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Blog Post | Democracy

NJ Assembly Should Move Forward Resolution to Overturn Citizens United

The Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling has allowed secretive groups to freely and unaccountably spend millions of dollars to sway public opinion on behalf of a few anonymous individual donors and corporations. Wealthy individuals and other, often undisclosed spenders are gaining unprecedented influence in our elections.

Here’s the good news: New Jersey can send a powerful message to Congress that things have to change by passing a State resolution against Citizens United. Let’s get Big Money out of American politics before it drowns out the voices of average voters once and for all.

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Report | NJPIRG Law and Policy Center and Demos | Democracy

Million-Dollar Megaphones

The Top 5 “dark money” spenders on presidential election ads have reported less than 1% of their spending to the FEC, which is all that is required by the agency’s insufficient standards, according to a new report analyzing the latest campaign filings.

N.J. PIRG and Demos report “Million-Dollar Megaphones: Super PACs and Unlimited Outside Spending in the 2012 Elections,” provides a detailed analysis of Federal Election Commission (FEC) data and secondary sources on outside spending and Super PAC fundraising for the 2012 election cycle.

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Blog Post | Financial Reform

Financial follies update: Discover Card pays deceptive marketing penalty | Ed Mierzwinski

Discover Card has paid a $14 million civil penalty to the CFPB and FDIC, plus refunded over $200 million to ripped-off consumers, in the latest case involving useless, junk credit insurance and credit monitoring add-ons that consumers didn't buy, but pay for, to credit card bills. Read more for that and other weekend financial follies.

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Media Hit | Tax

Trenton Times: Cut Pork From Federal Farm Bill

The Farm Bill sets our nation’s agricultural and food policy, including a raft of food-related programs such as food assistance and rural development programs. But it also authorizes a set of misguided agricultural subsidy programs that lavish billions of taxpayer dollars on large, profitable agribusinesses.

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Report | NJPIRG Law & Policy Center | Budget, Food, Tax

Apples to Twinkies 2012:

At a time when America is facing an obesity epidemic, crushing debt and a weak economy, billions of taxpayer dollars are subsidizing junk food ingredients.

In this report, we find that in 2011, over $1.28 billion in taxpayer subsidies went to junk food ingredients, bringing the total to a staggering $18.2 billion since 1995. To put that figure in perspective, $18.2 billion is enough to buy 2.9 billion Twinkies every year - 21 for every single American taxpayer.

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News Release | NJPIRG | Tax

White House Plan to Close Special Interest Tax Loopholes Is the Right Approach to Reform, But Details Matter

Statement by Gideon Weissman, Program Associate for NJPIRG in response to the White House announcement today proposing to eliminate tax loopholes and preferences.

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News Release | NJPIRG | Consumer Protection

Statement on Congressman Pallone's Bill to Regulate Arsenic and Lead in Juice

Statement of NJPIRG Program Associate Gideon Weissman on introduction of Congressman Frank Pallone's new bill `Arsenic Prevention and Protection from Lead Exposure in Juice Act of 2012' or the `APPLE Juice Act of 2012'.

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News Release | NJPIRG Law and Policy Center | Financial Reform

NJPIRG Applauds CFPB Proposal To Regulate Biggest Credit Bureaus

“Last summer over 10,000 PIRG members submitted comments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) urging strict regulation of credit bureaus and credit scoring firms. We applaud the CFPB for its proposal today to subject the nation’s largest credit bureaus and credit scoring firms to full scrutiny as “larger participants” (CFPB pdf) in the financial marketplace."

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News Release | NJPIRG Law and Policy Center | Democracy

New Report Released: Auctioning Democracy: The Rise of Super PACs and the 2012 Election

Today NJPIRG Law and Policy Center, U.S. PIRG Education Fund, and Demos released a new analysis of the funding sources for the campaign finance behemoths, Super PACs. The findings confirmed what many have predicted in the wake of the Supreme Court’s damaging Citizens United decision: since their inception in 2010, Super PACs have been primarily funded by a small segment of very wealthy individuals and business interests, with a small but significant amount of funds coming from secret sources.

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Media Hit | Health Care

Assembly Committee Clears Health Insurance Exchange Bill

The first in a long series of steps toward healthcare reform was taken yesterday, when a bill that will introduce sweeping changes to the way insurance is sold in New Jersey was voted out of an Assembly committee.

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Report | NJPIRG Law and Policy Center | Consumer Protection, Financial Reform

Big Banks, Bigger Fees

PIRG staff conducted inquiries at 392 bank branches in 21 states and reviewed bank fees online in 12 others. This report, “Big Banks, Bigger Fees: A National Survey of Bank Fees and Fee Disclosure Policies,” examines the following questions: 
- How easy is it for consumers to shop around? 
- Can consumers still find free or low-cost checking accounts or has free checking ended? 

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Report | NJPIRG Law and Policy Center | Consumer Protection

Growing Up Toxic

A growing body of scientific evidence shows that the widespread use of chemicals in our society harms our health and the health of our children. The incidence of many serious health problems – including premature birth, learning disabilities, behavioral disorders, asthma and allergies, early puberty, obesity, diabetes, reduced fertility, and some types of cancer – shows links with exposure to chemicals that can interfere with the process of growth and development.

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Report | NJPIRG Law and Policy Center | Budget, Democracy

Following the Money 2011

The ability to see how government uses the public purse is fundamental to democracy. Transparency in government spending checks corruption, bolsters public confidence, and promotes fiscal responsibility.  This report is the second annual ranking of states’ progress toward new standards of comprehensive, one-stop, one-click budget accountability and accessibility.

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Report | NJPIRG | Budget

Analysis of H.R. 1, House Continuing Budget Resolution

It’s difficult to imagine how cuts to Pell Grants, food safety or clean drinking water come before subsidies to BP or advertising for fast food and underwear. And yet, that’s exactly what the House resolution has done.

The attached compares a sample of spending cuts in the House budget resolution with recommendations from three reports produced by U.S. PIRG.  The reductions detailed in any one of the reports amount to more than the reductions called for in the resolution passed by the House.

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Report | NJPIRG Law and Policy Center | Health Care

The Cost of Repeal

On March 23, 2010, after a long congressional debate, President Barack Obama signed into law comprehensive federal health care reform legislation, known as the Affordable Care Act or ACA. But the enactment of the law did not end the debate. Even the law’s strongest proponents acknowledge the need for improvements. And across the country, state legislators and Governors have been urged to slow or stop work on implementation of key provisions. The courts are considering legal challenges to the law.

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Tools & Resources

  • Protect N.J. From Toxic Accidents
    This accident in Paulsboro was a sobering reminder of the threat of toxic accidents. Tell the EPA: Protect our communities from toxic threats.
    Learn more
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  • STOP TAX DODGERS
    Corporate tax avoidance cost taxpayers $100 billion last year. We're working to close the loopholes that allow companies to avoid paying the taxes they owe.
    Learn more
    Take Action
  • Reclaim Democracy
    The Supreme Court's Citizens United decision ushered in an era of unprecedented spending by big money in our elections, but we're working to return our democracy back to the principle of "one person, one vote."
    Learn more
    Add your voice
  • How Many Tax Dollars In A Twinkie?
    Every year, more than a billion taxpayer dollars subsidize high-fructose corn syrup and other key ingredients in junk food at a time when 1 in 3 kids is overweight or obese.
    Take Action

Priority Action

The vinyl chloride spill in Paulsboro was a sobering reminder of the threat of toxic spills. Tell the EPA: Keep our communities safe from toxic accidents.

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