January, 11 2023, 04:55pm EDT
CFPB Proposes Public Registry of Terms and Conditions in Form Contracts
The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today announced a proposed rule to establish a public registry of terms and conditions in non-bank contracts that waive or limit consumer’s rights and protections.
Martha Perez-Pedemonti, access to justice and consumer rights counsel for Public Citizen, released the following statement:
“A public database tracking contracts waiving consumer rights – which consumers are regularly forced into accepting – is a welcome and timely proposal. When forced arbitration clauses are combined with class action bans, judges, arbitrators, consumers, and advocates cannot assess or remedy the full scope of wrongdoing that affects consumers. This registry has the potential to become a powerful tool for consumers and watchdog organizations alike to track harmful contract terms that limit customers’ legal rights and keep them from having their day in court.”
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power. We defend democracy, resist corporate power and work to ensure that government works for the people - not for big corporations. Founded in 1971, we now have 500,000 members and supporters throughout the country.
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Alito Family's Upside-Down Flag After Jan. 6 Sparks Call for Justice's Recusal
"This behavior is disqualifying for a Supreme Court justice," said one critic.
May 17, 2024
U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin was among those on Friday who called for Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's recusal from cases related to the 2020 election after The New York Timesreported the justice flew an upside-down flag outside his home in the days leading up to President Joe Biden's inauguration.
The display of an inverted flag officially symbolizes "dire duress" according to the U.S. code, and has been used at various times by people across the political spectrum to signify distress over U.S. policy and disapproval of the government.
At the time Alito's family displayed the flag, just over a week after then-President Donald Trump urged his supporters to riot at the U.S. Capitol when lawmakers were certifying the election results, the "Stop the Steal" movement had embraced the symbol to show their belief that the election had been stolen for Biden—despite all evidence to the contrary.
Alito told the Times on Friday that he "had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag" and that "it was briefly placed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor's use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs."
But Durbin (D-Ill.) said the display on January 17, 2021—and for several days before that—clearly created "the appearance of bias."
"Justice Alito should recuse himself immediately from cases related to the 2020 election and the January 6 insurrection, including the question of the former president's immunity in U.S. v. Donald Trump, which the Supreme Court is currently considering," said the senator.
The news of Alito's upside-down flag comes after numerous reports about ethical breaches by right-wing Supreme Court justices including Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas.
Both of the justices have accepted luxury travel and have had other financial transactions with right-wing operatives who have been involved in cases before the court, and Thomas has drawn condemnation for continuing to serve on a case regarding documents being turned over to the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack after it was revealed that his wife had supported efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
In the coming weeks, the court is set to rule on Trump's claim that he has immunity in his federal election interference case and in a separate case regarding whether January 6 defendants should be charged with obstructing an official proceeding.
Despite four ongoing criminal cases, Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee to face Biden in November.
"The court is in an ethical crisis of its own making, and Justice Alito and the rest of the court should be doing everything in their power to regain public trust," said Durbin. "Supreme Court justices should be held to the highest ethical standards, not the lowest."
The senator added that the latest reporting offers new proof that Congress must pass the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act, which would create an enforceable code of conduct for the high court.
Indivisible co-executive director Ezra Levin applauded Durbin's call and said the news about Alito's flag "just confirms what we already knew: that the Supreme Court is stacked with far-right, partisan justices intent on using the bench to institutionalize MAGA extremism."
"This behavior is disqualifying for a Supreme Court justice," said Levin. "Alito is not an impartial arbiter of the law, especially when Donald Trump is involved. His brazen actions underscore the urgent need for increased congressional oversight of the court as well as structural reforms to restore its legitimacy."
Levin also called on Durbin to use his committee leadership position to "rigorously investigate corruption on the court and lead efforts to expand the court to unrig the MAGA supermajority."
Devin Ombres, senior director for courts and legal policy at the Center for American Progress, said Alito's display of the flag was a "matter-of-fact admission of his partisan sympathy with Donald Trump's 'Stop the Steal' movement, which led to the violent insurrection on January 6."
"His pathetic excuse that his wife hung the flag as part of a political dispute with a neighbor is even more damning because he's admitting it was a partisan act," said Ombres. "It's unacceptable that Alito now sits in judgment of whether Trump's actions deserve the imprimatur of presidential immunity. Chief Justice John Roberts and the other justices must demand Alito's recusal from any case related to the January 6 insurrection. If Alito had any sense of propriety or humility, he would resign."
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US Lawmakers Sound Alarm Over Threat to Rooftop Solar in Puerto Rico
"Net metering has proven essential for families in Puerto Rico and essential for Puerto Rico's progress towards its own renewable goals."
May 17, 2024
More than 20 members of the U.S. Congressional Democratic Caucus on Friday urged a federal colonial oversight board to safeguard affordable access to rooftop solar power in Puerto Rico by protecting net metering, which the lawmakers called essential to the island's clean energy goals and economic growth.
Net metering "makes household renewable energy sources, like rooftop solar, more affordable for families by ensuring they are reimbursed for the extra energy they produce but do not use," the House Natural Resources Committee Democrats explained in a statement.
"A continued commitment to preserving net metering and a renewed focus on solar energy will benefit the island's economy and people."
However, the Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB) for Puerto Rico—the controversial unelected federal body tasked with approving and revising Puerto Rico's obligations under a 2016 bankruptcy law—recently directed Democratic Puerto Rican Gov. Pedro Pierluisi and the territorial Legislature to repeal Act 10, which protects net metering through 2031.
"Any attempt to reduce the economic viability of rooftop solar and batteries by paring back net metering should be rejected at this critical stage of Puerto Rico's energy system transformation," 20 congressional Democrats and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote Friday in a bicameral letter to FOMB members. "Net metering has proven essential for families in Puerto Rico and essential for Puerto Rico's progress towards its own renewable goals."
"Net metering has served the people of Puerto Rico well," the lawmakers argued. "It not only compensates homeowners for their contribution to the grid and their reduced dependence on imported fuels, but it also makes renewable energy production economically viable for millions for whom it would otherwise be out of reach."
The letter continues:
Net metering is an engine for economic recovery. Currently, the renewables sector contributes approximately $1.5 billion to Puerto Rico's economy each year and employs more than 10,000 people. In addition to the direct economic benefits, the tens of thousands of solar and storage installations on the island today provide critical backup power for Puerto Rican families and businesses, helping them avoid economic hardship while supporting uninterrupted economic activity during power outages. Many of these systems provide a literal lifeline to people who depend on the uninterrupted operation of medical equipment.
Weakening or ending net metering in Puerto Rico could be devastating. Rooftop solar has added over 800 MW to an electric system whose demand is about 2,500-3,000 MW. As a result, residential solar technology is responsible for most of the progress the archipelago has made toward its ultimate goal of generating 100% renewable energy by 2050. Puerto Rico's net metering and rooftop solar programs have successfully displaced energy that would otherwise be generated by imported fossil fuel, lowering overall costs for all ratepayers.
"Making rooftop solar and battery storage systems less affordable could hurt the lowest-income people most," the lawmakers contended. "Should net metering be eliminated or weakened, the result would be a growing divide between those stuck with exorbitant energy prices from imported fossil fuels and those who can afford their own dependable solar and battery system. Slowing the adoption of rooftop solar and batteries would mean missed opportunities to leverage the private market to protect those most vulnerable to another hurricane's impacts."
After Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico's energy grid in 2017, many Puerto Ricans turned to renewable energy—especially solar—to keep the lights on. Last year, the U.S. Department of Energy announced up to $440 million in residential solar funding for vulnerable households via the Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund.
"Undermining net metering would dramatically slow one of the most active solar and battery markets in the country at the time it is needed most."
Puerto Rico "needs more renewable production, not less," the lawmakers added. "Undermining net metering would dramatically slow one of the most active solar and battery markets in the country at the time it is needed most... We urge you to protect net metering in Puerto Rico. We believe that a continued commitment to preserving net metering and a renewed focus on solar energy will benefit the island's economy and people."
The lawmakers' letter follows a call earlier this week from the Solar and Energy Storage Association of Puerto Rico for U.S. President Joe Biden to replace six FOMB members "who are supportive of Puerto Rico, supportive of solar power, and supportive of dissolving the board as soon as possible."
The FOMB has been decried as an anti-democratic colonial body that dictates the island's budget and operates in secrecy. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-1 to protect the board from public scrutiny.
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'We'll Be Back,' Says UAW Chief Shawn Fain After 'Tough Loss' in Alabama
Organizers are expected to continue their effort, drawing inspiration from a recent success in Tennessee that followed two defeats.
May 17, 2024
Workers at a pair of Mercedes-Benz plants near Tuscaloosa, Alabama narrowly voted against joining the United Auto Workers this week, according to a preliminary tally on Friday.
As of press time, the UAW webpage had the National Labor Relations Board tally at 2,045 in favor of joining the union (45%) and 2,642 opposed (56%).
Voting at the large facility in Vance and the battery plant in Woodstock kicked off Monday and wrapped up Friday morning. Speaking to reporters Friday evening, UAW president Shawn Fain said that it was "obviously not the result we wanted" but "we'll be back in Vance."
"These courageous workers reached out to us because they wanted justice," Fain said of the Mercedes employees. "They led us. They led this fight, and that's what this is all about—and what happens next is up to them."
"It's a David v. Goliath fight. Sometimes Goliath wins a battle but ultimately David will win the war."
"Justice isn't just about one vote or one campaign, it's about getting a voice and getting your fair share," he continued, noting that "workers won serious gains in this campaign."
Fain added that "it's a David v. Goliath fight. Sometimes Goliath wins a battle but ultimately David will win the war."
The Alabama election followed a UAW win in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where Volkswagen workers last month voted to join the union.
Labor reporter Mike Elk
noted that the "tough loss" in Alabama was "not a blowout," and organizers now have "a solid base that future campaigns can build on like they did at Volkswagen," where winning a union election took three rounds of voting.
The UAW has ramped up organizing in the U.S. South since securing contract victories last year following a "Stand Up Strike" targeting Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, the American automobile industry's "Big Three."
The Alabama organizing effort has garnered support from progressives and union workers around the world. The U.K.-based Global Justice Now said Friday that "we stand with Mercedes autoworkers who are voting to join UAW to better their lives and help end the so-called 'Alabama discount.' It's time we end the U.S. South and Global South 'discounts' that allow corporations to perpetuate a race to the bottom that hurts all workers."
Meanwhile, Republican leaders in U.S. Southern states have shown "how scared they are that workers organizing with UAW to improve jobs and wages," as the Economic Policy Institute put it last month, after Govs. Kay Ivey of Alabama, Brian Kemp of Georgia, Tate Reeves of Mississippi, Henry McMaster of South Carolina, Bill Lee of Tennessee, and Greg Abbott of Texas issued a joint statement accusing the union of coming to their states to "threaten our jobs and the values we live by."
NEW: Right now Mercedes workers in Alabama are voting on joining the @UAW.
One reason workers are voting yes? They know they're building cars that sell for $250,000 and generating billions for Mercedes.
And that they aren't seeing that money. pic.twitter.com/vOnej9ufuO
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) May 15, 2024
Mercedes has said that it "fully respects our team members' choice whether to unionize and we look forward to participating in the election process to ensure every team member has a chance to cast their own secret-ballot vote, as well as having access to the information necessary to make an informed choice." However, both employees and the UAW accused the company of union-busting ahead of the vote.
During his remarks to the press Friday evening, Fain charged that "this company engaged in egregious illegal behavior" and pointed to ongoing probes by German and U.S. officials into "the intimidation and harassment that they inflicted on their own workers."
The Alabama facilities are operated by Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, a subsidiary of a German parent company. The UAW said Thursday that Germany's Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control has launched an investigation into worker claims.
"Autoworkers in Alabama should have the same rights and be treated with the same respect as autoworkers in Germany," Jeremy Kimbrell, who has worked at one of the Alabama plants since 1999, said in a statement. "My coworkers and I are grateful to the German government for taking our testimonies and the evidence we have provided seriously and taking the first steps to hold the lawless, reckless Mercedes managers in Alabama accountable for their action."
Mercedes toldQuartz that it "has not interfered with or retaliated against any team member in their right to pursue union representation" and is "fully cooperating with the authorities."
As The Washington Postreported Friday:
Alabama business leaders, politicians, and clergy have also stepped in to warn workers against voting for the union...
In a video posted this week on a Mercedes-run website about the union election, Rev. Matthew Wilson, a pastor and city council member in Tuscaloosa, told workers of the union vote: "This one change I would be careful of... As a lifelong resident of Tuscaloosa, we have come too far to turn around now."
ESPN sportscaster and retired University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban also spoke to Mercedes workers this week. According toAxios, "Saban owns multiple Mercedes dealerships and has reportedly said he does not endorse the UAW's campaign."
Kay Finklea, a Mercedes employee and member of the UAW's voluntary organizing committee, told the outlet that "they don't stop the line for hardly anything, but they shut the line down and they had a meeting with Nick Saban in there to talk to us about teamwork and the tactics and methods he used as a football coach."
The Alabama effort is widely seen as a test case for unionizing more auto workers in the South. Before the results were announced, Harley Shaiken, a labor professor at the University of California, Berkeley,
toldReuters that "if the union wins, they improve their momentum dramatically for future organizing."
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