American Consumer Institute

Our mission is to promote consumer welfare by improving the understanding and impact that public policies and regulations have on American consumers.

[American Consumer Institute @consumerpal]

Cigarettes get a fast track at the FDA. Lower-risk vapes don’t.

‼️New ACI Policy Primer: an arbitrary 2007 cutoff date lets cigarettes use the streamlined Substantial Equivalence pathway, while vapes face the far tougher PMTA process.

The result:
🚬 892 new cigarette products authorized (2018-2022)
💨 48 authorized e-cigarette products (as of Aug 2026)
It’s time for a proportionate standard.

Read more by @JustinLeventhal here: https://t.co/yVnYfhuZOY

[American Consumer Institute @consumerpal]

Projects should advance on their merits, not political favorability. BAAJA is technology-neutral, so the federal government can’t single out, delay, or arbitrarily revoke lawfully issued permits based on the type of energy project. Pipelines and wind farms have both felt that swing. #PermittingReform

[American Consumer Institute @consumerpal]

BAAJA’s data center provisions: they pay the full cost of using existing transmission lines and any new infrastructure. Grid upgrade costs can’t be passed to residential or small-business customers. States can charge data centers more to lower other customers’ bills.

[American Consumer Institute @consumerpal]

Permitting reform is on the table. The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act (BAAJA) keeps environmental review, tribal consultation, and public input intact while making the system more predictable for builders. No bill is perfect, but this one deserves a serious look. #PermittingReform #Energy

Read more here: https://t.co/ePsfisnl28

[American Consumer Institute @consumerpal]

ACI Joins Coalition Urging NYC Council to Reject Delivery Protection Act

https://t.co/IJFywXE3Ey

[American Consumer Institute @consumerpal]

New York City’s Delivery Protection Act is Anti-Consumer

https://t.co/GWMch6AgBR

[American Consumer Institute @consumerpal]

Imagine a household where both a schoolteacher with a pension and a private employee with a 401(k) both have the same retirement investment opportunities. While they don’t right now, they could with a proposed rule by the Department of Labor. By prioritizing a standard of prudence, greater access would open diversified retirement savings for private-sector employees to choose these investments while maintaining the appropriate safeguards for those savings.

Read more by @leahmlocke here: https://t.co/btfxetXSN7

[American Consumer Institute @consumerpal]

The Process is the Safeguard: Diversified Access to Retirement Investments

https://t.co/Jeu2xpBDW4

[Leah Locke @leahmlocke]

In my new blog for @consumerpal, I discuss the DOL’s proposed rule to make it easier for 401(k) plans to offer alternative assets, which many fiduciaries have avoided due to the fear of lawsuits. https://t.co/WKhXKPcKi7

[American Consumer Institute @consumerpal]

Americans face a shortage of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036. Requiring scarce professionals to review work technology can do equally well wastes the resource healthcare lacks. Autonomous AI could expand capacity, lower costs, and reach patients regardless of geography.

[American Consumer Institute @consumerpal]

Human review is not the same as patient safety. Doctors make mistakes, and so does AI. The real question is whether AI performs a task at least as safely and accurately as the people legally allowed to do it. In one Nature study, an AI breast-cancer screening system outperformed six radiologists.

Read more by @JustinLeventhal here:https://t.co/XN46skOh50

[American Consumer Institute @consumerpal]

Suppose a clinical AI diagnoses a condition more accurately than the average doctor, runs around the clock, and costs a fraction as much. Why should the law still require a human to repeat or approve its work? Regulators should let AI perform defined healthcare services once it proves it is as safe and reliable as existing providers.

[American Consumer Institute @consumerpal]

Fracking fears led to regulations that address its environmental impacts. The same can apply to data centers. Counties are already lowering residential tax rates, upgrading infrastructure, and building new schools because of them. Lawmakers shouldn’t squander the opportunity.

[American Consumer Institute @consumerpal]

Pennsylvania embraced fracking. New York banned it. A study found residents in New York’s southern counties lost out on $11,000 per person. New York imports about 85 percent of its energy, and its electricity prices run nearly 40 percent higher than Pennsylvania’s.

[Nate Karren @NateKarrenOnX]

California formally accepted its share of BEAD money yesterday--conditions and all.
That was the right call!
Now they should look towards states like Louisiana for examples in quick, impactful deployment.

[American Consumer Institute @consumerpal]

Roughly 65 percent of Americans oppose an AI data center in their communities, and construction is being canceled or paused in many places. The backlash echoes the fracking panic of the 2010s. Both sides can learn from how that played out.

Read more here: https://t.co/5zyAFzVRxa

[American Consumer Institute @consumerpal]

The federal government occupies 61 percent of the most coveted frequency ranges. Congress should set and enforce deadlines for agencies, streamline the Spectrum Relocation Fund, and consider a market for government-held spectrum. Right now it’s like driving with the e-brake on.

[American Consumer Institute @consumerpal]

Wireless home internet wasn’t always a viable option. Congress directed the FCC in 2018 to auction more spectrum for 5G, and innovators improved wireless enough to rival cable speeds. Now home internet keeps getting cheaper despite widespread inflation.

Read more by @NateKarrenOnX here: https://t.co/8nDg0iNfeU

[American Consumer Institute @consumerpal]

Cable internet has gotten cheaper thanks to 5G. A new study from Pepperdine professor James Prieger estimates that competition from wireless home internet cut cable prices by an average of $11 per month between 2023 and 2025. Spectrum put to commercial use benefits consumers.

[American Consumer Institute @consumerpal]

Under California’s approved BEAD plan, builders will connect about 143,000 new homes with fiber. Fiber is the gold standard for reliability, and roadblocks to it put copper-dependent consumers at risk. Better broadband everywhere is the choice that serves Californians.

[American Consumer Institute @consumerpal]

Net neutrality laws were meant to protect consumers. But research shows they reduce fiber-optic investment, and that means years of delays for the people waiting on better service. Speeds don’t matter if the infrastructure never gets built.