Los Angeles Times: Big money gets in on Cabinet nomination fights - "It's a sign of the times and foreshadows what we're going to see a lot more of in regards to appointments and issue fights," said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, which advocates for campaign finance reform. "Obviously, anyone who spends huge amounts of money to advocate for a Cabinet official is going to have a reasonable expectation of special access to that person."

The Washington Times: Democratic convention helped by energy firm - “This is just a blank check for the party, and it undermines the whole [Obama] message of cracking down on special interests’ influence in Washington,” said Tyson Slocum, an energy specialist for Public Citizen.

CBS MoneyWatch.com: Critics blast "miniscule" BP settlement - "This is a miniscule settlement, " said Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen's energy program. "It's a cost of doing business. If this were an individual, the keys would be thrown away. But we give enormous leniency to corporate defendants."

NBC Television Network: FDA restricts use of Stryker brain stent - The agency's announcement comes after Public Citizen, a public safety advocacy group, called on the agency to take the device off the market entirely. A petition filed by the group last year pointed to a recent study that found a 2.5-fold increase in stroke or death among patients with the Wingspan stent system, compared with patients taking blood-thinning medication alone.

Politico: Dems thank super PAC for help beating ‘Darth Vader’ - Democrats have embraced the concept of super PACs and outside groups in recent months, but the video shows a deeper level of acceptance by the party, said Public Citizen’s Lisa Gilbert. “It’s probably reflective of how commonplace this is,” Gilbert said. “It’s not surprising that people feel comfortable talking publicly on their acceptance of outside groups.”

Center for Public Integrity: Nonprofit spends big on politics despite IRS limitation - Two years later, in October 2010, consumer group Public Citizen and two other organizations alleged that the American Future Fund’s “huge expenditures” to aid candidates in the midterm election should have triggered requirements that the group register as a political committee and disclose its donors. That complaint is still being considered by the FEC, which often takes years to fully resolve such matters.

Gazette: Iowa representatives renew support for congressional salary limits - An official at a third government watchdog group, Craig Holman of Public Citizen, said the “No Budget, No Pay” Act may be unconstitutional because the 27th amendment — ratified in 1992 by states — only allows Congress to raise its pay, not to otherwise alter it.

Ventura Country Star: As congressman works to repeal Amgen Medicare drug exemption, lobbyists face scrutiny - Craig Holman of the government watchdog group Public Citizen said the extension Amgen got “is really a classic exemption that special interest was able to carve out of the fiscal cliff bill.” “There are others,” Holman said, “but this one is classic in the sense that Amgen employs all of the traditional, classic techniques for influence peddling and gaining special favors. Not only do they spend a fortune on lobbying, they’ve got a team of something like 70 lobbyists who are on the Hill working every day. They employ the revolving-door strategy, where you not only hire staff or members of Congress to become your lobbyist, but you also use the reverse revolving door, where you place some of your corporate executives into the agencies that oversee your business. Amgen, for instance, has hired at least 14 congressional staff onto their lobbying team.”

Time: What (if anything) can fix the SEC? - Bart Naylor, a financial policy advocate at Public Citizen, says that if he could change one thing about the SEC it would be to increase its funding. “New York City employs 35,000 police officers while the SEC only has 4,000 employees to regulate the entire financial industry,” he says. In his opinion, the resources the SEC has at its disposal aren’t anywhere near what is needed for the agency to be effective.

AP: In Washington, a proposal to sell naming rights - "The problem is it's not money for nothing," said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, a left-leaning Washington D.C.-based consumer advocacy group. Weissman says he understands why some lawmakers find the approach appealing, but argues that it should be abandoned. "It erases the important and appropriate divide between the commercial sphere and the civil sphere and communicates a message that everything is for sale," he said.

AP: Wisconsin doctors who make serious mistakes often escape serious consequences -
According to the consumer watchdog group Public Citizen, Wisconsin has long ranked near the bottom of states in taking serious actions against doctors. In the group's latest annual report, Wisconsin ranked 46th, up from 49th the previous three years. A major reason Wisconsin ranks low is the medical board's frequent use of reprimands instead of harsher penalties. Public Citizen doesn't consider reprimands to be serious discipline. "They are slaps on the wrist," said Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen's health research group. "They don't have any effect on the doctor's practice."

Business Journals: Obama picks a tough cop for the SEC in former federal prosecutor Mary Jo White - "Failure to hold any significant Wall Street figure accountable for the most massive economic crimes in history demands remedy," said Bartlett Naylor, financial reform advocate at Public Citizen. "We hope that White's record as a white-collar crime fighter will lead to strong SEC enforcement under her term."

WDIV-TV: Panel prods FDA to restrict hydrocodone - The panel's advice, if adopted by the FDA, would limit how much hydrocodone a patient could get between doctor visits. It would also limit refills -- from the five allowed for Schedule III drugs, to three, which is the limit for Schedule II drugs -- according to Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group.

Counterpunch: Obama silent on labor - It’s not as if labor couldn’t use specific legislation, political encouragement, or even a public wink or backslap. Organized Labor recently spent $20 million in Michigan to insert collective bargaining in the state’s constitution, only to receive “right to work.” And the President has urged 2013 action on TPP. This corporate beloved agreement is a mechanism to undertake politically unpopular “free trade” measures that grant new rights and privileges to companies and constrain regulators; measures that, according to Public Citizen’s Lori Walluch, “limit the regulation of financial services, land use, food safety, natural resources, energy, tobacco, healthcare, and more.”

Bloomberg: Drugmakers prep for U.S. rules on disclosing payments - “The question is whether there’s some residual fondness for the company because they did pay you,” said Sidney Wolfe, director of the health policy research group at the consumer watchdog group Public Citizen. “More disclosure is better."

Politico: President Obama names 'cops' for finance - “We welcome the nomination of a white-collar crime fighter to an agency whose leaders too often considered the SEC to be the Wall Street chamber of commerce,” Public Citizen financial policy advocate Bartlett Naylor said in a statement. “Ideally, she’ll embrace her mandate to protect investors. If she can face down terrorists and racketeers, presumably she won’t be intimidated by cost-benefit analysis litigation.”

Omaha.com: Ben Nelson defends 'cooling off' law for ex- lawmakers turned lobbyists - But watchdog group Public Citizen says the cooling-off period has proved to be little more than a speed bump along the well-worn, bipartisan path from Capitol Hill to Washington's K Street lobbying firms.

Madison Times: U.S. opposition to corporate political spending gains momentum- “This level of spending by Chevron, for instance, changes what candidates are ‘allowed’ to talk about in elections – they’re no long necessarily covering the issues that voters want to hear about, but rather they’re bumping up against limits set by implied threats from big donors,” Aquene Freechild, a democracy organizer with Public Citizen, a consumer watchdog, told IPS.

USA Today: Watchdogs, conservatives rap Obama's new advocacy group - Craig Holman of the liberal-leaning watchdog group Public Citizen said it is "troubling to see President Obama fall further into the unlimited political money game."

Government Executive: Agencies could communicate better during rule- making, GAO says - Amit Narang, regulatory policy advocate at Public Citizen’s Congress Watch, said that while agencies “are required to and should issue notice for public comment to maximize public participation in rulemaking, this is a minor issue in the grand scheme of things.” There are often legitimate reasons, such as national security, for holding back notice, he said, and his group would not favor legislation to force agencies to give notice because “when that’s been tried previously, it was coupled with a lot of other more harmful provisions.”

Common Dreams: Citizens United at three: Grassroots fight against 'corporate personhood' swells - “The 2012 election – only the second post-Citizens United election – was the most expensive ever, saw more outside money spent than ever, had more secret, Dark Money spent than ever, and subjected voters to unprecedented negative, attack advertising. We can’t keep going in this direction and maintain a functioning democracy,” said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen. “As this week’s actions demonstrate, the good news is the American people are in an uproar, and demanding fundamental reform, including a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and related decisions.”

In These Times: Progressive democrats: Inside and outside - As Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, pointed out, left-leaning opponents of TPP might be able to hold up the trade deal’s passage by aligning themselves with conservatives in Congress. A potential makeshift coalition of liberal Democrats and Republicans could unite to block the TPP, just as a similar coalition helped put a stop to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).

Huffington Post: Obama's climate change promise: Procurement could offer solution - "There's no question that the federal government, being a major user and purchaser of energy, could help make a dent in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and helping create markets," said Tyson Slocum, director of the Public Citizen Energy Program. "It would be more helpful if it was in concert with more sweeping EPA regulations over greenhouse gas emission reductions."

Washington Times: Voicing a Blunt objection: Senator questions Obama campaign- turned- nonprofit - “The creation of a nonprofit group with close ties to the president after he has made a pitch to corporations for funds could raise some eyebrows on how donations from corporations might influence federal policy,” said Public Citizen’s Lisa Gilbert. “It’s a red flag when it comes to influence.”

Huffington Post: Buypartisan consensus: ExxonMobil donates $260,000 to Obama inauguration - “It’s a deeply disturbing move, and a reversal from the positive steps they took in 2009,” Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen told Roll Call. “Corporations make donations to events like the inaugural festivities because they get something back in return."

Roll Call: Obama expected to ease lobby posture - Craig Holman, a registered lobbyist for the progressive and anti-corporate Public Citizen, said he is currently drafting legislation that would turn Obama’s executive orders on the revolving door into legislation, so that they will endure after he leaves office. He also is shopping for support from Republicans in Congress.

The National: The $1 m ticket to party with Katy Perry, Stevie Wonder... and Obama - "This is an avenue for special interests, especially wealthy corporations, to get their last chance to throw money at the feet of the president," says Craig Holman, an expert on campaign finance reform at the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen.

Global Indigo: Can national grassroots push depose the 'billion dollar democracy'? - “At the same time we’ve seen record amounts of unaccountable corporate money spent on elections, we’ve also seen a deliberate attack on the rights of voters to participate in our democracy,” said Aquene Freechild, senior organizer for Public Citizen, which is hosting nationwide events this weekend for its ongoing Democracy Is For People campaign.

Politico: Inauguration 2013 suffers from donor fatigue - “He was elected by the people,” said Lisa Gilbert of Public Citizen. “They are going to be the ones gathered at the Mall to hear his inaugural address. He should turn to them if he needs money to celebrate in the manner he wants.”

Huffington Post: Citizens United third anniversary marked by reformers with push for constitutional amendment - "A very vibrant movement has popped up in the last three years, and especially in the last year, to demand a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and related decisions," said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy and reform non-profit.

TakePart: How your Great- Grandmother's hobby is transforming one Alabama town - Public Citizen, a non-profit grassroots organization, cites that Alabama lost 118,125 manufacturing jobs from 1994 to 2012. The Bureau of Labor Statistics stated in a 1995 report that while the textile industry was seeing employment decline in the 1980s because of technology and overseas jobs, but it noted, “Future employment levels will be affected by the North America Free Trade Agreement” and that job loss would be “incremental” over the years.

USA Today: Obama hosts 'benefactors' at White House - Craig Holman, an official with the liberal-leaning watchdog group Public Citizen, said it was "unseemly" for the president to grant special access to inaugural donors. "This is technically permissible, but it is extremely troubling," he said.

CNSNews.com: Obama's campaign organization turning nonprofit to promote his agenda, bash GOP - Campaign finance experts said the creation of a nonprofit group with close ties to the president could raise questions on how donations from corporations might influence federal policy. Craig Holman, who lobbies on ethics and campaign finance for the watchdog group Public Citizen, said if the group receives corporate and special interest money, it could "pose some very serious problems."

WMAR-TV: Rally in Annapolis today over campaign finance reforms - Groups are planning a rally against the Citizens United Supreme Court case in a call for campaign finance reforms.

Madison Times: Regulation: U.S. to take closer look at flood of corporate political spending - While the SEC’s next moves are not yet certain, supporters say that several signs suggest that it is very likely that the body will indeed take up the rulemaking discussion on corporate political spending. In anticipation of such actions, several major actors have begun to build resistance. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the country’s largest business lobby group, has already stated its opposition to any new disclosure rule. According to Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, the Chamber was the single largest outside spender during the 2010 election, and distributed another 36 million dollars during the 2012 campaigns, while refusing to name donors.

Boston Globe: Kerry faces scrutiny over extensive investments - “There is every reason to be concerned about this,” said Craig Holman, chief government affairs lobbyist for Public Citizen, a public interest group. “The Kerrys’ property is so extensive we are going to see conflicts arise with a series of issues, Keystone being one of them.”

Huffington Post: A key issue President Obama should include in the S.O.T.U. - President Obama's inauguration also happens to fall on the third anniversary of the Supreme Court's final decision on Citizens United, which unleashed untold amounts of shady money into our political process in an attempt to influence the outcomes of federal, state and local campaigns nationwide. There will be massive actions this week with "Money Out, Voters In" events across America to mark this occasion and disenfranchisement in America. You can find out more about this campaign at Public Citizen's website, democracyisforpepeople.org.

Business on HuffingtonPost.com: The 5 things Obama must do for financial reform - "I think the failure to set our economy straight with regard to the financial sector could well be the blight that the president had a chance to but did not correct," said Bart Naylor, financial policy advocate for the nonprofit group Public Citizen.

Financial Content: Chuck Hagel's Chevron tie not criticized - Chuck Hagel's Chevron tie not criticized Since 2010, Hagel has served on the board of Chevron Corp., a position he would have to leave if he wins Senate confirmation as defense secretary. [...] critics of the "revolving door" between the federal government and the private sector haven't raised any complaints about Hagel. "The decisions on fuel procurement are fairly low on the radar screen of a defense secretary," said Tyson Slocum, head of the energy program at the Public Citizen watchdog group. [...] the Senate Armed Services Committee would require him to financially divest himself of his Chevron holdings, either by selling them or placing them in a blind trust, said Joe Newman with the Project on Government Oversight. Praise for PentagonEnvironmentalists who have been pushing Obama to take action on climate change have praised the Pentagon for taking concrete steps to improve its energy efficiency and test alternative fuels. [...] while an oil company board member may seem an unlikely champion for biofuels, Chevron is an investor in one of the startup businesses supplying those fuels to the Pentagon - Solazyme, based in South San Francisco. A coalition of human rights activists has criticized Chevron's behavior around the globe, accusing the company of fouling the environment and working with repressive regimes in places such as Burma and Nigeria.

U.S. News & World Report: Inaugural Committee millions short of goal, despite pivot on corporate cash - Robert Weisman, president of Public Citizen, which has collected 30,000 signatures for a petition opposing corporate sponsors for the event, says CEOs want their calls returned and a friendly atmosphere, so spending the money is a worthwhile investment.

AboutLawsuits.com: Alli and Xenical recall petition filed over risk of kidney, liver problems - The consumer watchdog group Public Citizen has petitioned federal drug safety regulators to remove Xenical and Alli from the market, as the weight-loss drugs may cause damage to the kidney and liver.

WMAR-TV: Obama solicits millions from inauguration donors but keeps details secret - "I think they are ashamed of what they are doing," said Public Citizen president Robert Weissman. "Now they are accepting corporate contributions and are allowing multimillion-dollar online credit card donations. This is an egregious backtrack from four years ago."

American Thinker: Dueling documentaries: FrackNation gives the counter-argument to the anti-fracking Gasland - Another problem the environmentalists have objected to, and which I believe is mentioned in Gasland, is the Federal 2005 Energy Bill with its so called "Halliburton Loophole." Public Citizen said this about the bill (and now law):

Off the Kuff: On conflicts of interest - “The laws are too weak to provide any meaningful guidance for legislators and there is no meaningful enforcement,” said Tom “Smitty” Smith, director of the Texas office of Public Citizen.

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Major therapy for major depression - Consumer group Public Citizen said the FDA approved TMS with no proof it worked. The consumer group continues to cite the case as an example of why the FDA needs to strengthen its device approval process.

Fuel Fix: Steffy: National panel questions reliability of Texas’ electric grid - “The Sunset Commission completely ignored their responsibility to protect consumers and the marketplace from abuse,” said Tom “Smitty” Smith, the state director for the consumer group Public Citizen.

KALW: Critics Decry Looser Rules For Inauguration Fundraising - But to Robert Weissman, president of the liberal advocacy group Public Citizen, the inaugural money chase is just one more disappointment. He says that when it comes to political money, "there is precious little to show from the Obama White House."

Star-Telegram: The selling of an inauguration: Prices run from $5 million to $1 million - “The American people have a right to expect something other than an inauguration brought to them by AT&T,” said Robert Weissman, the president of Public Citizen, which had called on Obama to refuse corporate funding for the inauguration. “Every corporation’s donations create a conflict of interest, because they all have business before the government in one way or the other.”

Philadelphia Inquirer: Pennsylvania medical regulation board, flush with cash, waives doctors' license fee for 2013 - "Pennsylvania's is not a very good board," said physician Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group, a health advocacy organization that releases periodic rankings of state medical boards based on the number of disciplinary actions. "Maybe if it spent money on doing investigations, more people of Pennsylvania would be better served," Wolfe said.

Breitbart.com: Money talks at Obama's inauguration - "This is an avenue for special interests, especially wealthy corporations, to get their last chance to throw money at the feet of the president," Craig Holman, an expert on campaign finance reform, told AFP.

United Press International: Liberals weigh in on regulatory posts - "The last thing the Obama administration needs is to continue having Wall Street insiders and fellow travelers shaping its economic policy," said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, in a statement.

Sacramento Bee: Bank of America settlement questioned by watchdog group, N.J. Sen. Menendez - Watchdog group Public Citizen and a U.S. senator are calling for an investigation into Bank of America’s settlement with mortgage giant Fannie Mae in a dispute involving $1.4 trillion in loans.

Morning Call: Obama hasn't reigned in big money - The third anniversary of the decision falls on Jan. 20, the same day Obama is officially sworn in for a second term. "The Big Money influence in politics is far, far worse than it was, making the absence of leadership all the more noteworthy and troubling," said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen.

CSR Blog: 'Fracademia': How big gas bought research on hydraulic fracturing - Public Citizen's Tyson Slocum calls the boom "a mirage", which will vanish once gas prices start rising above their current bargain-basement levels, as he says is sure to happen in the years ahead. With untold billions of dollars yet to be made from fracking, however, it is not going away any time soon.

Politico: Stamping out big money in politics - Almost three years after the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which opened the door to super PACs and unlimited corporate election spending on elections, advocacy groups like Public Campaign, Public Citizen and People for the American Way helped pass ballot referendums in two states and resolutions through nine state legislatures, calling for a constitutional amendment to nullify Citizens United.

Mysanantonio.com: Deregulation didn't zap CPS' reputation - Overall, “deregulation was a bad idea,” said Tom “Smitty” Smith, director of the nonprofit Public Citizen's Texas office and an advocate for improved utility service in Texas since 1974.Yet Smith cites benefits of deregulation, too. Texas is among the nation's leaders in the use of wind generation and in the installation of “smart meters,” which have gone into more than three-quarters of the Texas homes and businesses.

CBS News: Corporate donations to Obama inauguration draw fire - "It's not worth indebting yourself to corporate interests just to have a big party," Craig Holman, an advocate with the watchdog group Public Citizen, told the Washington Post. "It's very unfortunate and quite a reversal of what this president stood for."

St. Louis Post: Drug-compounding labs are regulated - Public Citizen, the consumer advocacy organization, has detailed many cases in which the FDA issued warning letters to compounders for mass production of products without individual prescriptions and for introducing into the market medications that resulted in deaths or illnesses. Yet after these warnings, says Michael Carome, deputy director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, the FDA did not follow up.

Fox14: Texas getting $36 million in Medicaid fraud settlement - Texas has recovered at least $354 million in Medicaid fraud settlements from pharmaceutical companies -- more than any other state -- since 1991 with the help of private whistleblowers, according to a report released in September by Public Citizen, a nonpartisan consumer advocacy organization.

AP: VA court tosses out order to remove online reviews - The Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and Public Citizen said Wednesday that the Supreme Court of Virginia has thrown out the preliminary injunction issued in Fairfax County Circuit Court. The groups had appealed the judge's order saying it violated free speech rights.

allAfrica.com: Public Citizen urges FDA to reject accelerated approval for possibly dangerous anti- TB drug Bedaquiline - U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials should not approve the anti-tuberculosis drug bedaquiline, because clinical trials showed the drug could be highly dangerous, Public Citizen said today in a letter to the agency.

Pharmaceutical Commerce: Compounding pharmacy problems fester as death toll mounts and FDA seeks new regulatory authority - "By failing to use [its reimbursement authorization policies], CMS essentially has encouraged pharmacies to produce such medications at dangerously large scales,” said Dr. Michael Carome, deputy director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, in a statment. “An independent investigation is necessary to determine exactly how these policies contributed to the current meningitis outbreak and to prevent a similar tragedy from happening in the future.”

CNN Money:  Big Pharma and unfiltered speech: A dangerous prescription - According to a recent report by the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, the DoJ has netted more than $4 billion in settlements related to off-label marketing over the last two years.

Malnutrition, malaria, and the mycobacterium: Tuberculosis: FDA approves Sirturo for multi- drug resistant tuberculosis - Before the announcement, Public Citizen had urged the FDA not approve the drug. It was a bit concerned that the drug had not yet completed all of the phase two trials and that in one trial, more people died while taking Sirturo than the placebo.

USA Today: Ethics office set to retain powers in new Congress - "It's an excellent proposal," said Craig Holman of Public Citizen, one of the watchdog groups that had called on congressional leaders to appoint new members. "All the board members have indicated they would like to continue serving. This would solve everything in one fell, easy swoop."

The Washington Times: Injunction lifted on home contractor’s online critic - “If someone is sued through defamation, the law stands to protect them,” said Paul Levy, a lawyer with the Public Citizen Litigation Group. “In the meantime, the public has more information with which to make decisions. That’s the right approach in a country which values giving everybody their say.”