toyota’s fines, fewer lobbyists and what americans spend.

Toyota got slapped on the wrist with a $16.4 million fine (it’s the largest in history) for hiding the sticky gas pedal fault between last September and this January. Never mind that the NHTSA was complicit in the cover up (where is THEIR fine? huh?) or that records of the fault extend back to the previous presidential administration.

Change I can believe in.

A report by the office of federal ethics finds that our current presidential administration employs former lobbyists in two dozen of 2900 positions. The former administration employed over 100 lobbyists.

What we spend.

Here’s an interesting break out on what the average American household spends for different things. It’s broken out by single, married, with and without kids. I found it really interesting because the overall spending numbers don’t appear to be that far apart to me on average.