Thought I'd do a brief review of the news this week to find a topic to write about.  Let's see ... Hannah Montana (Miley Cyrus) got into a bit of a jam with some photos that everyone seems to care a lot about ... Roger Clemens denies he cheats on his wife--now he'd rather talk about steroids ... a giant squid has 11 inch eye balls ... Teri Hatcher is said to be an over exerciser ... And ... if you dig into the news long, hard and deep enough  ... in April 49 Americans and over 100 people were killed in Iraq. 

Is the surge working or are we just mistaking success for out of sight, out of mind?  In an AOL poll on Iraq, 15% of those responding think the U.S. mission in Iraq (whatever that is) will be accomplished in five years.  Another 13% think the mission will be accomplished in ten years.  72% think the U.S. mission in Iraq will never be accomplished.

This song from Coven seems to sum up this war--especially where the stated purpose for going to war in the first place was a lie, and where oil fields were secured before weapons arsenols containing weapons that would later be used to kill our troops. Haliburton, Chaney's alma matre, then gets lucrative contracts and becomes a Saudi corporation to avoid paying U.S. taxes.

Here are some lyrics and a video link:

  
On the mountain was a treasure
Buried deep beneath the stone,
And the valley-people swore
They'd have it for their very own.

          ***
Go ahead and hate your neighbor,
Go ahead and cheat a friend.
Do it in the name of Heaven,
You can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing
Come the judgement day,
On the bloody morning after....
One tin soldier rides away.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCCR2huE2m8


Well, let's get back to the really important stuff and see what's in the rest of the news.  A Big Mac has a couple hundred less calories than a Whopper with Cheese ... Hillary Clinton is offended by Obama's pastor ... Obama is offended by Obama's pastor  ... John McCain is offended by Obama's pastor, but really likes the fact he is out offending  ... Sally Fields supports Miley Cyrus ... Bill O'Rielly at Fox, after careful and repeated viewing of the photos, does not -- he is "outraged" ...

And how many 20 year old kids will die in Iraq in May? 

The Iowa General Assembly adjourned last week.  For Iowa consumers, the session was a miserable failure.  I would give legislators a big fat F, but enacting a smoking ban was an accomplishment worthy of comment. Exempting casinos from the ban and putting state revenues over the lives and health of casino workers, however, tarnishes even that accomplishment.

The session resulted in major consumer legislation repeatedly being killed by corporate lobbyists.  Iowa remains the only state in the U.S. where consumers do not have the right to sue for deceptive trade practices.  Iowa consumers continue to have little recourse against fly-by-night contractors because the legislature also defeated a bill requiring contractors to post a bond.  Protections provided by the Iowa Consumer Credit Code continued to wither away with inflation as Democrats and Republicans joined forces to side with lenders over the interests of consumers and kill off that legislation as well.  Legislators couldn't even pass a bill increasing the paltry $200 penalty for a landlord stealing a tenant's security deposit.  

Rather than pass meaningful legislation protecting Iowa consumers, the legislature opted for the appearance of doing something when it really was not.  For example, a bill was passed allowing victims of identity theft to "freeze" their credit file.  Federal law already provides for credit file freezes, and any state law inconsistent with the federal statute is preempted and unenforceable.  Rent to own car sales were banned.  I have had at best two clients in five years complaining about rent to own car sales.  While the bill is a plus, I assume it passed because it had little opposition from car dealers or other powerful lobbying groups.    

Thousands of Iowa consumers are suffering from abusive practices and inadequate laws to protect them.  Meanwhile, legislators of both parties are so addicted to special interest campaign funds they are incapable of siding with Iowa consumers over these powerful special interests on any legislation of significance.

As far as protecting Iowa consumers goes, the legislature fiddled while Rome Burned.