bully pulpit for 16 months, but I had no authority,” he said. “What can we do without enforcement? It [payment poli-cies] was inappropriate but not illegal. There was no violation of civic or criminal statute, but it was very poor judgment.”

Although the Treasury De-partment initially indicated that the pay czar could negotiate re-imbursement from the banks, Feinberg said, “They would have laughed in my face. That would be a fool’s mission, like tilting at windmills. Forget it!”

Feinberg also addressed his up-coming role handling claims from residents, workers and business-es harmed by the BP oil disaster. Selected as spill czar by both the administration and BP, Feinberg was adamant that he will answer to neither entity in evaluating the legitimacy of claims. Proper documentation and proximity to the oil that gushed for so many weeks will be key to evaluating and approving claims, Feinberg said. “The challenge is calculat-ing with a murky crystal ball, but that’s done every day in every courtroom and with every jury.”

Feinberg was asked whether he considered being paid by BP to be a conflict of interest, to which he responded, “Who else should pay?” When it was suggested that he could do the work pro bono, the czar drew laughs. “I guess I could do that, but I’ve spent my career doing pro bono work.” The serious answer came next. First, he said that he didn’t think it was a conflict of interest but agreed that the perception of a conflict in itself was a problem in need of a transparent solution.

“I’ve been thinking at three o’clock in the morning that I’ve got to come up with some alter-native, that I should ask someone with great credibility to examine the books, records, timesheets of everything I’ve been doing to set the pay for me so it’s not me who is doing it.”

Apparently, the spill czar would be more comfortable if he, too, had a pay czar.

To watch the symposium, visit www.c-spanvideo.org/pro-gram/294784-1.

Robert Weissman, president, Public Citizen: On the Senate passing the financial reform bill and the president signing it into law: ABC News, CBS News Radio, SiriusXM Radio’s “Standup with Pete Dominick.” On executive compensation: CBS Evening News. On the BP boycott: United Press International, The Guard-ian (U.K.), NBC Online News, St. Louis Globe-Democrat, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland), WBAI (New York City). On backing Elizabeth Warren to head the new Consum-er Financial Protection Bureau: KPFK’s “Uprising” (Los Angeles).

Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program: On Tony Hayward’s departure from BP: PBS’ “Nightly Business Report,” The Guardian (U.K.), The Sydney Morning Herald. On BP’s new CEO and culture of recklessness: CNN’s “American Morning,” The Associated Press, Gannett News Service, USA Today, PBS’ “Night-ly Business Report,” The Chris-tian Science Monitor. On alterna-tives to cap-and-trade energy bills: U.S. News & World Report. On California’s new global warm-ing laws creating more jobs: McClatchy Washington Bureau, The Sacramento Bee, Lexington Herald-Leader, The Bellingham Herald, Fresno Bee.

Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group: On the Food and Drug Administration partially halt-ing the Avandia trial: CBS News, Reuters, The Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, Bloomberg Businessweek, Fox News, Forbes, CNBC, The Huffington Post, The Kansas City Star, The Modesto Bee, The Sac-ramento Bee, Lexington Herald-Leader, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, San Francisco Chronicle, The Miami Herald, Star Tribune (Minneapolis), Toronto Star, The Hill, The Canadian Press. On new guidelines for medical resident work hours: The Associated Press, American Medical News. On the lack of physician over-sight by a state medical board: The Chicago Tribune.

David Arkush, director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division: On the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: The Associ-ated Press, MarketWatch. On financial reform legislation: USA Today, Gannett News Service, MarketWatch, Federal Times.

Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch: On the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agree-ment: Congress Daily, Roll Call, Inside U.S. Trade.

Tom “Smitty” Smith, director of Public Citizen’s Texas office: On Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s proposed changes to improve oil drilling: ABC News, Forbes, The Associ-ated Press, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, MSN Money, Bloomberg Business-week, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The Kansas City Star, Las Vegas Sun, The Palm Beach Post, San Francisco Chronicle, The Sacra-mento Bee, The Miami Herald, Los Angeles Times, Orlando Sentinel, The Huffington Post, The Baltimore Sun, The Seattle Times, Salon, Austin American-Statesman, Houston Chronicle, Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Greg Beck, attorney with the Public Citizen Litigation Group: On Facebook temporarily remov-ing a BP boycott fan page: CNN, KTRH (Houston), WIBW.

Paul Alan Levy, attorney with the Public Citizen Litigation Group: On Twitter free speech: The National Law Journal.

Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist with Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division: On the DISCLOSE Act, which would let the public know who is funding election ads: NPR, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Firedoglake, Roll Call, POTUS SiriusXM, Vermont Public Radio, Minnesota Public Radio. On lawmakers getting their own cable programs: Los Angeles Times, The Bellingham Herald, The Sacramento Bee, Lexington Herald-Leader.

22 September/October 2010 PUBLIC CITIZEN NEWS

To become a leadership supporter, contact Alice Butler in the development office at (202) 588-7753, or via e-mail at abutler@citizen.org.

Public Citizen is proud to recognize new and renewing Torchbearers and Partners in Citizenship. These donors provide a critical source of funding for our most important work. In each issue of Public Citizen News, we will recognize new and renewing donors to our leadership giving programs who have given during our fiscal year. This list includes donations that were received in June and July 2010.

TORCHBEARERSJohn AtesGreg BarnhartNancy BarronMichael BaumKelley BergSusan BlausteinRussell BrandstetterJames & Barbara Burton William J. CanadyPaul D. CarringtonMark A. ChavezArthur CheliotesMyron M. CherryJoseph W. CotchettSamuel E. DemeritEarl L. Denney Jr.Ronald FareseCaragh Glenn FayJoseph W. FayThomas Fortune FayIvor & Barbara FreemanDavid GarvinRonald GoriElisabeth G. HairRené HaasMolly HoffmanR. Ben Hogan IIIPhyllis HydeJim KampanosAnnie KaplanBryan KemnitzerEileen & Paul LefortMichael MaherStephen R. MaherMichael P. MalakoffNancy E. MarsdenNiall McCarthy

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One of the key problems with a pending Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (FTA) is that it gives foreign corporations new pow-ers to sue the U.S. government in World Bank and United Nations tribunals if our laws or regula-tions may interfere with the cor-porations’ expected profits.

But how many corporations are we talking about? Where are they?

A new interactive map on Pub-lic Citizen’s website, available at www.citizen.org/KoreaFTACor porateMaps, shows the corpora-tions’ names, locations and the congressional district in which they are located, as well as the products or services they offer. Another map shows the location of U.S. firms in Korea.

At least 79 Korea-based corpo-rations with 270 locations across the U.S. would gain new rights to sue the U.S. government un-der the Korea FTA. Click on a dot and a box pops up with more de-tailed information. Blue dots are for corporations based in Korea; red dots represent corporations based in a third country with op-erations in the U.S. and Korea.

The many red and blue mark-ers on the maps show how this agreement poses a special threat. Many past U.S. FTAs have been with developing countries whose firms do not locate in the United States. The only other U.S. trade deal with a major net capital ex-porting country (Canada) that has these harmful provisions is the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the U.S. has been challenged 20 times un-der that pact.

“Our map is designed to illus-trate the enormity of the prob-lem,” said Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch. “Every dot represents a company that could challenge laws that pertain to people’s health, the environment or much more. By highlighting the con-gressional district where these companies are located, we are providing information for citi-zens to call their members of Congress and tell them to change the pact.”

New Map Highlights Key Pitfall of Korea Trade Agreement

The Korea FTA, which is left over from the Bush era and which the Obama administra-tion is preparing to push through Congress, has yet to be approved by Congress. If the FTA takes ef-fect without being changed, the corporations shown on the map would obtain new rights to de-mand taxpayer compensation through challenges of U.S. fed-eral and state laws addressing such things as health and envi-ronmental policies, zoning and permitting issues, regulation of toxic materials, court rulings and more. The agreement even al-lows foreign corporations to skirt U.S. courts and use foreign tribu-nals to enforce the pact’s rules limiting financial regulation.

Hundreds of the U.S. firms op-erating in Korea could use the same system to attack Korean public interest laws.

For that reason, Public Citizen has created a second interactive map — this one of Korea — show-ing where those U.S. firms are located and with detailed infor-mation about each. There are 955 U.S. firms with 1,784 establish-ments in Korea.

Even non-U.S. or Korean mul-tinational companies will be able to access foreign investor rights under the FTA.

That’s right: Companies from China, Europe and elsewhere could use a U.S. or Korean sub-sidiary to challenge Korean or U.S. laws.

For instance, German compa-nies such as Siemens, Bayer and BASF have operations in both the U.S. and Korea. These compa-nies, too, can access these inves-tor rights.

“Already under NAFTA, multi-national corporations have won millions of dollars in taxpayer money,” Wallach said. “The Ko-rea FTA is modeled after the flawed NAFTA model. That basic model must be changed. Presi-dent Barack Obama promised on the campaign trail that he would not adhere to the status quo. We are counting on him and Con-gress to change the way trade pacts are written so we can pro-tect our public interest laws.”

September/October 2010 23 PUBLIC CITIZEN NEWS

FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENTPublic Citizen Crossword By Sam Bellotto Jr.

Public Citizen Recommends ...

To order books, contact the publisher or visit your local bookstore or library.

Answers are on page 24.

Definitely don’t read “Get Real” by Mara Rockliff as I did, in one day. Why? The number of difficult-to-accept facts in this new book about the perils of con-sumerism is overwhelming. De-spite its fun and fast-paced tone, the book poses some deep and disturbing ques-tions about our society.

Rockliff asks the reader to consider the effect consumer-ism has on the world. The author illustrates not only how we have become a nation consumed with consumption, but also why that is so dangerous. Did you know, for example, that corn is in almost every processed food? The reason for this is simple: because of some arcane (and not

‘Get Real’By Mara Rockliff; Running Press; $10.95

so arcane) laws, the federal gov-ernment literally pays farmers to grow corn.

Facts like these make “Get Real” so valuable. From recom-mendations on how to eat and shop to suggestions about how we should approach advertise-ments (spoiler alert: skeptically), “Get Real” is essentially a hand-

book to being a respon-sible citizen.

Although it is tar-geted for a teenage crowd, “Get Real” does

not succumb to the perils of writ-ing for that audience, as it rarely feels condescending.

Rockliff is engaging and witty, and provides solutions to make up for the grim outlook she pres-ents. There are links, photos and charts aplenty. The book at times is a bit too fast-paced and leaves readers wanting more depth, but overall, “Get Real” is an honest, fact-filled summary of 21st cen-tury Earth.

— Harry Zieve-Cohen

‘Saved By The Sea’By David Helvarg; Thomas Dunne Books; $25.99

Author David Helvarg’s latest book is a vivid, personal saga of an adventurous life, complete with war, fish and love stories.

From the Great Barrier Reef and Antarctica to Egypt and Central America, the San Fran-cisco-based author shares his sometimes dangerous, often romantic, pursuit of information to illuminate the deteriorating condition of the world’s oceans and coastlines.

Helvarg — also the founder and president of an environmental group, the Blue Frontier Cam-paign — visited Public Citizen in May to talk about his book with members and other activists.

To learn more about what en-vironmentalists and activists are doing to promote marine conser-vation, visit Helvarg’s website, www.bluefront.org.

— Barbara Holzer

‘Generation We’By Eric Greenberg with Karl Weber; Pachatusan; $19.95

In “Generation We,” authors Eric Greenberg and Karl Weber detail the long list of societal problems that U.S. millennials (defined in the book as those born between 1978 and 2000) are facing — including climate change, failing education sys-tems, an ineffective health care system, massive deficits, fewer middle-class jobs, diminishing liberties and the threat of terror-ism and sectarian violence.

The authors note that this generation needs to be prepared to help direct the search for real answers to these problems.

The book outlines steps to take to lead the change, including: voting, becoming well-informed about current issues, practicing consumer power by choosing products and services that ben-efit society, and holding elected leaders accountable.

— Arlene Tonoff

ACROSS 1 Space Age acronym 5 Gettysburg general 10 Start of a quote by former

Treasury Secretary William E. Simon

13 Rep. Fattah from Pennsylvania

15 Father of Aaron and Moses 16 Project ending? 17 More of a quote by William E. Simon 19 Honshu honorific 20 More of a quote by

William E. Simon 21 Seize 22 More of a quote by

William E. Simon 23 Kind of punishment Darrow

opposed 25 Web site? 28 More of a quote by

William E. Simon 32 Watergate hearings senator 35 Rep. Rush from New Jersey 36 Soccer cheer 37 Song for Figaro 38 Senator’s output, often 40 Pearson who wrote

“The Senator” 41 LBJ’s successor 42 Sen. Mary Landrieu’s dad 43 Stupefy 44 More of a quote by

William E. Simon 48 East China Sea island 49 Getting closer 53 Sen. John Thune’s st. 55 Cuts of meat

57 Burmese gibbon 58 Moo-goo-gai-pan pan 59 End of a quote by

William E. Simon 62 Grogshop fare 63 Boston hockey player 64 Subsequently 65 Debussy subject 66 What boys on Pleasure

Island turned into 67 Lyricist Sammy

DOWN 1 Org. that once targeted

Sen. Sarbanes 2 Now, in Nicaragua 3 Tapioca’s cousin 4 District in Hiroshima 5 Blotch on the skin 6 Kuwaiti leader 7 County partially represented

by Diana DeGette 8 Rep. Burton from Indiana 9 Rep. Jim McDermott has

three 10 Dividing lines 11 Rep. Mollohan from

West Virginia 12 Car wing ding? 14 “Heaven bless thee

from ___”: Shak. 18 Words from an eyewitness 22 Capt. Hansen on TV’s

“Deadliest Catch” 24 Greenish-white flowering

shrub 26 Dollar drawer 27 Dynamite network? 29 Gleam

30 Butter alternative 31 Ex-Speaker Gingrich 32 Cutting remark 33 Gen. Petraeus’ branch 34 David Axelrod,

some might say 38 Puts in a lawn 39 Like Rep. Carolyn

Maloney’s district 40 Some bucks 42 Witticism 43 Wild parties 45 Sen. Chuck Grassley’s

state tree

46 Whopper toppers 47 Sen. Arlen Specter’s st. 50 “Why Congress Matters”

author Nickels 51 “Of course!” 52 Rep. Gene from Texas 53 Did the dog paddle 54 Presidential candidate

of 1996 56 Jim Davis pooch 59 Pugilistic org. 60 Difference between

EST and PST 61 Rep. Snyder from Arkansas

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16

17 18 19

20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31

32 33 34 35 36

37 38 39 40

41 42 43

44 45 46 47

48 49 50 51 52

53 54 55 56 57

58 59 60 61

62 63 64

65 66 67

24 September/October 2010 PUBLIC CITIZEN NEWS

Crossword Answers (from page 23)

Supreme Court to Hear AT&T Case in November

In the Next Issue ...Public Citizen represents historical experts who say Nixon’s Watergate testimony should be made public

N A S A M E A D E B A DC H A K A A M R A M I L EP O L I T I C I A N S S A NA R E U S U R P S E N TC A P I T A L A T T I C

T O W A S H I N G T O NB A K E R H O L T O L EA R I A S P I E L D R E WR M N M O O N B E S O TB Y G O O D P E O P L E

M A T S U N E A R I N GS D A K L O I N S L A RW O K W H O D O N T V O T EA L E B R U I N S I N C EM E R A S S E S C A H N

phones, the first phone discount-ed by $100 and the second “free” — both in connection with the purchase of a two-year cell phone service agreement. The Concep-cions were charged an additional $30.22 that was never disclosed in the advertising.

To the Concepcions, it was a classic bait-and-switch — the kind of “gotcha” that consumers face every day. And with tens of mil-lions of customers nationwide, AT&T stands to benefit hand-somely from such practices.

So in March 2006, the Concep-cions sued AT&T, seeking class-action status so that everyone who was overcharged could be compensated. However, an arbi-tration clause in AT&T’s contract not only prohibited lawsuits but also banned all collective actions by customers — that is, any class-action proceeding, whether in arbitration (with an arbitrator hearing a case on behalf of a large group of wronged consumers) or in a courtroom.

Fortunately for the Concep-cions, the district court deemed AT&T’s class-action ban uncon-scionable and therefore imper-missible. AT&T fought back.

Now, the issue is before the

U.S. Supreme Court, which will hear arguments in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion on Nov. 9. Public Citizen attorney Deepak Gupta will argue before the court on behalf of the Concepcions. The question boils down to this: Can fine-print contractual provisions force consumers or employees into arbitration and then prevent them from banding together to seek justice from a corporation that has wronged them?

Without the ability to file class-action claims, consumers and employees may not have the time or money to take on a big corpo-ration, such as AT&T, because the small loss or injury to any one person makes pursuing an indi-

vidual case too expensive. As a result, if class claims are barred, corporate wrongdoing that af-fects a large number of people, each in a small way, will not be deterred or redressed.

“This case could have a tre-mendous impact on all kinds of wrongdoing, from unfair trade practices to civil rights viola-tions,” Gupta said. “It could de-termine whether consumers, employees and others who have been wronged by companies can join together or not.”

Companies like to impose class-action bans because such bans make it much harder for consum-ers to hold companies account-able for bad behavior. But lower courts have increasingly ruled that companies may not tuck class-action bans into the fine

print of contracts. In this case, AT&T is arguing that federal law pre-empts (overrides) state law, so states can’t forbid companies from imposing class-action bans on customers.

“The stakes in this case are huge,” Gupta said. “If AT&T gets its way, corporations will be al-lowed to write their own get-out-of-jail free cards, entitling them to commit widespread fraud or discrimination with impunity. We’re working hard to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Angela Bradbery is Public Citi-zen’s communications director.

The arbitration clause that AT&T is seeking to enforce reads:

“YOU AND AT&T AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. Further, unless both you and AT&T agree otherwise, the arbitrator may not consolidate more than one per-son’s claims and may not otherwise preside over any form of a representa-tive or class proceeding. If this specific proviso is found to be unenforce-able, then the entirety of this arbitration provision shall be null and void.”

AT&T, from page 1

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