Current Events in January 2017

Several years ago, Walmart executives invited a group of scientists to its offices is Bentonville, Arkansas to discuss the prevalence of potentially toxic, synthetic chemicals in consumer products. “They were really serious about saying, 'We want to be on the leading edge of doing something,'” recalls University of Missouri biologist Dr. Frederick vom Saal, one of the scientists invited to the meeting.

In 2014, Walmart sent a letter to its many suppliers, explaining that they would be phasing out a long list of potentially toxic chemicals in the products they sell. Such a move has earned Walmart favorable ratings from groups like Safer Chemicals Healthy Families. 

“The comprehensive initiative is by far the largest and most ambitious of its kind,” the Environmental Defense Fund wrote in another post praising  the retail giant’s decision. “It reflects a growing trend in which consumer and wholesale purchasing power are combining to change the chemical makeup of the products we see on store shelves and bring into our homes.”

Walmart's competitor Target Corp. is now following suit, as we recently reported. The retail giant announced last week that it would demand transparency from all of its suppliers, asking them to list the ingredients in their products and phase out certain chemicals, including flame retardants and phthalates by 2022. 

The push for suppliers to remove such chemicals voluntarily comes even as federal regulators continue to drag their feet on regulating those same chemicals. Instead, consumer demand appears to be driving the change. The research firm Mintel has similarly reported that the majority of consumers they survey favor cleaning products that are “eco-friendly” and safe to use.

Chemical lobby frets over "market deselection"  

Corporations that produce or work with synthetic chemicals have noticed the change in consumer habits too, and they are clearly not happy. Last week, the American Chemistry Council, a trade group representing corporations like Monsanto and ExxonMobil, launched a public relations campaign against the World Health Organization’s chemical and cancer research arm, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, or IARC. 

The IARC has stated that certain commonly-used chemicals, such as glyphosate, are probable carcinogens. Though the agency does not have the authority to ban such chemicals from consumer products, the American Chemistry Council put out a release last week essentially complaining that IARC’s research was causing consumers to avoid those controversial chemicals on their own.

“IARC’s decisions have a significant impact on US. public policy and marketplace deselection,” the American Chemistry Council wrote. “IARC classifications have also been used by retailers as justification to phase out certain substances.” 

Biologist vom Saal laughs as he discusses the American Chemistry Council’s campaign “to promote credible, unbiased and transparent science,” as it describes it.

“Nobody in science takes anything put out by the American Chemistry Council as science,” vom Saal tells ConsumerAffairs. “It is public relations and it is lobbying and it is all for litigation. It is the antithesis of unbiased transparent process."  

American Chemistry Council spokesperson Anastasia Swearingen responds to ConsumerAffairs in an email: “We certainly disagree with Dr. vom Saal's statement. We all benefit when credible, unbiased and transparent science is used as the basis of public health policy.”

Local bodies, not feds, drove past changes

Vom Saal compares the recent decisions of corporations to voluntarily phase out potentially dangerous chemicals to the measures that local governments and businesses have previously taken to limit exposure to asbestos and cigarettes. 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not implemented a complete ban on asbestos, even as the agency warns Americans that exposure to asbestos “increases your risk of developing lung disease.” The EPA did try to ban asbestos from most consumer products back in 1989, but in 1991 the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the EPA’s decision.

“It was really the public and litigation that led people to say, ‘Hey, this is very bad stuff,'” vom Saal says. Local governments and businesses have also taken the lead in banning the smoking of cigarettes from their towns, bars, or stores. 

Now a similar scenario is at play regarding glyphosate, the key ingredient of Monsanto’s weedkiller Roundup. The state of California is planning to put a label on Roundup, warning people that the product contains a possible carcinogen. Monsanto had sued to stop California from doing so, but a recent court decision on January 27 fell in California’s favor. 

At the federal level, however, glyphosate is not considered a carcinogen. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), for instance, does not include glyphosate as part of its national health screening program. "You would think the highest use pesticide in the world would be part of their national health screening program,” but if the CDC tries asking Congress for permission to include glyphosate, “they'd probably be disbanded along with the EPA,” vom Saal jokes. (The EPA has not been disbanded, though President Trump has indicated that he would certainly like to do so).

Target’s recent move to address controversial substances follows a 2015 decision the retailer made to introduce a “Sustainable Product Index,” or a scoring system encouraging suppliers to identify “chemicals of concern.” Target noted at the time that it had created such a list in response to stakeholder comments. Target’s latest, more ambitious policy "will be one of the most comprehensive in the US. retail industry,” the corporation proudly writes on its website.

Public health advocacy groups meanwhile continue to pressure other retailers to follow suit. On January 26 the group Safer Chemicals Healthy Families announced that a collection of investors and consumers were pressuring Costco to develop its own policy in regards to toxic chemicals.

“The group will deliver over 35,000 signed petitions from Costco members and consumers across the country who are concerned about the company’s lack of a comprehensive safer chemicals policy,” Safer Chemicals wrote.

President Trump today told drug executives to "get prices down" and pledged he would cut regulations to hasten approval of new drugs. But diabetes patients, tired of waiting, have filed a federal lawsuit against three drug companies, accusing them of fraudulent pricing.

Trump met with top executives of Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Celgene, Amgen, Eli Lilly, and the PhRMA trade association and repeated his campaign trail promise to get drug prices down. He has called for allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices.

"Our industry takes seriously the concerns raised about the affordability and accessibility of prescription medicines, and we have expressed our commitment to working with the administration to advance market-based reforms," said PhRMA president Stephen J. Ubl in a prepared statement. "The current system needs to evolve to enable the private sector to lead the move to a value-driven health care system."

Severe consequences

The lawsuit filed on behalf of diabetes patients focuses on rebates, alleging that drugmakers abuse the system by publishing high list prices for insulin, which enables them to offer bigger rebates while leaving many patients with huge co-pays. 

A month's supply of some insulins can cost $900, according to the suit, which was filed in Massachusetts U.S. District Court under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt organizations (RICO) Act. It names Sanofi U.S., Novo Nordisk Inc., and Eli Lilly and Company. 

"Drugs that used to cost $25 per prescription now cost between $300 and $450," the suit alleges, charging that the three companies have raised their benchmark prices more than 150% in the last five years, leaving many patients unable to buy enough insulin to remain healthy.

While drugmakers point to regulation and research costs to justify price increases, the suit states those arguments don't apply to insulin. 

"The manufacturers of insulin admit that their price hikes are unrelated to any jump in production or research and development costs.  Instead, these increased benchmark prices are the result of a scheme and enterprise among each Defendant and several bulk drug distributors," the class action suit states.

"Sticker" price

"In this scheme, the Defendant drug companies set two different prices for their insulin treatments: a publicly reported benchmark price—also known as the 'sticker' price—and a lower, real price that they offer to certain bulk drug distributors," the complaint continues, alleging that drugmakers and pharmacy benefit managers conspired to increase the "spread" that they enjoy at the expense of patients in high-deductible healthcare plans, Medicare, and those with no insurance coverage.

The consequences for patients are severe, sometimes deadly, the suit charges.

"Unable to afford their insulin drugs, patients report under-dosing their 
insulin, injecting expired insulin, and starving themselves to control their blood sugars with as little insulin as possible. ... Because they ineffectively control those individuals’ blood sugar levels, these practices can lead 
to serious complications such as kidney failure, heart disease, blindness, infection, and amputations."

With 29 million people, nearly ten percent of the U.S. population, living with diabetes, the financial and health consequences of the alleged price-fixing are severe, the suit argues. 

The suit was filed by the Hagens Berman law firm. 

In recent years, there have been several studies which show that getting physical exercise can help counteract the development of depression. However, researchers have predominantly focused on adults and adolescents when conducting trials.

To widen the scope, researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and NTNU Social Research have tested how exercise can affect children's mental health. The findings show that allowing children to run around and actively play lowers the risk of depression as well.

"Being active, getting sweaty and roughhousing offer more than just physical health benefits. They also protect against depression," said first author Dr. Tonje Zahl.

Protecting against depression

The researchers analyzed 800 children over a four-year period between the ages of six and ten. At three intervals, children’s physical activity levels were measured with accelerometers. Parents were also interviewed to gauge children’s mental health.

The results showed that physically active six- and eight-year-olds had fewer signs of depression when they were reassessed two years later. The researchers believe this correlation could be important for parents when it comes to encouraging certain hobbies and activities.

"This is important to know, because it may suggest that physical activity can be used to prevent and treat depression already in childhood," said co-author Silje Steinsbekk.

Less active kids may not be depressed

While the study does corroborate past research that extolls the benefits of physical activity, it also differs in some respects. Perhaps most notable is the finding that depressed children tend to also be less active; previous studies on adults had correlated a sedentary lifestyle with depression, but that did not seem to be the case with children.

"We also studied whether children who have symptoms of depression are less physically active over time, but didn't find that to be the case,” said Steinsbekk.

So, what can parents take away from all of this? The researchers say encouraging physical activity is the main thing to keep in mind, but limiting TV and computer time may also be wise.

The full study has been published in Pediatrics.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has taken action against a major mortgage lender and a loan service involved in an illegal kickback scheme.

Prospect Mortgage, LLC, will pay a $3.5 million penalty while two real estate brokers and the servicer, Planet Home Lending, will pay an additional $495,000.

“Today’s action sends a clear message that it is illegal to make or accept payments for mortgage referrals,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “We will hold both sides of these improper arrangements accountable for breaking the law, which skews the real estate market to the disadvantage of consumers and honest businesses.”

The players

Prospect Mortgage, LLC, headquartered in Sherman Oaks, Calif., is one of the largest independent retail mortgage lenders in the United States, with nearly 100 branches nationwide.

The CFPB said that from at least 2011 through 2016, Prospect Mortgage used a variety of schemes to pay kickbacks for referrals of mortgage business in violation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. For example, Prospect established marketing services agreements with companies, which were framed as payments for advertising or promotional services, but in this case actually served to disguise payments for referrals. 

RGC Services, Inc., (doing business as ReMax Gold Coast), based in Ventura, Calif., and Willamette Legacy, LLC, (doing business as Keller Williams Mid-Willamette), based in Corvallis, Ore., are two of more than 100 real estate brokers with which Prospect had improper arrangements.

The CFPB’s investigation found that ReMax Gold Coast and Keller Williams Mid-Willamette accepted illegal payment for referrals. Both companies were among more than 100 brokers who had marketing services agreements, lead agreements, and desk-license agreements with Prospect, which were, in whole or in part, vehicles to obtain illegal payments for referrals.

Planet Home Lending, LLC is a mortgage servicer headquartered in Meriden, Conn., that referred consumers to Prospect Mortgage and accepted fees in return.

Just like emotions and ice cream, emotions and money often aren’t a great mix. But that doesn’t stop consumers from letting their emotions guide their spending beyond their means.

According to a recent survey by the finance site NerdWallet, 67% of Millennials and 49% of Americans say emotions have caused them to overspend on credit cards. Stress, sadness, and excitement are a few of the emotions that appeared to fuel overspending.

Of those who said emotions cause them to indulge in a little retail therapy, 29% said they’re most likely to overspend due to stress, 22% blamed excitement, and 13% said sadness fueled their spending spree.

“Strong emotions tend to drive us to spend extra, and that’s life,” said Sean McQuay, a credit and banking expert at NerdWallet. To keep your emotions from wreaking havoc on your fiscal fitness, he recommends spending according to your own needs and financial situation.

“Try to keep emotional spending -- whether it’s during times of celebration or stress -- low enough that your finances aren’t significantly impacted. You don’t want today’s emotions to drain your bank account at the expense of your future self,” McQuay said.

Acceptable reasons

Although 86% of consumers surveyed think there are acceptable reasons to go into credit card debt, almost as many (87%) said they would be embarrassed to do so.

A few acceptable reasons for going into debt included: covering emergency purchases (63%), medical expenses (61%), and covering necessary expenses during periods of unemployment (45%).

On the flip side, consumers would be embarrassed to go into debt if it were due to reasons such as overspending on unnecessary purchases (69%), non emergency travel expenses (43%), or cash advances (41%).

Paying off debt

Whether your debt was created by an emotion-fueled trip to the mall or out of necessity, NerdWallet has a few tips for improving your credit card debt situation.

• Stop increasing your debt. While credit cards may be a great tool for building credit and earning rewards, the interest you pay can make it harder to get on top of debt. So, stop charging.
• Choose a payoff plan. The “snowball method” of paying off debt entails paying your balances from smallest to largest, while the "high interest plan" involves paying your balances from highest interest rate to lowest interest rate.
• Find extra money in your budget. It's in your best interest to pay off debt as soon as possible. For this reason, consumers should put any extra money in their budget toward their debt. Create more money in your budget by increasing your income and/or decreasing your expenses and redirecting extra cash toward the card you’re paying off.

McQuay’s golden rule for personal finance: “Don’t keep up with the Joneses -- and don’t judge them either. We each have our own personal finance situation, and it’s surprisingly hard to compare superficially.”

Consumer groups that have campaigned against the payday loan industry are celebrating, claiming that Google has taken down over five million ads for payday loans since last July.

In the middle of last year, Google announced it would ban all ads for payday loans, since many lenders had turned to the internet to get around state laws limiting their activity.

Google announced the ban in May and implemented it July 13. It specifically affects ads for loans that require repayment within 60 days and ads for loans with an annual percentage rate (APR) of 36% or higher.

Facebook already has a ban on payday loan ads, but Yahoo and others still accept them. Consumers will still be able to find payday loans by conducting a Google search.

Coalition of consumer groups

Even so, Americans For Financial Reform, Center on Privacy & Technology, Center for Responsible Lending, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, National Consumer Law Center, National Council of La Raza, Open MIC, and Upturn lauded the results.

The groups cite a report from Google showing that five million payday loan ads have been taken down so far. And that's just a small percentage of the ads the company says it removed last year.

"In 2016, we took down 1.7 billion ads that violated our advertising policies, more than double the amount of bad ads we took down in 2015, Scott Spencer, Director of Product Management, Sustainable Ads, wrote in a blog post. "If you spent one second taking down each of those bad ads, it’d take you more than 50 years to finish. But our technology is built to work much faster."

Weight loss cures and fake diplomas

The offending ads included those that offer miracle weight loss cures or sell items like fake diplomas and plagiarized term papers.

“We greatly appreciate Google’s recognition that payday loans are dangerous, trap consumers in a spiral of debt and serve no useful purpose for consumers," the consumer groups said in a joint statement. "By blocking these ads, they have protected countless consumers and more companies should follow Google's lead."

As important as Google's action is, the groups took the opportunity to give a shout out to the besieged Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), noting that it has proposed regulations that, if finalized, would protect consumers from abusive lending practices.

DeVry University has agreed to pay $2.25 million in restitution to New York graduates, wrapping up charges that the for-profit school lured students with ads that exaggerated both graduates’ success in finding jobs and potential salary figures. DeVry will also pay $500,000 in penalties, fees, and costs.

“DeVry used misleading claims to lure in students who were simply seeking a college degree, greatly exaggerating job and salary prospects for graduates” said Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. “I’m pleased that this settlement provides much-deserved restitution to students who were misled, and requires DeVry to stop its false advertising.” 

DeVry graduates eligible to participate in the claims process include: 

(1) graduates of associates and bachelor’s degree programs at DeVry campuses in New York who began their program between July 2008 and September 2015; and

(2) New York residents that graduated from DeVry online associates or bachelor’s programs and who began their program between July 2008 and September 2015. 

Those graduates will be eligible to receive restitution if they submit a claim form that indicates that the graduate was not employed in her field of study within six months of graduation, despite seeking in-field employment.  

Graduates eligible to participate in the claims process will receive a claim form by mail.   

DeVry recently reached a separate settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) concerning its advertising practices. New York DeVry graduates may be eligible to receive restitution under both settlements.

DeVry is headquartered in Illinois and operates fifty-five campuses throughout the country, including three in New York City.  DeVry also offers online college programs.

"90% success"

Many of DeVry’s advertisements centered on a claim that 90% of DeVry graduates who are actively seeking employment obtain employment in their field of study within six months of graduation. The investigation revealed that the 90% claim was misleading because a substantial number of the graduates included in the 90% figure were graduates who were already employed prior to graduating from DeVry, Schneiderman's office said.  In fact, many of the graduates included in the 90% were employed before they even enrolled at DeVry. 

In addition, DeVry’s employment outcome statistics inaccurately classified a significant number of graduates as employed in their field of study, when in reality the graduates were not working in their field. 

For example, DeVry counted graduates of DeVry’s Technical Management program as “employed in field” where the graduates were employed as retail salespersons, receptionists, bank tellers, and data entry workers. In some cases, graduates were counted as employed in their field of study despite holding positions that did not require a college degree.

Your baby’s teeth may cause quite a stir when they first appear, but not all home remedies marketed to ease the pain of teething may be safe for little ones.

As we reported, the Food and Drug Administration has issued a recall of Hyland’s homeopathic teething tablet products. In a laboratory analysis, the agency found that the products contained inconsistent levels of belladonna which may far exceed the amount claimed on the label.

Belladonna is a toxic substance that can cause seizures and other adverse events. The FDA is urging consumers to stop using products marketed by Hyland’s as they pose an unnecessary risk to children.

Protecting kids’ health may start with avoiding certain homeopathic teething tablet products, but it doesn’t end there. Dentists say parents should start maintaining the health of their children’s teeth as soon as they first appear.

Caring for new teeth

Your child’s chompers may be new on the scene, but keeping them looking that way will require some daily upkeep. To better care for your tots’ teeth, experts from the American Dental Association (ADA) say it’s important to know a few “tooth-truths.”

Here’s when parents and caregivers should begin performing certain dental health tasks:

• When to start brushing. Your child’s grin may still be sparsely populated with teeth, but those few teeth still need brushing. Because decay can happen as soon as teeth first appear, the ADA recommends picking up a tube of fluoride toothpaste when teeth first come through.
• How much toothpaste to use. Until your little one is old enough to brush on his or her own, brush your child’s teeth twice a day with a child-sized toothbrush. Top the bristles with a smear of toothpaste about the size of a grain of rice. For children three or older, use a pea-sized amount of toothpaste.
• When to schedule the first dentist visit. The first dental visit should take place after the first tooth appears but no later than your child’s first birthday, according to the ADA. That’s because kids can get cavities as soon as they get teeth.
• When to start flossing. If any teeth are touching, it’s time to start flossing between them. Consider using a child-friendly plastic flossing tool to make the task easier.

Before long, paying for shipping when you order something online will be unthinkable.

During the holiday shopping season, nearly all retailers waive shipping charges for purchases over a certain amount. Amazon.com's Prime account, which costs $99 per year, provides free two-day shipping all year round.

Walmart, which countered Prime with its own two-day shipping program for half the cost, has now upped the ante, saying it will provide free two-day shipping on more than two million items with no membership fee.

If the item you purchase is not among the two million covered by the new program, Walmart says it will provide free shipping if the order totals $35, down from $50. Items shipped for pick-up at stores have no price threshold.

Fighting back against Amazon

As Amazon has continued to dominate the online retail space, Walmart has fought hard to maintain its position as the nation's largest retailer. In August it acquired Jet.com, another online retailer, to shore up it's ecommerce offerings.

Jet.com was co-founded by Marc Lore, who sold his previous company – Diapers.com – to Amazon in 2010. Jet.com officially launched in 2015, promising consumers lower prices in exchange for longer delivery times.

Lore is now president and CEO of Walmart U.S. eCommerce, and he says the new free two-day shipping program gives Walmart a powerful weapon.

“Two-day free shipping is the first of many moves we will be making to enhance the customer experience and accelerate growth,” he said.

What's covered

The free two-day shipping will cover items like household products, including diapers, pet products, and food. It will also cover cleaning supplies, grooming products, and top-selling toys and electronics.

Walmart said some consumers who had signed up and paid the $49 for the Shipping Pass service would get refunds.

For consumers, it may be the clearest signal yet that the day is fast approaching when they will never be asked to pay for shipping. At least, that's where Lore thinks things are going.

“In today's world of e-commerce, two-day free shipping is table stakes," he said on a conference call with analysts and reporters. "It no longer makes sense to charge for it.”

You've heard lately that jobs in STEM fields -- science, technology, engineering and math -- are plentiful and pay well.

But there's just one problem -- you were an art major. Or your passion lies in creative fields.

Does that mean you are doomed to being underemployed, or worse yet unemployed, for long stretches of your career?

Maybe not. CareerBuilder and Emsi have scanned their databases and discovered that there are actually a good number of creative jobs that are in demand and pay reasonably well.

“Jobs that require creative thinking aren’t as numerous as STEM jobs, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t available or lucrative,” said Rob Sentz, chief innovation officer of Emsi. “We continue to see these jobs grow and pay a good salary.”

So here's the list of to creative occupations where job seekers will find the most opportunities.

1. Graphic designers

Graphic designers once only worked in the print medium. Now their work is needed in web and video. The CareerBuilder/Emsi report says there are currently 287,000 graphic designers in the U.S., and the field is growing, with 21,000 additional positions since 2011. They earn about $37K-$57K/year.

2. Public relations specialists

Getting and keeping a positive message in front of the public is more important than it's ever been. People who can shape and tell a story are valuable. There are 237,000 public relations jobs in this growing field. They pay around $43K-$79K/year.

3. Producers and directors

Want to see your name in lights? There are more opportunities than ever for that. Content is king, and the likes of Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu have created additional outlets. Producers and directors can earn $49K-$103K/year.

4. Interior designers

Affluent homeowners often turn to an interior designer to make their home a showplace, but the field has recently expanded to the real estate industry. Staging a home will make it sell faster and for more money. The survey finds about 93,000 interior design jobs in the U.S., with designers earning about $38K-$56K/year.

5. Interpreters and translators

Speaking more than one language certainly qualifies as a creative ability. If you can do it, you are in demand. The U.S. has added about 13,000 interpreter jobs since 2011. You can earn about $35K-$55K/year.

6. Art directors

Art director jobs were once mostly found at ad agencies. Now, every publication and media production seems to have one. There are 57,000 of these jobs in the U.S. and they pay about $54K-$89K/year.

7. Technical writers

If you can write and clearly convey sometimes complex information, you could work as a technical writer, who prepares instruction manuals, how-to's, and blog articles. The job pays about $57K-$87K/year.

8. Multimedia artists and animators

Okay, this is fairly specialized. There are only about 51,000 of these jobs, mostly in the entertainment industry. But the field has grown by 10% since 2011. It pays about $40K-$64K/year.

9. Commercial and industrial designers

CareerBuilder describes this field as "magicians who combine art, business and engineering." Their job is to figure out what people will buy. Again, there aren't as many jobs, but the field has grown about 10% since 2011. They earn the most at about $51K-$75K/year.

10. Film editors

This one barely makes the list because CareerBuilder estimates there are only 36,000 positions in the U.S. It could be because more media producers are now doing everything, including their own editing. But a good editor can earn $46K-92K/year.

Hyundai Motor Company is recalling 110 model year 2017 Hyundai Elantras manufactured April 15, 2016, to September 13, 2016, and Sonatas manufactured May 27, 2016 to September 16, 2016.

The end seal for the driver's front airbag inflator may not have been properly installed, possibly resulting in reduced inflation of the front airbag in the event of a crash.

What to do

Hyundai will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag module, free of charge. The recall is expected to begin February 13, 2017.

Owners may contact Hyundai customer service at 1-855-371-9460. Hyundai's number for this recall is 156.

American businesses are responding to President Trump's executive order closing the borders to refugees, immigrants from certain countries, and even green card holders returning from overseas assignments or vacations.

The unprecedented action left hundreds of travelers stranded at airports in the U.S. and abroad and disrupted the travel plans of thousands of others. The action sparked huge demonstrations at major airports in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, and elsewhere, as well as on college campuses and the streets of major cities. 

It also brought an outpouring of support for refugees and immigrants from businesses including Uber, Lyft, Starbucks, and Airbnb.

Starbucks 10,000

Starbucks said it would hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years. Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz said in a letter to employees that the coffee retailer's effort would start in the United States where the focus would be on hiring immigrants "who have served with U.S. troops as interpreters and support personnel."

"There are more than 65 million citizens of the world recognized as refugees by the United Nations, and we are developing plans to hire 10,000 of them over five years in the 75 countries around the world where Starbucks does business," Schultz said.

Schultz also said his company would provide health insurance to eligible employees if the Affordable Care Act is repealed and would support an Obama-era immigration program that allows young immigrants -- so-called "Dreamers" -- who were brought to the country as children to apply for a two-year reprieve from deportation and a work permit.

Uber pledge

Uber also pledged to support employees and others affected by Trump's action. In a letter to employees, co-founder and CEO Travis Kalanick said the company would provide financial support for drivers and their families who are affected by the ban. He said the company already knew of "a dozen or so" employees who were traveling outside the country when the ban went into effect and might have trouble getting back in.

Kalanick, who earlier agreed to serve on a business advisory group put together by the Trump White House, said he planned to raise the issue of the travel ban when the group holds its first meeting Friday.

Lyft $1 million

Lyft pledged to donate $1 million to the American Civil Liberties Union over the next four years, noting that the organization has been providing legal representation to those blocked by Trump's action.

"Banning people of a particular faith or creed, race or identity, sexuality or ethnicity, from entering the U.S. is antithetical to both Lyft's and our nation's core values. We stand firmly against these actions, and will not be silent on issues that threaten the values of our community," said Lyft co-founders John Zimmer and Logan Green in a blog posting.

Airbnb housing

Airbnb offered free housing to refugees and others stranded by Trump's order. CEO Brian Chesky tweeted the offer late Saturday as travelers from several Muslim-majority countries found themselves detained or in limbo at airports around the world. 

Top executives from other Silicon Valley companies also condemned the action. 

Aaron Levie, CEO of the online cloud company Box, said: “On every level – moral, humanitarian, economic, logical, etc – this ban is wrong and completely antithetical to the principles of America.”

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said Trump's actions "will make America less safe (through hatred and loss of allies) rather than more safe.” he wrote on his Facebook page.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin showed up at a protest at San Francisco International Airport and said, "I'm here because I'm a refugee," the Guardian reported. 

“As an immigrant and as a CEO, I’ve both experienced and seen the positive impact that immigration has on our company, for the country, and for the world,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in a LinkedIn post. “We will continue to advocate on this important topic.”

The general theme of the tech leaders' comments was that immigrants and refugees have contributed to American culture and its economy far out of proportion to their raw numbers. They noted a study by the National Foundation for American Policy, which reported that immigrants founded more than half (51%) of the current crop of U.S.-based startups valued at more than $1 billion.

It's to be expected that corporations do not like it when government agencies say their products could cause cancer. When California regulators, for example, attempted last year to add glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller, to a state list of possible carcinogens, the agrochemical giant sued the state.

California’s decision on glyphosate dates back to a panel organized by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the cancer-research arm of the World Health Organization. In a move that angered many in the industry, the world cancer agency in 2015 concluded that glyphosate is probably carcinogenic to humans.

In response, California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment decided to label glyphosate as a carcinogen under Proposition 65, the state’s law that lists and labels products that potentially cause cancer, birth defects, or reproductive problems. As a result, Monsanto shortly after filed a lawsuit against the agency. 

Now the industry is setting its sights beyond California and looking at the bigger picture.

Industry campaign targets WHO

The American Chemistry Council is a trade group representing a long list of corporations that produce and work with synthetic chemicals, from ExxonMobil to Eli Lilly to Monsanto. The trade group has a history of enthusiastically defending the safety of various chemicals and lobbying health agencies to do the same. 

On Wednesday, the American Chemistry Council announced the launch of its new campaign, one that it claims will promote "Credibility in Public Health Research," or CAPHR for short. The target of the CAPHR campaign is the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer, the same agency that had listed glyphosate as a carcinogen. 

"In particular, CAPHR will seek reform of the International Agency for Research on Cancer’s (IARC) Monographs Program, which evaluates the carcinogenic hazard of substances and behaviors," writes the American Chemistry Council in a press release. "IARC’s Monographs Program suffers from persistent scientific and process deficiencies that result in public confusion and misinformed policy-making."

While that assessment is debateable, the American Chemistry Council correctly notes that IARC’s decisions "have a significant impact on U.S. public policy and marketplace deselection...IARC classifications have also been used by retailers as justification to phase out certain substances." Of course, it’s perfectly legal for retailers to phase out “certain substances” and for consumers to follow suit, but such “marketplace deselection” clearly hurts the pocketbooks of industry giants. 

The trade group further accuses the IARC's decisions of leading to "dubious and misleading news coverage."

American Chemistry Council has also defended formaldehyde

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), unlike the World Health Organization’s cancer agency, have often sided with industry leaders in debates over controversial chemicals.

For example, the EPA has repeatedly ruled that glyphosate does not cause cancer. And when it organized another scientific panel into the matter last year, the agency agreed to remove one researcher whom the pesticide industry felt was too critical. The FDA, for its part, has long maintained the safety of Bisphenol-A in food packaging, despite petitions from some food safety groups asking to have it removed. 

But American federal regulators and chemical producers don't always see eye-to-eye either. In July of last year, the EPA finalized rules meant to protect workers from formaldehyde exposure. "Exposure to formaldehyde can cause adverse health effects including eye, nose and throat irritation, other respiratory symptoms and cancer," the EPA explained, backing up a long history of research into the matter.

The American Chemistry Council has continued to insist that formaldehyde exposure is perfectly safe and has similarly taken the EPA to task for stating otherwise.  

"The truth is, formaldehyde is a natural part of our world," the American Chemistry Council wrote in one report, "and the illogical findings of IRIS," or EPA’s draft Integrated Risk Information System, "are not."

President Trump is promising to do "a big number on Dodd-Frank," the consumer protection legislation that was passed in 2010 and, among other things, enabled the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Trump says that financial regulation and consumer protection are fine, but he said that the rules put in place by Dodd-Frank, along with other government regulations, are strangling businesses.

At a White House meeting with small business leaders today, Trump called Dodd-Frank "a disaster" that stymies entrepreneurs who want to start new businesses and retards the growth of existing businesses large and small.

The meeting followed a brief event at which Trump signed an executive order calling for the repeal of two regulations each time a new regulation is implemented, fulfilling a pledge he made on the campaign trail. 

Vowed to dismantle

The Dodd-Frank Act -- named for its primary sponsors, ex-Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Connl) and ex-Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) -- requires banks to undergo periodic checks to monitor their liquidity and withstand financial shocks like the 2008 collapse of the housing market. It also provides the legal framework for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which has clamped down on financial services of all sorts, including mortgage and student loan lending and servicing, payday loans, auto finance, and credit cards.

The CFPB also faces a serious legal threat. In an October 2016 ruling, a divided federal appeals court found the structure of the CFPB unconstitutional. The CFPB filed a petition for a rehearing of the decision, and that petition is currently pending before the court. Consumer advocates and 17 state attorneys general have filed briefs supporting the CFPB.

Trump's advisers have vowed to dismantle Dodd-Frank but haven't said how they would go about it, and Trump did not elaborate on that today. 

While there has been some pressure from parts of the financial services industry to abolish Dodd-Frank, not everyone thinks that's a good idea. Financial service firms have adapted to the regulations and, in some cases, expanded into other lines of business and a wholesale change now could upend their strategies, the theory goes.

"We're not asking for wholesale throwing out Dodd-Frank," J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said at a December 2016 conference, according to a New York Times report. 

2 for 1 order

Trump's decree that two regulations be eliminated for each new one isn't being well-received by legal experts who say it sounds good but will be difficult to administer.

"The simplicity of the 2 for 1 Executive Order will have a lot of popular appeal to the anti-Washington crowd but it will be extraordinarily difficult to implement," said Laurence Platt, Consumer Financial Services partner at Mayer Brown. 

"The standard that the incremental cost of new regulations shall be no greater than zero really means that there will be no new regulations," Platt said. "What does an agency do if Congress mandates an agency to issue implementing regulations? And how can an agency repeal two regulations that Congress previously mandated the agency to issue?”

Complications may have arisen in a drug store mega-merger, which will combine Walgreens Boots Alliance (Walgreens) with Rite Aid.

The merger was originally announced back in October 2015 but has yet to close. Now, the the parties have agreed to extend the merger agreement and lower the price, to $6.50 from $7 per share. The exact price will be determined by how many Rite Aid stores Walgreens will have to sell off.

The two companies say that number could be as high as 1,200, since government regulators are taking a hard look at how the combination will affect competition in the drug store business. Originally, Walgreens had agreed to spin-off 1,000 stores.

The joint announcement of both the delay and price adjustment suggests the two companies are still committed to going through with it, unless regulators out-and-out block it.

Different business today

The retail drug store business has changed significantly in the last 50 years. In the 1960s, independently owned mom and pop drug stores dominated the industry. Today it is dominated by major chains like CVS and Walgreens.

Walmart and large supermarket chains have also gotten into the pharmaceutical business, with drug sales accounting for a large part of their revenue. While there are still independently-owned drug stores, there aren't nearly as many as they used to be.

At the time the merger was announced, Walgreens assured regulators it would create “the opportunity to deliver a high-quality retail pharmacy choice for U.S. consumers in an evolving and increasingly personalized healthcare environment." Regulators, meanwhile, have taken their time determining how that would work.

4,600 Rite Aid stores

Rite Aid operates approximately 4,600 stores in 31 states and the District of Columbia, with a strong presence on both the East and West Coasts.

The plan announced in 2015 was for Rite Aid stores to continue to operate under their own brand for an indefinite period. Eventually, however, they would be re-branded as Walgreens stores.

Walgreens is already the nation's largest drug store chain with more than 8,200 stores. That's one reason this deal is under the microscope.

In 2015, Walgreens' closest competitor, CVS, had 7,800 retail stores. Together, the two companies controlled at least 50% of the market share in 70 of the nation's top 100 metro areas.

Researchers say a new smartphone app could help C-section patients reduce the length of their hospital stay after delivery.

The results of a new study showed that the app helped to reduce the length of a hospital stay after a cesarean section from the average of 3.7 days to 2.7 days. These findings were presented at the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Practice Management Meeting.

Although it’s too soon to tell if patients who used the app had any adverse outcomes, such as surgical site infections or urinary tract infections, study author Dr. Attila Kett says early results are promising.

Lowered cost

Four weeks prior to their scheduled C-sections, women downloaded the app on their smartphones. The app notified them of upcoming appointments, provided pre-surgery information, and facilitated remote post-surgery health checks such as pain control and wound recovery.

The app appeared to be an effective means of improving the quality of care while lowering costs from hospital stays. The first 30 women to use the app left the hospital an average of one day sooner after delivering via C-section.

While insurance companies are required by law to pay for 96 hours of hospitalization after C-section, Dr. Kett says it’s safe and preferable to leave the hospital sooner if the mother and baby are healthy.

“The app empowers women by putting them in control of their health care needs,” said Dr. Kett, division chief of obstetric anesthesia at Saint Peter’s University Hospital in New Jersey.

Return on investment

The costs required to participate in the program (which employed a variety of methods to enhance and fast-track patient recovery) and to develop the app were outweighed by the savings that came as a result of shortened hospital stays after C-section, the researchers noted.

The return on investment was 216% in the first year and is estimated to be higher (282%) in years to come. The authors say the study highlights the value of Perioperative Surgical Home (PSH) care programs and physician-led care.

It's hard to think of a worse time for a Chinese manufacturer to launch a U.S. sales campaign, but that's what Guangzhou Automobile Group hopes to do with its Trumpchi brand cars. And no, Trumpchi is not a play on President Trump's name, it's basically a phonetic rendering of the brand's Chinese name.

It seems a logical step to GAC, as the company is known. After all, American automakers sold nearly 3 million cars in China last year while Chinese automakers sold next to none in the United States. Volvo is now a Chinese-owned company but is still viewed as Swedish by most consumers.

State-owned GAC is not exactly a naive newcomer to the car business. It has for years jointly produced Toyota, Honda, and FCA brand vehicles for sale in China and launched its Trumpchi brand in 2010. Its Trumpchi GS4 SUV, which sells for about $14,600, is the second-best selling SUV in China.

"Cars for Loved Ones"

It's said of New York City that one who makes it there can make it anywhere, and that's sort of how GAC feels about the U.S.

"If we make it work in the U.S., it'll help us with our international expansion and greatly enhanced our brand image in all markets," said GAC President Feng Xingya, according to a Bloomberg report. 

That sort of sums up the GAC philosophy, as outlined on its website:

Carrying forward the philosophy of “Make Excellent Cars for the Loved Ones and Let the World Full of Love”, GAC MOTOR has integrated global advantageous resources and adhered to forward development and world-class quality, committing to developing world-class cars of its own brand that can fully meet user demand and achieve Chinese consumer’s driving dream.

The company showed some of its models at this year's Detroit Auto Show, and while it didn't exactly take top honors, one columnist for Car and Driver said it at least wasn't a "horror show."

Chinese automakers haven't had much luck breaking into the U.S. market, where safety and air quality regulations can be a bother. But GAC says it's up to the challenge, with Trumpchi cars winning five-star safety ratings as well as ranking first in J.D. Power initial quality studies in the Asia Pacific region.

Feng says Trumpchi will continue building its cars in China and shipping them to the U.S. until it achieves sales of 200,000 vehicles per year, at which point it will be economically feasible to begin building them in America.

No doubt there will be setbacks, but Feng says the company is confident its plans will eventually pan out. Quoting a Chinese proverb, he told Bloomberg: "When water flows, a canal eventually forms."

It used to be that airliners strove to out-do each other in providing amenities to passengers. But in an ironic twist, many carriers have begun taking away flight perks to lower the ticket price.

No-frills fares has been a growing trend in the airline industry. Delta was the first to hop on board with the idea when it revealed its Basic Economy fare, which lowered ticket prices in exchange for no seat assignments and ineligibility for complimentary upgrades and same-day travel changes. United and American Airlines followed suit – doling out extra low fares while also restricting overhead bin space and carry-on baggage.

However, not every airline thinks the practice is a good idea. In a meeting with investors, CEO Gary Kelly said that Southwest Airlines would not be creating a Basic Economy fare because it would cause confusion.

“There is a huge value in offering all of our customers – 100% of them – a great product. We like to say at Southwest, there is no second class,” Kelly stated, according to USA Today. Additionally, Kelly stated that offering a Basic Economy fare would go against the company’s identity and represent a “huge mistake.”

“Any time we contemplate offering customers a choice, we debate that heavily because complexity drives confusion and clouds the brand. What you have at Southwest is a very strong brand position in customers’ minds that we stand for friendliness, reliability and low fares. The whole free bags and no change fees becomes a very powerful component out of all that. So we don’t feel like we need [Basic Economy],” he explained.

In a bit of jab to his competitors, Kelly went on to say that other airliners’ focus on “elite” packages only serves to push other travelers away, something that Southwest doesn’t support. “Every other competitor, they lavish attention on elite customers and ignore the rest. That is our biggest opportunity because we don’t ignore anybody,” he said.

Another computer glitch hit Delta Airlines over the weekend, the second in five months. But after numerous cancellations and delays, Delta says it's getting back to normal. Still, travelers could continue to feel the effects.

At 7:00 a.m. today, Delta issued a statement reporting that it is operating most of its flight schedule as it continues to recover from the systems crash that threw its schedule into turmoil Sunday. Delta said it had to cancel about 170 flights Sunday and might have to cancel more than 110 today.

“I want to apologize to all of our customers who have been impacted by this frustrating situation,” said Delta CEO Ed Bastian, in a statement. “This type of disruption is not acceptable to the Delta family, which prides itself on reliability and customer service. I also want to thank our employees who are working tirelessly to accommodate our customers.”

Not happy

Consumers who were inconvenienced were understandably irked. Bill, of Naples, Fla., posted a review to ConsumerAffairs as he sat aboard an aircraft, complaining that the airline was doing nothing to make a bad situation better.

"We have been sitting in a line of 60 grounded planes on the runway at ATL for nearly 2 hours (so far) and in addition to receiving no information, the flight attendants are RESTING," Bill wrote in a post. "The other First Class passengers are a bit confused by this non-customer service behavior of the flight attendant staff. It is bad enough that Delta have an obviously unstable and/insecure computer system; but, the service is becoming terrible."

The airline said its major IT systems went down at 6:30 p.m. Sunday. By midnight, Delta said things were returning to normal.

Check the schedule

Customers flying Delta today should check the airline's website or the Fly Delta app. Delta said it has waived the change fee for customers who were scheduled to fly yesterday and today.

For air travelers, coping with airline computer glitches has become an almost regular occurrence. Just days ago, a computer glitch hit the United Airlines system. The impact was shorter-lived. The system was restored in about an hour.

In August, both Delta and Southwest suffered technical breakdowns within days of one another. In the Southwest outage, the airline was forced to cancel 2,300 flights, stranding passengers all over the country.

Delta's August outage forced it to cancel more than 1,250 flights.