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ST. LOUIS NEWS TODAY - Sunday, February 5, 2006
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Consumers Are Urged to Hang Up On "Government Grant" Call
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), February 5, 2006 - Attorney General Jay Nixon wants Missouri consumers not to be fooled by con artists offering government grant money over the phone. Missourians are calling Nixon's Consumer Protection Hotline every day to report the identity theft scam.
Consumers are called and told they have won a grant from the federal government but need to pay a fee of approximately $5. The caller asks the consumer for bank account information to collect the fee. There is no grant, Nixon said, and the consumer finds that a much larger amount of money has been withdrawn from the account.
"This is yet another scam where a con artist tries to get people to let their guard down and give up their personal information," Nixon said. "Consumers should never give up Social Security or account numbers unless they have initiated the contact and know they're dealing with a legitimate organization."
Nixon says other common scams to get personal information include scaring consumers into believing there are problems with their bank account, usually via email. Fraudulent e-mails like this are often referred to as "phishing" scams.
Nixon also warned in November that con artists are calling consumers, threatening arrest for their alleged failure to report for jury duty. Some frightened consumers are then tricked into giving up their personal information, hoping to clear their name.
In another example of an identity theft scam, consumers have reported calls claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service, in which the scammer announces that the consumer qualifies for a speedy tax refund and asks for bank account information.
Missourians should never divulge their personal information to an unknown caller, Nixon says. Instead, they should hang up and report the call to his Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-392-8222 or obtain a complaint form off his Web site, www.ago.mo.gov
Boeing Machinists Ratify Company Offers
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), February 5, 2006 - The Boeing Company has announced that the employees represented by three locals of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers at Boeing facilities in California, Alabama and Florida, voted yesterday to accept the company's offer for new bargaining unit agreements. The new agreements end a strike that began on November 2, 2005.
A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world's largest space and defense businesses. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $30.5 billion business.
"We are pleased the agreements were ratified and look forward to our employees returning to work," said Tom Easley, lead negotiator for Boeing.
The new contracts cover approximately 1,500 employees supporting Boeing Integrated Defense Systems operations in Huntington Beach, Long Beach, Torrance and Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.; Huntsville and Decatur, Ala.; and the Space Coast of Florida. Workers will begin to return to work on Feb. 6.
The contract provides lump sum bonuses and wage increases; a pension increase for employees who retire on or after March 1, 2006, and quality medical plans at a reasonable cost to employees.
Americans Split on National Health Plan Support
ST. LOUIS, (PRNewswire, February 5, 2006 - Results of a recent national survey conducted by the American Consumer Institute show that American consumers are split in their support of a nationalized health plan in which doctors and hospitals would be under federal government control. According to the survey, 43% would favor such a plan, compared to 50% who would oppose the plan.
The survey was based on a 1,000-person telephone survey with residents across the United States.
Even though many unions publicly support nationalized medical and health insurance, households with union members were only modestly more in favor of a nationalized health plan (47%), compared to households without union members (42%).
As expected, there are divisions among party lines, with Democrats more likely than Republican to favor a nationalized plan (54% vs. 27%). Independents mirror the overall numbers (43% favor). African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to favor a nationalized health plan (55%), compared to just 41% of the Caucasians and just 27% of the Asians. The survey also suggests that affluent consumers (31% for households earning over $100,000) are less apt to support a national health plan, compared to lower income consumers (47% for households earning below $25,000).
According to Anne Danehy, an expert for the Institute and President of Strategic Opinion Research, "the survey reflects wide differences of opinion among consumers, suggesting that policymakers will struggle to find consensus on how best to deal with these important national issues."
"A major public policy issue is how to best provide access to the healthcare system to the uninsured and the underinsured and at the same time control healthcare costs," stated Dr. Fuhr, a public policy expert for the Institute and Professor of Economics at Widener University.
The survey also found that 90% of households report having some level of health insurance, while only 9% report having no health insurance. Surprisingly, the survey revealed that only 52% of uninsured households would support a nationalized health plan.
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