A move to ban alcohol sales at market self-checkout counters in California is being fueled by two San Diego studies that suggest they make it easier for underaged buyers. Legislation to enact such a ban could come up on the state Senate floor as early as Wednesday.

In their shared comment submission, Consumer Federation of California, the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles and Margaret Reiter...voiced support for the proposed rules but offered up amendments aimed at tightening consumer protections.

Richard Holober of the Consumer Federation of California said.."It's an effort to say 'we have a cost and we have chosen not to fix these errors because it's more expensive to fix than ignore...all those little ATM mistakes could be a windfall for Wells.

Current California law prohibits merchants from applying checkout fees to credit card purchases. But the law is silent on debit cards, allowing merchants to bill debit-card users an additional fee set by the retailers. To halt these debit-card surcharges, I authored Senate Bill 933.

Ignoring a deceptive $16 million campaign by Mercury Insurance Company, California voters rejected a ballot measure that would have amended 1988 insurance reform Proposition 103 to allow insurance companies to impose surcharges on motorists who were not previously insured or had a break in coverage for virtually any reason.

...it is the big oil, drug and insurance groups who have the most to gain by smearing someone backed by environmentalists, medical attorneys and consumer protection groups and defeating Betsy Butler.

Listen to CFC's Zack Kaldveer interviewed on the Progressive Radio Network by Norman Solomon, a nationally syndicated columnist on media and politics. Topics include consumer rights issues, the corrosive influence of corporate money in politics and how it subverts the public interest, the costs of war, and more.

Jones also is touting his 100 percent rating from the Consumer Federation of California and has introduced a flurry of headline-grabbing bills during the last two Assembly sessions -- a clever use of incumbency to build name ID.

According to the Consumer Federation of California, "The Mercury Insurance initiative will legalize a surcharge that is currently illegal, but that Mercury imposed anyhow until it was stopped by the courts five years ago."

The decision may hurt Toyota’s image, already battered by a global recall of more than 8-million cars...At least 25% of new cars bought in California are made by Toyota, Consumer Federation of California executive Richard Holober said.

Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California, thinks Toyota can do something positive."One way it can repair its relationship with consumers would be to say, 'We're going to keep the good, successful, high-quality plant open,' and I think then consumers will feel a little bit better."

...with California's $42 billion deficit a year ago, new, permanent tax breaks were given to multi-state and multi-national corporations that will cost the state...$1.5 billion a year, according to Richard Holober....of The CFC.

This lawmaking cycle was "dismal," said Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California. He decried the lack of consumer-protection bills and said Schwarzenegger vetoed most of the measures his group supported.

"It seems to promise protection that really isn't there," said Hernandez, a lobbyist for the Consumer Federation of California. "The bill is not without some positive elements, but there are just too many schools that are exempt."

The Consumer Federation of California ranked officials on their support for what the group called key consumer rights bills on...financial privacy protection, health care reform, food safety, household toxics, false advertising, deceptive insurance industry practices and real estate lending reform.

...the Consumer Federation of California also released its scorecard for state lawmakers on Tuesday rating legislators on their votes on key consumer rights bills. That organization offered nearly opposite assessments from the Jarvis group, giving more Democrats higher ratings for consumer-friendly votes.

Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California, said he believes certain provisions within the new legislation will have such a negative impact on students that it is "worse than having no regulatory system" in place at all.

Cable's effort to push through a satellite TV tax is known to Capitol insiders as a "gut and amend..."(these) bills are by definition an attempt to avoid public scrutiny," said Richard Holober, director of the Consumer Federation of California.

"(The bill) addresses a form of deceptive advertising that consumers can be lured into," said Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California.

The practice often occurs when a consumer thinks he/she is making a one-time purchase for a product...only to later receive additional shipments of the product and charges to his/her credit card.

...the California Labor Federation, the Consumer Federation of California, VotersInjuredatWork.org, the California Society for Industrial Medicine & Surgery, and Assemblymember Dave Jones oppose the insurance industry’s proposed 23 percent increase for workers compensation insurance.

CFC's Zack Kaldveer speaks with ABC News reporter Michael Finney about the unregulated, for profit, private post secondary vocational educational industry.

"Instead of making our budget process more transparent and accountable, 1A does the opposite. Its complex formulas and fine print will invite unintended consequences and behind the scenes manipulation" according to arguments against the proposition, signed by the Congress of California Seniors, California Faculty Association and Consumer Federation of California.

It is unconscionable that as California is dealing with a $42 billion deficit, multi-state and multi-national corporations will receive new, permanent tax cuts that will cost the state approximately $1 billion this year and $1.5 billion in future years, according to Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California.

The proposed cap generally would limit state budget increases to inflation and population growth. Billions of state revenue also would be funneled into an expanded rainy-day fund that could only be tapped in tough financial times. Leaders of groups such as the Congress of California Seniors, the California Faculty Association, the Consumer Federation of California and the Union of Health Care Professionals signed ballot arguments against the cap.

Hancock ceded her right to three groups, the Congress of California Seniors, the California Faculty Association and the Consumer Federation of California. Their argument, backed by Hancock, emphasizes that the bill was "hastily drafted behind closed doors" and that a spending limit would hurt state services, but it does not mention any of the tax extensions.

Calls for tighter controls and more information about how the federal bailout passed last year is being spent. And during his travels About the Bay, KCBS reporter Mike Sugerman started thinking about just who is getting that money. Listen to the CFC's Zack Kaldveer comment on the bill.

North Coast State Senator Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa) earned a perfect 100-percent on the Consumer Federation of California’s recently-released scorecard for state lawmakers. She was one of only four Senators to vote correctly on all of the federation’s targeted legislation in 2008.

"Proposition 10 pulled back the veil from the Pickens Plan, and revealed that taxpayers would be hit hard with the cost of funding giveaways designed to put money in Mr. Pickens' pockets. The Pickens' Plan flunked the smell test with California voters," said Richard Holober, spokesman for the No on Prop 10 campaign, and Executive Director of the Consumer Federation of California.

"California voters didn’t fall for a Texas oil tycoon’s $10 billion money grab, no matter how much he spent camouflaging it as green," Richard Holober, a spokesman for the No on Prop 10 campaign, and Executive Director of the Consumer Federation of California, said in a statement after the bill was defeated. "Proposition 10 is the ultimate example of a wealthy special interest abusing the ballot initiative process to enrich itself."

"This has proved that one special interest, no matter how rich it is, can't hoodwink Californians into passing a measure that just lines that interest's pockets," said Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California.

Zack Kaldveer, spokesman of the Federation of Consumers of California, maintained that incarceration is not the key facotr in reducing delinquency. "Rehabilitation saves money in comparison to sending people to jail. Prop 5 treats the problem of drug addiction as a public health issue, not a criminal one.", said Kaldveer.

Listen to Zack Kaldveer discuss Proposition 10 and why voters should "send Pickens Packing" by voting No! The segment was recorded a few days before Election Day and CFC's big victory over oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens.

The measure is poorly written and attempts to distort the market in favor of natural-gas products that help the business interests of the people sponsoring the measure, said Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California in San Mateo.

Richard Holober, executive director of Consumer Federation of California, told the San Francisco Chronicle, "Look, we're not against natural gas. What we're against is using billions of dollars of tax money...to distort the market and promote one form of energy over others that we think have a much better future."

Proposition 10 is a prime example of that change. It was placed on the ballot by oilman T. Boone Pickens, a Texas billionaire, whose natural gas company stands to gain financially if it's approved...Holober said there is nothing in the measure that would prevent a trucking company, for example, from qualifying for the rebates and then moving the vehicles out of state.

Watch Richard Holober of the Consumer Federation of California represent the No no 10 side in a debate against Todd Campbell of the "Yes" side (he’s an employee of T. Boone Pickens Clean Energy Fuels Corp).

Holober is the executive director of the Consumer Federation of California. He calls Prop 10 a fraud that every major environmental group is condemning.

Zack Kaldveer, a spokesperson for the Consumer Federation of California, said throwing more and more people in jail has clearly been shown not to be the solution. "Prop 5 takes on these problems from a public health perspective and a scientific perspective," he said. Research has shown that expanded treatment and a commitment to rehabilitation are more effective and also save taxpayers money, he added.

And critics point out that natural gas is a finite resource, just like oil. "Most environmentalists believe natural gas is not the future,” said Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California, which is opposed to Prop 10.

We can no longer accept the status quo in California. It's costly and ineffective. It's time to invest in early intervention, treatment and proven recidivism-reduction programs for prisoners and parolees. Vote yes on Proposition. 5.

Proposition 5 would make smart changes to enhance public safety and cut costs to taxpayers. That's why it is supported by the League of Women Voters, California Nurses Association, California Federation of Teachers and the Consumer Federation of California -- among many others.

"They're pushing an unpopular alternative becasue that is the alternative that makes Mr. T. Boone Pickes richer," said Richard Holober from the Consumer Federation of California. Holober is executive director of the Consumer federation of California , which runs the "No on 10" Web site.

“It's a classic case of a wealthy special interest using the California ballot initiative system to enrich itself,” said Richard Holober, who heads the Consumer Federation of California.

Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California, said sometimes it takes a fighting spirit to take on interest groups and their legislative allies in the Capitol. He points to a landmark financial privacy bill that Jackson helped pass, a law that he says provides Californians with the highest level of financial privacy in the nation.

T. Boone Pickens, the Texas billionaire oilman who says he wants to break America's addiction to foreign oil, is betting that Californians are willing to help pay for cars and trucks that don't run on petroleum.

Proposition 10 is "riddled with loopholes and does nothing to clean up our air," said Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California. He notes that environmental and public-health groups oppose the measure, too. He charges that Proposition 10 is "masquerading" as a clean-the-air measure, but it sets no such goals.

While relatively modest rebates would be offered to those seeking to buy hybrid cars, for example, as much as $50,000 per truck could be awarded, with the potential that the vehicles will simply be sold for profit out of state, the Consumer Federation of California says.

Consumer Federation of California executive director Richard Holober said most hybrid vehicles, which run on either electricity or gasoline, would not qualify for rebates under Proposition 10 except for the Toyota Prius, which gets the unusually high 45 miles per gallon.

"Look, we're not against natural gas," said Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California. "What we're against is using billions of dollars of tax money - precious tax money - to distort the market and promote one form of energy over others that we think have a much better future."

"It's a classic case of a wealthy special interest using the California ballot initiative system to enrich itself," said Richard Holober, who heads the Consumer Federation of California. "California is literally going broke and cannot afford another major cost that will result in reduced public education, public health and public safety."

"These kinds of discriminatory loans won’t just affect the thousands of California’s port drivers as individual borrowers, but entire families and their futures as well," added Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California.

A coalition of consumer, immigrant and civil rights groups warned Tuesday that a Port of Long Beach loan program to help thousands of mostly low-income truck drivers replace old, polluting rigs with newer, cleaner-burning vehicles could plunge the truckers into debt.

"Prop 10 just has all the earmarks of legislation designed to benefit a particular corporation, in this case majority-owned by Mr. Pickens," said Richard Holober, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California.

"We see these fees as bad for passengers and bad for workers," said Zack Kaldveer, a spokesman for CFC. "(this is)...another example of airlines nickeling and diming passengers, while also taking money out of the pockets of some of their lowest-paid workers."

"It's pretty shocking to see what passengers have been subjected to, whether it's 12-hour delays with no food or an inability to get off a plane," said Zack Kaldveer, a spokesman for the Consumer Federation of California. "There is just no good reason that paying customers should be subjected to that kind of treatment," Kaldveer said. "I think this bill simply reflects what the people are demanding."