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News Release | Georgia PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Atlanta Receives a Grade of “F” for Spending Transparency

ATLANTA –Atlanta received a grade of “F” for spending transparency, according to a new report released today by the Georgia PIRG Education Fund. The report reviews Atlanta’s progress toward comprehensive, one-stop, one-click budget accountability and accessibility.

Report | Georgia PIRG Education Fund and PFAW Foundation | Democracy

Outside Spending, Outsized Influence

The 2012 elections were by far the most expensive in history thanks primarily to the tidal wave of outside, special interest money triggered by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. The federal House races in Georgia, where outside groups spent nearly $3 million, were no exception.

News Release | Georgia PIRG Education Fund and The Center for Media and Democracy | Democracy

“Elections Confidential” Report Reveals Role of Dark-Money Nonprofits and Shell Corporations in 2012

ATLANTA — Mystery donors poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the 2012 elections via nonprofits and shell corporations, despite widespread public support for disclosure and decades of legal precedent supporting the public’s right to know the sources of election-related spending. A new report from the Georgia PIRG Education Fund and the Center for Media and Democracy found that contributions from phony for-profit corporations accounted for nearly 17 percent of all business donations to Super PACs.

Report | Georgia PIRG Education Fund | Democracy

Elections Confidential

“Elections Confidential” describes how secret donors poured hundreds of millions into the 2012 election through social-welfare groups that are really political vehicles and via shell corporations formed as conduits to hide a funder’s identity. The first post-Citizens United presidential election cycle was bought and paid for by a handful of wealthy donors, but the corrosive influence of money in politics was amplified by the fact that we don’t know who – or what – actually provided much of the funding.

News Release | Georgia PIRG Education Fund and Demos | Democracy

New Report Shows Impact of Big Money in the 2012 Election

ATLANTA — It took just 32 billionaires and corporations, giving an average of $9.9 million apiece to Super PACs, to match every single dollar that small donors gave to the Romney and Obama campaigns, according to Billion Dollar Democracy, a new report by Georgia PIRG and Demos. Those small donations, which amounted to more than $313 million, came from more than 3.7 million individuals.

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News Release | Georgia PIRG | Tax

First Step to Avoid the Fiscal Cliff: Close Offshore Tax Loopholes

ATLANTA, December 6th – With Congress scrambling to agree on ways to reduce the deficit, Georgia PIRG pointed out a clear first step to avoid the “fiscal cliff”: closing offshore tax loopholes. Many of America’s largest corporations and wealthiest individuals use accounting gimmicks to shift profits made in America to offshore tax havens, where they pay little to no taxes. This tax avoidance costs the federal government $150 billion in tax revenue each year. Georgia PIRG released new data illustrating the size of this loss with 16 dramatic ways $150 billion could be spent.

News Release | Georgia PIRG Education Fund and Demos | Democracy

Post-Election Update--Distorted Democracy: Big Money and Dark Money in the 2012 Elections

A new analysis of data through Election Day from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and other sources by Georgia PIRG Education Fund and Demos shows how big outside spenders drowned out small contributions in 2012: just 61 large donors to Super PACs giving on average $4.7 million each matched the $285.1 million in grassroots contributions from more than 1,425,500 small donors to presidential candidates.

News Release | Georgia PIRG Education Fund and Demos | Democracy

Distorted Democracy: Big Money and Dark Money in the 2012 Elections

A new analysis of pre-election data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and other sources by Georgia PIRG and Demos shows that outside spending in the first presidential election since Citizens United is living up to its hype: new waves of “outside spending” have been fueled by dark money and unlimited fundraising from a small number of wealthy donors.

News Release | Georgia PIRG Education Fund | Food

Ag Subsidies Pay for 21 Twinkies per Taxpayer, But Only Half of an Apple Apiece

Federal subsidies for commodity crops are subsidizing junk food additives like high fructose corn syrup, enough to pay for 21 Twinkies per taxpayer every year, according to Georgia PIRG’s new report, Apples to Twinkies 2012. Meanwhile, limited subsidies for fresh fruits and vegetables would buy one half of an apple per taxpayer.

News Release | Georgia PIRG Education Fund | Democracy

New Report Released: Auctioning Democracy: The Rise of Super PACs and the 2012 Election

Dēmos and U.S. PIRG Education Fund analysis of Federal Election Commission data on Super PACs from their advent in 2010 through the end of 2011 reveals the following:

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Report | Georgia PIRG Education Fund | Consumer Protection

Big Banks, Bigger Fees

Over the last six months, state PIRG staff conducted inquiries at 250 bank and 116 credit union branches in 17 states and the District of Columbia and reviewed bank fees online in these and 7 other states. They found that free checking remains available at more than 6 out of 10 small banks and credit unions but was only found at one-quarter of surveyed big banks (those with over $10 billion in deposits).

Report | US PIRG | Consumer Protection, Food

Total Food Recall

ATLANTA, October 25 – Despite government commitments to address the problem, food recalls are on the rise and our food safety systems are broken, according to a new report by U.S. PIRG.

Report | Georgia PIRG Education Fund, Dēmos | Democracy

Million-Dollar Megaphones

New report details latest numbers on outside spending, secret money and Super PAC fundraising for 2012 elections.

Report | Georgia PIRG Education Fund | Food

Apples to Twinkies 2012

At a time when America is facing an obesity epidemic, crushing debt and a weak economy, billions of taxpayer dollars are subsidizing junk food ingredients. In this report, we find that in 2011, over $1.28 billion in taxpayer subsidies went to junk food ingredients, bringing the total to a staggering $18.2 billion since 1995. To put that figure in perspective, $18.2 billion is enough to buy 2.9 billion Twinkies every year - 21 for every single American taxpayer.

Report | Georgia PIRG Education Fund | Budget

Following the Money

The ability to see how government uses the public purse is fundamental to democracy. Transparency in government spending promotes fiscal responsibility, checks corruption, and bolsters public confidence.

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Apples To Twinkies

Find out how government subsidies disproportionately benefit junk food over fresh fruit and vegetables.

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Wall Street Reform

Find out how Wall Street Reform protects consumers and the economy.

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PROTECT YOURSELF

We've created consumer tips to help protect you from unfair bank fees, identity theft, loan rip-offs and more.

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