Consumer affairs

A Minnesota Independent analysis of foreclosure data from across the state reveals that the crisis is worst where congressional representation is doing the least to address the issue: Rep. Michele Bachmann’s 6th district leads the state with 5,227 foreclosures and 1.8 percent of households in foreclosure in 2008, but the second-term Republican voted against five key foreclosure relief bills.

Diana Levine sees a double-standard in the law. As her own case proves, people can sue when they are harmed by pharmaceuticals, but individuals hurt by defective medical devices cannot. She appears in a new video that targets Twin Cities-based defibrillator manufacturer Medtronic to support passage of the Medical Device Safety Act, which would effectively [...]

Banks that received government bailout money are taking heat for spending billions of dollars on bonuses, executive pay, and lavish outings. But there’s another outrage that Washington seems to be missing: The growing number of bank-owned properties in foreclosure scarring neighborhoods across the country.

Recent goings at the Capitol: Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Republican Rep. Erik Paulsen introduce a bipartisan bill to hinder copper thieves; Rep. Betty McCollum urges the president to enforce the ban on assault weapon imports; and CNN notes that Al Franken has taken to calling himself “Senator-elect.”

With the 111th Congress getting under way, here’s a catchall of news on Minnesota’s House and Senate delegations — from committee appointments to Collin Peterson’s new computers, Ellison on Islam to Norm Coleman’s bubblewrap.

Is Sen. Amy Klobuchar having bailout remorse? In a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr., on Thursday, Klobuchar called Paulson’s efforts a “failure” with a “massive transparency gap” and criticized Wall Street for not doing more to alleviate the credit crunch.
“I strongly believe that those financial institutions receiving federal aid through the TARP [...]

The Minneapolis Advantage, a program to encourage home ownership in foreclosure impacted neighborhoods, will receive an infusion of cash which will triple the program’s current budget. Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) of Des Moines awarded the city $1.5 million to continue the program.

The biggest case of investor fraud in American history, perpetrated by Bernard Madoff, may bilk investors out of some $50 billion. Locally, the pain is hitting several Twin Cities nonprofits that received funding from the New York–based JEHT Foundation, which invested heavily in Madoff-related entities. Madoff-affiliated foundations gave money to nonprofits ranging from the local Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission to the Wellstone Action Fund to a Fairview Foundation dedicated to assisting patients with terminal illnesses.

As a result of a hearing held by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission are suing a large pharmaceutical company for alleged price gouging over drugs used to treat newborn babies with heart defects. In a matter of months, one such drug increased from $108 to more than $1,500, putting a strain on local children’s hospitals.

Wal-Mart “saved money” and — to further shoplift from the discount retail mega-chain’s current advertising slogan — its executives will probably “live better” after today’s $54.3 million settlement of a Minnesota class action lawsuit. The Dakota County District Court case involved allegations that Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club stores denied wages for training time and didn’t [...]