Consumers Quotations | Page 9

What they say may have an impact tomorrow, but the dominant topic on investors' minds right now starts with an 'I' and it's not Intel. Both businesses and consumers are hesitant to make any moves until there's progress on Iraq.

We found that most consumers classified themselves as 'novices' or 'apprentices' when it comes to vehicle financing and admit to feeling uninformed when it comes to that process. Our mission at AWARE is to reach out to and be a resource for all Americans who are thinking about buying another vehicle.

We found out, from talking to consumers and store operators all over the country, that low-dollar items went very fast. Forget about high-end items.

We find consumers very reluctant to pay for new services at all. Corporations are more willing to pay for new services. And from corporations, come consumers who have gotten used to using the services at work.

We'll be looking at issues including Mandate Light, which gives consumers the opportunity to chose what type of (medical) benefits they want and also at possibly doing a health insurance voucher for the uninsured, including businesses that do not currently offer health insurance, as well as individuals who do not have health insurance.

We are all hurt by insurance scams. As health care consumers, we all end up paying the price for fraud. Health insurance fraud perpetrators are basically stealing from consumers who are paying into the insurance system. Whether it's a doctor charging for a procedure that wasn't actually administered or a phony insurance agent selling fraudulent insurance to a senior citizen, the cost of fraud ends up being passed on to consumers.

My constituents are frustrated. Consumers want to know what we're going to do about this. Consumers definitely want to know what's going on.

My concern is that consumers have put off filling their heating oil tanks because of the high costs. But prices, obviously, haven't gone down. So while the supplies will be there, they will be more expensive.

More importantly, they've done it in a way that seems to be fairly understandable by consumers so you don't have to have a whole IT department in your house to make this stuff work.

As consumers and as voters we can say 'no' to rogue economics and demand regulation.