Tired of paying to leave your cell phone company for another?

From the E-Mail:

Tired of paying to leave your cell phone company for another?

That's not how competition is supposed to work.

Vent your frustration and make a difference!

This week, the FCC meets to discuss those hefty early termination fees--as high at $250. They need to hear from customers, not just companies.

The stakes are high. The FCC could rein in these fees, but the companies want a sweetheart deal in return. In exchange for fee reductions, the industry wants to take away your right to take cell phone companies to court.

We got this far because frustrated cell customers have already gone to court, and they might win. By taking away your rights in the future, we may end up with a worse deal in the long run.

Tell the FCC to rein in these excessive early termination penalties without taking away your rights.

Isn’t it bad enough we have to buy a new phone when changing wireless companies? Why do we have to pay a penalty when we leave, even if the service was bad?

Tell the FCC cell phone companies shouldn’t get special legal treatment just for giving consumers a fair shake!

Finally, please forward this email to those you know with cell phones, so they can comment to the FCC along with you!

Sphere: Related Content

I'm sick

So I'm gonna take a few days off, thanks for the rest people. Heres a few quick updates.

New GI Bill passes Senate

---

Consumers Union Collects $8,500 in first 24 hours

We raised $8,500 in just the first 24 hours. Help us reach our goal of $15,000 by tomorrow! Donate right now! Dear Joseph, This is the last chance to help keep dangerous toys and other hazardous goods out of our homes by passing strong product safety reform. The CU Action Fund needs just $15,000 to pump up our efforts and make sure the new law really protects our loved ones. It’s crunch time. President Bush wants a watered down compromise; we are fighting for the strongest reforms possible. Now is our best chance to stop the endless stream of dangerous imports that put all of us at risk.

---

INDIAN GUEST WORKERS RALLY AT CAPITOL:

Six more workers joined the week-old hunger strike by Indian guest workers Wednesday at a rally outside the Capitol to pressure Congress to support their struggle against exploitation. At the action, workers reported that hunger striker Christopher Glory was admitted to George Washington University Hospital Wednesday for dangerously low blood pressure. The workers' families and dozens of DC area activists also participated in a day-long solidarity fast Wednesday to support the campaign. Following the rally, workers and their supporters met with Congressional representatives and pressured them to hold hearings on abuses of workers under the guest worker program and ask the Department of Justice to protect the workers during an ongoing criminal anti-trafficking investigation against their former employer Signal International. A community meeting with representatives of the campaign will be held today at 7P. If the workers demands are not met, they will continue their strike outside the Capitol through Sunday, May 25 then move to Dupont Circle. Click here for ways you can support the campaign.
- report/photo by Andy Richards

More at the AFL-CIO Web Blog
Hunger Striker Hospitalized, Others Rally on Capitol Hill

---

Take The CWA Speed Test

Dear Joseph, Millions of Americans—especially in rural and low-income urban areas—don’t have high-speed Internet access. Millions more who have, what we in America call, “high-speed” Internet pay much more for slower speeds than people in Europe or Japan. How fast is your Internet access? How does your speed compare nationwide and around the globe? Are you getting what your Internet provider says you’re paying for? Take the Communications Workers of America Speed Matters test to find out: www.speedmatters.org/wfn2008

---

Sphere: Related Content

Consumer's Union and Free Press need donations, send em' some help

From the E-Mailbox

Consumers Union

Will you help us raise $15,000 by May 30th to make toys and products safer? Donate Today! Dear Joseph, The clock is ticking! Congress must quickly finish its work before lawmakers turn their attention to the elections--and that means they must finalize a strong product safety reform bill. But President Bush just announced his opposition to many of the best provisions. With only a short time left to craft a final bill, he wants to make sure it does as little as possible. That's why we are asking you to pitch in now with a contribution to the Action Fund. The recalls continue unabated--nearly 10 million products all told in the first four months of this year, and 1.3 million toys due to lead. Bush opposes a requirement that all manufacturers test children's products before they reach our shelves. He also opposes a public web site that would give you more timely information about unsafe products. Consumers Union and the CU Action Fund are pulling out all the stops. In the past few days: Consumers Union released a new report on the nearly 10 million dangerous products recalled since the holidays; you sent thousands of messages to members of the key committee that must finalize this bill; and some of you attended a rally at the Capitol in Washington. You may not live in D.C., where we held the rally, or in the district of a conference committee member, but you can still help us get a strong bill passed with a donation right now! Click here to help us reach our $15,000 goal by Friday, May 30th with a secure online gift. Your contribution to the CU Action Fund will help us use every tool we have to battle industry opponents and the President and help lawmakers give you the strongest product safety bill. Will you please help ensure that we have the resources we need to do this crucial work? With your support, we can continue to ramp up activity on Not In My Cart and other critical campaigns, and give you the power to choose safe products all year long. Thank you so much for your generous contribution. Sincerely, Kathy Mitchell Consumers Union Action Fund 506 W. 14th Street Austin, Texas 78701 P.S. Your donation to the Consumers Union Action Fund is not tax-deductible because it will enable us to do the lobbying work needed to win.

FreePress

Dear Joseph, Expose the Pentagon Pundits -- Help Place This Ad Now! The media still refuse to cover the outrageous Pentagon propaganda scandal. We need your help to place this ad in Washington news outlets by Friday so we can force all 535 members of Congress, their staff and other D.C. influentials to hear this message: We won't let the Pentagon -- and its Big Media enablers -- get away with manipulating and deceiving the public. Help Stop Propaganda: Place the Ad Congress and the media must know we're not backing down. The shocking -- and very likely illegal -- campaign that turned "independent" military analysts into on-air Pentagon propagandists and Iraq war apologists must be investigated. And Big Media's shameful failure to cover the story -- and hold itself accountable for its own complicity -- must end. Your contribution today will help the Free Press Action Fund achieve both goals. We need to raise $10,000 in the next 24 hours to run this ad and publicly turn up the heat on Congress to act. Put This Ad on Congress' Doorstep You and other Free Press supporters have already helped mobilize hundreds of thousands of Americans to express their outrage over this propaganda scandal and media cover-up. Your contribution today will help us put even more pressure where it counts most: on Congress and Big Media. Expose the Pentagon, Call Out Big Media, and End Fake News Support Free Press Action Fund's "Propaganda Pundit" ad-buy right now. Gratefully, Timothy Karr Campaign Director Free Press Action Fund www.freepress.net P.S. Thanks to you, Free Press is leading the charge to hold the Pentagon and Big Media accountable for the "Propaganda Pundit" scandal. Our next step is to run a powerful ad to put Congress and the media on notice. Contribute now and send the message: We're not backing down

Sphere: Related Content

From Consumers Union, your words matter

Minerva Novoa, Internet Advocacy Coordinator Dear Joe, Have you experienced the high cost of health care, the complexity of health insurance, or a problem with your care itself? Help us take an in-depth look at all aspects of our health care system. Use this simple form to tell us your story, and we will follow up with you personally for more details. Your story matters to us and to policymakers as we all move towards a national dialog about real solutions.

New York, support better bottle recycling

New York’s Bottle Bill, passed in 1982, requires a 5-cent refundable deposit on beer and soda containers--but doesn't include water and sports drink bottles. Billions of these containers end up in our landfills. Tell your lawmaker to support a bigger, better bottle bill in this year's budget.

Get the bill to the President next week!
Both the House and the Senate passed strong bills to fix our broken product safety system. It was a huge victory for you and your family. And yet the final bill hasn't gone to the President for signature yet. No more delays! Tell your lawmakers to send a strong bill to the President next week.

Share your credit card story!
Has a credit card company recently raised your rate, slapped you with penalty fees, increased your credit limit then claimed you were a higher risk? Have you tried to get a handle on your rights and no one will give you a straight answer? We want to hear about your experience!

Tired of all those drug ads?
One of you suggested that TV drug ads should have a 1-800 number to report side effects. A great idea, and we jumped on it. Sign on to this petition to the FDA and we will deliver all the signatures to the agency next week. Help make your great ideas happen!

Does my doctor know what's best?
Doctors don't have good information about the drugs and treatments that really work best. Drug companies fund many studies--and they don't compare their product with alternatives that might work better. Congress can fund unbiased research, with your support. Help fund unbiased studies!

Ask you first! Banks need to stop overdrafting first and charging you later.
New GAO report calls for change.

Want to know if those greener cleaners are really green? See our free overview.

Medicine from pig intestines? Really? What you didn't know about Heparin.

Sphere: Related Content

Prescriptions, don't get mad take action!

Take Action Newsroom Learn More Share Your Story Discussion group Blog Donate

Tell the FDA what you think about drug ads.
Goal: 50,000 signatures!

Fed up with TV ads that sell you the “good news” about prescription drugs but gloss over the shortcomings? Do these drugs actually work? And how common are those side effects?

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will soon decide whether these TV ads should include a toll-free number and web address where you can report side effects or other problems. The drug companies don't like this idea. They don’t want their ads used to help identify potential problems with their products.

But if we have to watch these endless ads, we should at least be able to easily report to the FDA how these medicines really work! Add your name to the FDA petition below.

Take Action - Sign the Petition

Petition for Better Reporting of Drug Side Effects

I support requiring all drug ads to include a 1-800 number and website so citizens can report drug side effects (petition docket 2008P-0012/CP1).

All too often, drug advertisements fail to present the benefits and risks of using prescription drugs in an accurate and balanced way. It is often the newest drugs that are the most heavily advertised, and it is these drugs whose side effects we know the least about.

The current system for collecting information about side effects catches only a fraction of actual cases. The recent law passed to require print drug ads to provide a 1-800 number and website (FDAAA -- P.L. 110-85) is a step in the right direction, but should be extended to include TV ads which are viewed far more frequently and with a greater command of the viewing audience.

Increased reporting of adverse events will help in the earlier detection and better analysis of problems. All television ads should contain information on how patients can report side effects to the FDA.

Click the link below to get E-Active and sign the petition

Sphere: Related Content

Your eating a clone and you don't even know it

From Consumers Union, the Not For Profit publishers of Consumer Reports, who brought us the "Not In My Cart" Campaign

With little data to go on, the FDA has decided that milk and meat from cloned animals and their offspring are safe to eat. This means that as of today, the livestock industry is free to ship these items to your supermarket with no labeling.

Cloned cows and pigs suffer from numerous health problems. Many are born with deformities and birth defects, and most don't live to adulthood. A Consumers Union poll found that 89 percent of consumers want labels on products from clones. Without labeling, you won't be able to choose whether or not to buy milk or meat from clones.

Act now! Ask your Senators and Representative to co-sponsor the Cloned Food Labeling Act.

Get involved, send a message here
and you can read more at their Food Blog
You can also visit their Website

Sphere: Related Content