Roll Call: Newt Gingrich situation highlights lobbying dilemma - “Businesses will frequently hire family members of Members of Congress to do lobbying for them,” said Craig Holman of the advocacy group Public Citizen. Holman lobbies Congress on ethics matters.

International Business Times: Ron Paul 2012: Scared by one of his ‘crazy’ ideas? Consider this… - "Like many lobbyists along Washington's famed K Street corridor, Livingston opens his wallet for a substantial number of candidates and political action committees (PACs) engaged in key political races. And in doing so, he engages in what may be the most influential form of lobbying," wrote Public Citizen.

TPM Muckraker: Ethics committee closes loophole Don Young exploited - “When it comes to campaign finance law, that’s clearly a violation,” Public Citizen’s Craig Holman told TPM. “It’s well established as a violation of that type of rule.”

Austin American-Statesman: Members of Congress collect thousands in state pensions - Tom "Smitty" Smith, the director of Public Citizen's Texas office, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization , took a harder line than McDonald. "Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's right," Smith said. "One way or another, this money is coming out of taxpayers' pockets."

The Associated Press: Consumer group wants withdrawal of Wingspan stent - The consumer watchdog group Public Citizen says a recent study funded by the National Institutes of Health found a 2.5-fold increase in stroke or death with the Wingspan stent system, which is designed to prevent stroke by clearing blood flow to the brain.

The Nonprofit Quarterly: Public Citizen objects to selling naming rights to public transport - Now Public Citizen, a Washington based nonprofit that is aimed at protecting communities from commercialism, is objecting to the fact that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation is investigating the strategy of selling naming rights for public transportation stops to corporations.

The Associated Press: In Texas, new EPA regulations cheered, decried - "This is big. Texans shouldn't be living with the health risks of mercury and other pollutants," said Tom "Smitty" Smith, director of the Texas office of the consumer activist group Public Citizen.

Climate Science Watch: The Occupy movement and the climate movement - In attendance were Ash Anderson, Director of Peaceful Uprising, Phil Aroneanu of 350.org, and Allison Fisher, Outreach Director for Public Citizen’s Energy Program and moderator of the conference.

The Nonprofit Quarterly: Public Citizen leading campaign for constitutional amendment to undo Citizens United - Public Citizen, the Nader-founded good government group, is pushing a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United.

The Huffington Post: Major coal victory -- LS Power agrees to abandon two coal projects, invest in solar - Sierra Club, Public Citizen, and Sandy Creek Energy Associates all helped bring this agreement across the finish line.

AlterNet: In shocking “pharmalateralism,” FDA strips critic of voting rights - But instead of investigating the drug nine years ago, the FDA decided to ban the newsletter’s editor, Sidney Wolfe, MD, head of the Public Citizen Health Research Group from voting at this week’s Yaz hearings, because the newsletter had termed the drug a “do not use.” The FDA accused Wolfe of an “intellectual conflict of interest.”

Opposing Views: Really? Feds allow BP to drill in Gulf of Mexico - As Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program, said in a statement released today, calling the BP disaster an “incident” is like calling Katrina a little rainstorm.

Nature: U.S. bioethics panel urges stronger protections for human subjects - Sidney Wolfe, the director of the Health Research Group at Public Citizen, an advocacy group in Washington DC, says that he is troubled by the report’s “equivalent-protections” recommendation, which urges US agencies funding studies abroad to allow non-US partners and collaborators to work under the rules for patient-protection that pertain in their own countries — so long those rules are equal to or better than the standards adopted by the United States.

The Hill: Hollywood, pro-Israel lobby, unions seek exemptions from ban on lobbyist gifts - Not everyone hates the rule. It has received backing from a number of good-government groups. Watchdogs including the Campaign Legal Center, Democracy 21 and Public Citizen have generally backed the proposal and have argued for it to be strengthened even further.

The Wall Street Journal: Anti-corruption groups come out against tax holiday - On Tuesday, the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Coalition, Global Financial Integrity, Public Citizen and other good governance groups signed onto a letter to Congress Tuesday railing against the tax holiday.

The Hill: Bundling money for influence still out of sight - The Federal Election Commission rarely fails to disappoint. The agency has proved ineffective once again, this time in its neglect of reporting and disclosure of “bundled” campaign contributions.

The Associated Press: Texas coal plant cuts deal with environmentalists - Sierra Club, Public Citizen and the Sandy Creek Energy Station in Riesel filed a consent decree Monday in federal court. The environmental groups say the deal ends any outstanding legal matters between the parties.

The New York Times: When business is regulated, and isn't - David Brooks does an excellent job of debunking the big business hysteria over regulations. But the big business story is even more upside down than he reports. 

The Huffington Post: Can Occupy overturn Citizens United? - While there are wonderful groups already engaged in this effort -- from Public Citizen to Free Speech for People -- only your energy, guts and brand can create voters-not-corporations groups in every state either to enact the 28th or at least mobilize opinion around the issue for future elections.

Reuters: Senate confirms one ambassador, blocks another - "Naturally, Norm was always the one telling people what they could not do, and that won him no friends," said Craig Holman, who supported Eisen and is a lobbyist with the consumer group Public Citizen.

National Journal: Despite defeat, Cordray lobbying continues - "We now have a list of who's on Main Street's side and who's on Wall Street's side," said Public Citizen's financial policy advocate Bartlett Naylor. "We've named the names." 

Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Environmental Protection Agency adds Wise, Hood counties to DFW ozone-nonattainment area - Eleven environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and Public Citizen, wrote Armendariz on Thursday urging that Wise, Navarro, McLennan, Freestone and Limestone counties be added, but they did not request Hood.

The Hill: Advocates explore constitutional options to appoint consumer agency nominee - Nonetheless, David Arkush, director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division, argues Obama clearly has the authority to do just that. Public Citizen is a consumer advocacy organization that is a strong supporter of the CFPB. “That’s absolutely clear in the Constitution. I think it’s incontestable,” he said.

Bloomberg: Wyoming's tainted water puts pressure on the EPA to act on gas fracking - “The industry is going to say this study proves nothing,” Tyson Slocum, energy program director for Public Citizen, a Washington-based consumer advocacy group, said in an interview. “But everybody is talking about a vastly expanded role for natural gas in the U.S. economy, and there’s way too much uncertainty into how fracking is going to be regulated.”

RealClearPolitics : Blocked by Senate, Obama May Recess-Appoint Cordray - The president should cut his losses and “end the needlessly drawn out process of installing a leader for the CFPB by making Cordray head of the agency through a recess appointment,” said Public Citizen President Robert Weissman in a statement.

Web Page Today : FDA Panel Rejects Champion Monitor - A representative from Public Citizen Health Research Group asked that the panel not recommend approval of the device because of the bias created by the treatment arm's management support.

Public News Service : Group Says : Fracking is not Healthy for Humans and Other Living Things - Formerly part of Ralph Nader's group Public Citizen, Food & Water Watch will be opening an office in Albuquerque this month, adds Bravo.

Huffington Post : Why Is Rick Perry Dodging Questions About Health Care in Texas? You Would Too - Public Citizen's study found that Medicare spending has increase faster in the Lone Star state than the nation as a whole and that outpatient service costs covered by Medicare have also exceeded national averages.

NJToday : ANALYSIS: Rick Perry’s Real Health Care Story - “While litigation over malpractice in Texas has plummeted dramatically since the caps were imposed, residents of Texas-except for people with financial connections to liability insurance companies and, to a lesser extent, doctors—have realized few, if any, benefits,” Public Citizen said in a statement accompanying the study. “Instead, the health care picture in Texas has worsened significantly by almost any measure.”

Policymic : SLAPP-Happy Dentists: When Lawsuits Are Used to Fight Bad Yelp! Reviews - They also sent invoiced to Lee, charging him $100 a day for copyright infringement. Paul Allen Levy of Public Citizen said that the contract is illegal.

Washington Post : The Influence Industry: Gingrich case raises question, ‘What is a lobbyist?’ - Lisa Gilbert, deputy director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch program, said her group and others are working on proposals that would broaden the legal definition of lobbying with the aim of providing more information to the public about Washington’s influence industry.

iwatch : GOP senators' position on Consumer Financial Protection Bureau aligned with industry - “The fight over the confirmation over a director is a symbolic contest about who in the Senate wants to protect Main Street and who continues to serve Wall Street paymasters," said Bart Naylor, a consumer advocate at Public Citizen.

GoozNews: The latest advisory committee stumbles at FDA - First, it ruled that Public Citizen’s Sidney Wolfe could not take his usual post as consumer representative on the Drug Safety Advisory Committee because his widely read newsletter, “Best Pills, Worst Pills,” has already called for pulling Yasmin from the market.

Bloomberg: Romney-Gingrich rival campaigns woo lobbyists to help pay bills - “The clients are the ones who are winning here,” said Craig Holman, who presses for stricter campaign finance laws atPublic Citizen, an advocacy group based in Washington.

Sign On San Diego: Jobless, campaign finance reform, S.D. pension measure, product packaging, Sanders' legacy - Over the past few weeks, we have seen hundreds of stories on television, the Internet and this paper about the holiday shopping season and craziness.

Truthout: License to Profit: Legalized corruption in the US Congress - According to a 2005 Public Citizen study, "Congressional Revolving Doors: The Journey from Congress to K Street," that looked at the Congressional revolving door, as of 2005

Occupational Health and Safety: $209 million settlement in Upper Big Branch case - Justin Feldman, worker health and safety advocate with Public Citizen's Congress Watch Division, said the settlement isn't good enough.

The Wealthy Dentist: Dental marketing gone bad: Dentist threatens lawsuit for negative review - Both ABC News and Public Citizen are reporting that Makhnevich sent a letter to Lee demanding that he delete the negative posts, warning him that he violated the agreement he signed and threatened to sue him for breach of contract.

The Star-Ledger: FDA disqualifies Public Citizen's chief advocate from meeting on risky birth control - Federal drug regulators have notified Sidney Wolfe, one of the nation's leading advocates for drug safety, that he would not be permitted to join a committee of experts asked to review new dangers associated with a group of birth control pills, including Bayer Healthcare's top-selling Yaz.

al.com: U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus to hear debate over congressional stock trading - Either these members of Congress are geniuses when it comes to stock trading, or they know something the rest of us don't -- and trade on it," said Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist for Public Citizen.

Politico: Pro-Perry super PAC goes all in - Watchdogs hold out hope for W.H. rule - Leadership PAC for Judy Chu - K Street continues to prep for Occupy protests -- Public Citizen's Craig Holman told PI that he doesn't see the White House’s 30-day extension of the comment period on a rule that would change how administration officials can interact with trade associations and other nonprofits that lobby as evidence that the rule will be watered down.

Pharmalot: FDA pulls Wolfe off panel over 'intellectual' conflict - In an unusual move, the FDA has yanked Sid Wolfe from a planned meeting of its Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee this coming Thursday due to an ‘intellectual conflict of interest.'

Center for Economic And Policy Research: WTO Turnaround: Food, jobs and sustainable development first! - In a review of this study, Public Citizen also noted that it was based on a seriously flawed methodology that included: failing to adjust for losses in tariff revenue; failing to “take into account the costs of adjustment when workers are displaced from employment in sectors harmed by greater imports”, and that the gains touted by the EU, and replicated in the Reuters coverage, were far beyond those contemplated in current proposals, and did not even appear in the actual study.

Kansas.com Blogs: Group asks Wichita Council to support curbs on corporate political spending - The group, calling itself “We the People of Kansas,” is supporting campaigns by Public Citizen and Common Cause seeking to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Citizens United.

EHS Today: Criminal investigation of Upper Big Branch mine disaster yields $209 million settlement - "A civil settlement is not enough," stressed Justin Feldman, Public Citizen’s worker health and safety advocate.

The Hill: Mine safety bill stalled despite scathing federal report - While the Labor Department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has proposed new mine safety regulations in the aftermath of the Upper Big Branch disaster, the agency needs Congress to act as well, said Justin Feldman, worker health and safety advocate at Public Citizen.

Huffington Post: Upper Big Branch Report: Feds release devastating findings on 'preventable' mine disaster - "Many lawmakers seem to have forgotten about the mine safety issue altogether," Justin Feldman, worker safety advocate at the nonprofit watchdog group Public Citizen, recently told HuffPost.

National Journal : Public Citizen: STOCL Act ' Legislative Imperative" - Ahead of Tuesday's House Financial Services Committee hearing on a bill that would ban insider trading by members of Congress, the good-government group Public Citizen sent a letter to committee members today urging them to pass the bill and make "certain technical corrections" to it as it moves forward.

Journal Star : Local ag groups object to labor changes - In the same time frame, a spokesman for the national nonprofit group Public Citizen questioned the validity of Nebraskans' concerns about the possible impact on summer detasseling jobs for thousands of teenagers.

The Consumerist: Consumer advocates to Starbucks: Change your terms of service on gift cards - "Starbucks, which has held itself up as an upstanding corporate citizen, should set an example and remove this language because it preys on consumers' rights," said Christine Hines, consumer and civil justice counsel with Public Citizen in a letter from the four groups.

The Kansas City Star: Rules to restrict younger farm workers stir up debate - The Public Citizen’s Watch Division, a congressional watchdog, is supporting the increased protections and is also advocating for the inclusion of heat stress as a hazard.

Bloomberg: U.S. House votes again to end public financing of campaigns - “We’ve seen spending by outside organizations spiral out of control and we need an alternative that protects our democracy,” said Lisa Gilbert, deputy director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch, a Washington-based group that favors stronger campaign finance laws.

Reuters: Insight: Apple vs Samsung lawsuit full of secret combat - The policy body of the federal courts recently reminded judges to limit broad sealing of cases, and interest groups such as Public Citizen and the American Civil Liberties Union frequently intervene in cases where major records are sealed.