Category Archives: Consumers

Barack Obama, Consumer Products & Services, Consumers, DEA - Department of Energy, Energy, Water

Dishwashers ruined by energy regulations: Prices up $143 but dishes don’t get clean

July 2, 2015 ejistook

Who wants a dishwasher that doesn’t work but costs more than ever?

The Department of Energy is completing a second round of regulations dictating the machines must use less water and less energy.

Prices already rose by $44 a unit with their first round in 2012. But add another $99 to the price from the 2015 regulations, spurred by President Obama’s call to “save the planet” by restricting use of energy. These are the government’s official cost projections; industry says the costs are even higher.

No, you won’t get the money back from lower electric bills. Manufacturers say that would take 20 years–twice as long as most dishwashers last.

The kicker: The new units don’t get things clean because water use is restricted and the energy limits prevent use of high-velocity sprayers.

Dishwashers could use 6.5 gallons per cycle until 2012, when that limit was lowered to 5 gallons. The 2015 Department of Energy (DOE) rules will drop that to 3.1 gallons per cycle.

The 2012 regulation restricted energy usage to 307 kWh (kiloWatthour) per year for a standard washer. The 2015 proposal lowers that to 234 kWh/year.

Manufacturers expect to lay off workers, because who wants to pay more and get less. Similar energy restrictions are in the works for other appliances.

Get ready to work harder as you wash dishes by hand. Unless you have a willing pet to lick your plates clean.

Consumers, FDA - Food & Drug Administration, Food, Food Police, The Heritage Foundation

FDA bans trans fats; you cannot eat what you like

June 18, 2015 ejistook 1 Comment

Next targets: sugar, sodium, caffeine

The mission of the FDA–Food and Drug Administration–is to protect us from unsafe foods. But the agency has re-interpreted its mission as protecting us from what they deem as “unhealthy” even if not “unsafe.”

Their newest regulation dictates that artificial trans fats must be off our grocery shelves within three years.

The FDA released a specific plan giving packaged-cookie makers, ready-made frosting producers and margarine suppliers until 2018 to eliminate the artery-clogging substance from their products. Artificial trans fats (also called “partially hydrogenated oils” typically are used for fried and baked goods.

The American Heart Association called the regulation a “historic victory for the nation’s health” that it claims could prevent up to 20,000 heart attacks each year.

Critics, however, called it a nanny-state measure. “The FDA’s role [is to] . . . make sure the ingredients of the food supply are safe. That’s different than making sure people eat something that’s healthy,” said Daren Bakst, a research fellow at The Heritage Foundation. “Other ingredients are coming. That’s their intent: to go after sugar, sodium, caffeine,” he said.

Since 2006, the FDA has required companies to include trans fat content information on their nutrition labels, and many producers have eliminated trans fats altogether. The FDA estimates that consumption of trans fats fell by 78 percent from 2003 to 2012 and Americans ate about 1 gram a day on average in 2012, down from 4.6 grams in 2006. Also, are chicken wraps healthy 2 for your health? see to learn more.

HEAR Ernest’s commentary on this:

Source: FDA bans artificial trans fats from grocery shelves; critics see nanny-state overreach – Washington Times

CFPB - Consumer Financial Protection Board, Consumers, Health Care, Insurance, Obamacare, OPM - Office of Personnel Management, Privacy

Privacy at-risk on HealthCare.gov website

June 16, 2015 ejistook 1 Comment

Once it met you, it won’t forget you. And you can forget your privacy.

All who shared information with healthcare.gov will be remembered forever. That Obamacare website stores information indefinitely about all who visited it, even if they did not buy their insurance through the website.

The data system is called MIDAS–Multidimensional Insurance Data Analytics System. Developing the website cost taxpayers over $2.1-billion, yet it still is not finished.

The practic is like what the Consumer Financial Protection Board does. Both government websites keep a mountain of personal data on millions of Americans. Goodbye, privacy! What will the feds eventually do with it? We have to guess.

And is either site more secure than the files of millions of federal workers, which got hacked through the Office of Personnel Management? Unlikely.

Experts told Congress that the longer the data is kept on government websites, the more likely it will be hacked and and privacy of millions will be breached.

The Associated Press writes up more details: Government data warehouse stores personal information indefinitely for all HealthCare.gov users – Red Alert Politics

Appliances, Automobiles, Climate Change, Consumers, Cost-of-Living, Electric Bills, Energy, Environment, EPA - Environmental Protection Agency, Family Budget, Food, Gasoline, Light Bulbs, Medical Costs, Transportation

Wham! Regulations sock it to consumers

June 12, 2015 ejistook

Consumer prices will increase by more than $11,000 just from 36 of the Obama Administration’s regulations, reports the American Action Forum (AAF).

It’s a wallop to the jaw for everyday people. AAF’s research finds this includes higher-priced vehicles, pricier household goods, and more expensive food. “Energy-efficiency” standards are the biggest reason for higher prices.

Of course, politicians and bureaucrats claim they’re saving us money. So ask yourself, Have YOU saved $11,000 thanks to federal regulations?

THE GIMMICKS:

Typically, agencies speculate that IF buyers keep using the mandated energy-saving products for long enough, they eventually will have a net gain. That’s IF things don’t wear out (or a light bulb doesn’t burn out).

As The New York Times researched and reported in 2012 about automobiles, projections of fuel savings often presume that consumers will keep their cars twice as long as is normal. Plus their study presumed gasoline would cost almost $4.00 a gallon. Projected “savings” also are not offset against interest paid on loans to buy more-expensive products, nor the extra repair charges to make old things last longer. Continue reading Wham! Regulations sock it to consumers →

Consumers, FTC - Federal Trade Commission

The FTC — America’s abusive nanny

June 6, 2015 ejistook

The FTC — Federal Trade Commission — “is showing troubling signs of overaggressive behavior” says a new policy paper from the National Taxpayers Union’s Pete Sepp.

“Americans may find themselves unwitting (and ultimately unwilling) wards of an obsessive ‘nanny’ that will dictate not only their everyday choices as consumers, but also the direction of technological innovation.”

One example? The FTC decided to investigate whether Google’s search results are “unfair” because they rank some websites above others.

Automobiles, Consumer Products & Services, Consumers, Food, Groceries, Health Care, Insurance, Obamacare

Regulations kill diversity. Less red tape=more consumer choice

March 26, 2014 ejistook 2 Comments

Obamacare dictates conformity–the opposite of diversity.

Even left-leaning Ben & Jerry’s offers more than 75 flavors of ice cream, so why must all health-care policies be uniform?

We prefer supermarkets with the biggest variety of fruits and vegetables, dozens of flavors of soda, multitudes of salad dressings, pre-sliced lunch meats that are smoked, baked, honey, oven-roasted, cured, mesquite, rotisserie, Black Forest, black pepper, or Cajun-style, in your choice of ham, chicken, turkey, beef, or mystery meat.

Government could “simplify” our lives in other ways. If Obamacare saves us from substandard insurance, wouldn’t “Obamacars” save us from substandard automobiles? And “Obamacurs” would make sure our pet dogs are only the very best breed.

Americans for Less Regulation