http://www.consumercal.org/ http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=578 <div class="text blurb">The number of recalls of toys and children's products is up 22% over the first half of last year, despite industry promises last year to solve the problems that made 2007 the "year of the recall."</div> Wed, 23 Jul 2008 http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=578 http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=577 <div class="text blurb">"The massive response in favor of these reforms shows that Americans are fed up with the many traps and tricks that card companies use to drive up the amount of debt consumers owe," said Travis B. Plunkett, legislative director of CFA.</div> Wed, 23 Jul 2008 http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=577 http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=576 <div class="text blurb">A jalapeno pepper grown in Mexico and stored in a Texas border town warehouse has tested positive for the same rare strain of salmonella that has confounded federal disease investigators for nearly two months.</div> Tue, 22 Jul 2008 http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=576 http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=574 <div class="text blurb">Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield...agreed Thursday to pay a total of $13 million in fines and to offer new health coverage to more than 2,200 Californians the companies dropped after they became ill. </div> Fri, 18 Jul 2008 http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=574 http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=573 <div class="text blurb">Senate Bill 840 would establish a single-payer system in which the state would assume the role that private insurance companies now play. </div> Thu, 17 Jul 2008 http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=573 http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=572 <div class="text blurb">Two years after the mortgage meltdown started, the Federal Reserve finally released updates to its mortgage regulations on Monday, replacing rules that were so lax and ineffective that the Fed bears significant responsibility for the mortgage debacle and the larger financial fallout. </div> Wed, 16 Jul 2008 http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=572 http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=571 <div class="text blurb">Opponents, mainly privacy advocates, say they fear that insurance companies could begin tracking more than just a driver's mileage. </div> Tue, 15 Jul 2008 http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=571 http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=560 <div class="text blurb">The Consumer Federation of California opposes AB 2800 (Huffman) because it's an improper attempt to re-write a voter approved ballot measure and raises serious consumer privacy concerns.</div> http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=560 http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=570 <div class="text blurb">...after a large mortgage lender in California collapsed late Friday, Wall Street analysts began posing two crucial questions: Just how many banks might falter? And, more urgently, which one could be next? </div> Mon, 14 Jul 2008 http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=570 http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=569 <div class="text blurb">...Home Front has heard many stories of borrowers who tried to refinance into safer fixed-rate loans but couldn't afford the prepayment penalties that...could be as much as $15,000.</div> Fri, 11 Jul 2008 http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=569 http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=415 <div class="text blurb">This would implement important foreclosure process reforms to protect the hundreds of thousands of Californians who are in danger of losing their homes due to the mortgage crisis.</div> http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=415 http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=568 <div class="text blurb">Also Tuesday, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law a bill that represents the Legislature's first stab at trying to stem the tide of foreclosures.</div> http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=568 http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=565 <div class="text blurb">To appease privacy advocates, Google has added a privacy-policy link to its home page. Google had previously said it didn't want to clutter its page. </div> Mon, 07 Jul 2008 http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=565 http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=567 <div class="text blurb">A plan pushed by California's top utilities regulator to set up a ratepayer-financed, $60 million-a-year institute at the University of California is running into opposition in the Capitol...</div> http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=567 http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=564 <div class="text blurb">The legislation, SB1137, would require lenders to give homeowners more -- and earlier -- warnings that their home loans were heading toward default. </div> http://www.consumercal.org/article.php?id=564