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What's New
Never before, not even during the Great Recession in 2008, has the Federal Reserve directed so much money to help so many companies so quickly. Its unprecedented efforts may prove essential. But with unprecedented power comes unprecedented responsibility to inform and engage the public.
Sometimes, metaphorically speaking, it’s good to see how the sausage is made. In my case, I had that chance when it comes to administering elections.
President Donald Trump announced yesterday he was removing the independent head of the federal watchdog panel charged with overseeing disbursement of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act funds, less than two weeks after Congress passed the stimulus bill to deal with the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis. In response, U.S. PIRG Tax and Budget advocate R.J. Cross released a statement.
346 state legislators from 45 states are calling on the country’s top online marketplaces to crack down on price gouging amidst the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Rich Cordray, the first director of the CFPB and author of a new book on his six years at its helm, has issued a powerful memo to its current director, Kathy Kraninger, urging her to stop "relaxing" duties on financial firms and to "lose no further time" in "shield[ing] households and families" from the "economic harms" they face as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Public Health
Responding to the crisis
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, now more than ever, we need to work together to ensure that our government has a coordinated, strategic response to safeguard the public’s health, protect consumers from emerging dangers and ensure people can still participate fully in our democracy.
COVID-19
33 attorneys general join the fight to stop coronavirus price gouging
As the COVID-19 pandemic sends Americans online in search of critical supplies, some sellers are using the crisis as an opportunity to price gouge. Now, attorneys general from 33 states are taking action.
Budget
Who will receive up to $4.5 trillion in corporate bailouts? Taxpayers deserve transparency.
The most recent COVID-19 stimulus package includes $454 billion for corporate bailouts and allows the Federal Reserve to leverage most of that cash into $4.5 trillion in lending and asset-purchase programs. The open question is: Where are all of those taxpayer dollars going?
Democracy
PIRG urges states to adopt emergency absentee voting
The novel coronavirus outbreak is, understandably, causing many Americans to think twice about going to the polls. To protect public health and the integrity of our elections, PIRG is calling on states to make sure residents can cast absentee ballots for the 2020 elections.
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