The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Trump’s government shutdown is disrupting agencies that protect consumers, workers, health, and safety

Consumer, worker, health, and safety protection agencies throughout the federal government are being disrupted by federal worker furloughs coming from the partial government shutdown, according to a report Public Citizen released Wednesday.

“As long as the shutdown continues, essential consumer, worker, health and safety protections carried out by these agencies are on hold,” said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen. “Corporate lawbreakers are going unpunished, safety inspections are being postponed, discrimination charges are going uninvestigated, polluters are not being held in check, financial fraudsters are not being policed, consumer complaints are not being received and accident investigations have ceased.”

Many agencies are falling behind, and it could take many weeks for them to catch up, according to furloughed workers quoted in the report. More than 75 percent of workers have been furloughed at seven agencies dedicated to protecting consumers and workers, according to federal agency memos, and nearly 50,000 employees have been sent home without pay at the following agencies:

Coalition of state and local agencies will sue if Trump administration replaces plan to curb greenhouse gas emissions from power plants

The Trump administration proposed Tuesday to dismantle the Clean Power Plan, the nation’s first limits on climate change emissions from existing fossil-fuel power plants.

The plan is the result of efforts by states and cities, in cooperation with the federal government, to require cuts in the emissions of climate change pollution from fossil fuel-burning power plants under the Clean Air Act. The plan, along with a rule for new, modified, and reconstructed power plants, would control emissions by setting limits on the amount of climate change pollution that power plants can emit. The plan would eliminate as much climate change pollution as is emitted by more than 160 million cars a year – or 70 percent of the nation’s passenger cars.

“As we face another record-breaking year of punishing heat and violent storms, the Trump administration is seeking to gut crucial limits on emissions of climate change pollution from power plants – one of its largest sources,” said New York Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood. “Climate change is real, no matter how much this administration tries to deny it.”

States to challenge Trump administration’s roll back of vehicle emission standards and end of authority of states to enforce stronger standards

Twenty attorneys general, from jurisdictions that have adopted California’s more stringent vehicle emissions standards, will challenge the Trump administration’s roll back of the standards, if a proposed rule released Thursday is adopted.

“Federal rules to limit tailpipe pollution and improve fuel economy are our best strategy to reduce carbon pollution, improve air quality, and save drivers money on gas,” the attorneys general said in a statement. “The Administration’s proposal to weaken these rules will cause the American people to breathe dirtier air and pay higher prices at the pump.”

If adopted, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s rollbacks will cost American drivers hundreds of billions of dollars, they said.

Fines for corporations by federal agencies down under Trump administration, with penalties falling as much as 94 percent

When Donald Trump was elected president, I strongly suspected that he would be soft on his big corporation buddies. Now we have details on just how bad it is.

During President Donald Trump’s first year in office, enforcement against corporate crime and wrongdoing declined dramatically, with total penalties for such violations dropping from the final year of the Obama administration, according to a report from Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization.

In almost every federal agency under control of a Trump appointee – and most significantly at the Department of Justice, the nation’s lead law enforcement agency – enforcement against corporations dropped, often plunging to just a small fraction of what it had been.

What are the most and least energy expensive states?

Source: WalletHub

With July tending to be the hottest month of the year, consumers are cranking up their air conditioners – and, a result, their utility budgets. In addition, Trump administration policies are causing gas prices to go up. Also, lurking in the background are proposals by Trump and his agencies to have the American taxpayers bail out coal and nuclear industries, under the guise of national security, by providing government assistance to those coal and nuclear power plants that are struggling to be profitable. If adopted, these changes would be costlier to consumers.

In the United States, energy costs are between 5 and 22 percent of families’ total after-tax income, with the poorest Americans, or 25 million households, paying the highest of that range. And lower energy prices don’t necessarily lead to savings. Where consumers live and how much energy they use are a big part of the costs. For example, although electricity is cheaper in Southern Louisiana, its high summer heat raises costs for residents compared with the temperate climate in more energy-expensive coastal Northern California, where heating and cooling units stay idle most of the year.

To look at how Americans’ energy costs are linked location and consumption habits, WalletHub, a personal finance website, compared the average monthly energy bills in the 50 states and the District of Columbia using a formula for the following residential energy types: electricity, natural gas, motor fuel, and home heating oil:

Trump showed in his North Korean press conference that he has strange view of government

Photo: Shealah Craighead

It was upsetting to listen to President Donald Trump’s news conference following his meeting with North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Un.

Trump said the United States would stop its war games in the area, which would save “a tremendous amount of money.” He talked about how expensive it is to send bombers from Guam to the Korean peninsula for the war games.

While it was hugely inappropriate for Trump to be talking about the cost of the military exercises following a negotiation on denuclearization and probably unwise for him to give Kim this victory so early in the negotiations, it also showed how skewed Trump and his administration are on government spending.

Memorial Day 2018: Americans traveling in near-record numbers, often choosing cruises and warm weather

For many people, Memorial Day ushers in the unofficial start of summer, and Americans plan to start the season by traveling.

More than 41.5 million Americans will travel this Memorial Day weekend, nearly 5 percent more than last year and the most in more than a dozen years, according to AAA.

Holiday travel forecast

• Automobiles: The vast majority of travelers – 36.6 million – will travel by car this Memorial Day, 4.7 percent more than last year.

• Planes: 3.1 million people will travel by air, a 6.8 percent increase and the fifth year of air travel increases.

• Trains, buses, and cruise ships: Travel on these modes of transportation will increase by 2.4 percent to 1.8 million passengers.

Truck owners charge Ford with cheating on emissions tests

Photo: Bull-Doser

Ford Motor Company is being sued by truck owners who allege that the company installed software in more than 500,000 F-250 and F-350 Super Duty trucks between 2011 and 2017 to cheat federal emissions tests and allow twice the legal limit of diesel waste into the air.

“Assuming these allegations can be proven, this is a deliberate attempt by Ford to evade the law and boost profits while deceiving its customers and polluting our communities,” said Madeline Page, campaign coordinator for Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group.

Page said it appears Ford is pursuing every avenue available, from Congress and the White House to perhaps even emissions cheating software, to avoid producing cleaner and more efficient vehicles.

Don't use your cell phone in the crosswalk

When I was going to the post office today, I wanted to make a left turn into the parking lot. Here were two young people, a man and a woman, looking at their cell phones as they were walking down the sidewalk. As they approached the entry to the parking lot where I wanted to turn in, the man stopped looking down from his phone and walked a little bit faster. The woman kept looking down at her cell phone, walking slowly across the place where I wanted to enter.

As I turned and went by them, I honked. The woman gave me a dirty look. I wished I would have honked at them as they sauntered across the entry point.

Now, I don't mind stopping for pedestrians. I do it all the time. It's the law. I even know that cars are supposed to stop when pedestrians are at the curb on corners where cross walks aren't painted.

Ram pickups that can shift out of park prompts recall by Fiat Chrysler

Photo: Stratos L

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is recalling 1.8 million Ram pickups because the gear shifters can accidentally switch out of park.

In certain "high-temperature conditions" the truck's shifter may be moved out of park when the driver isn't stepping on the brake, as would normally be required. This can occur without a key in the ignition, FCA said.

Seven people have had minor injuries and a small number of crashes have occurred that might be linked to the problem, the company said.