Crackdown on deceptive Online Reviews. New york regulators slamming fines on 19 companies for posting fake reviews online. Now, while consumers no fake reviews are part of the game, you may be shocked at how far companies will go to get a positive review posted online. Here to weigh in, branding expert mark rudolph. Always good to have you here. No, i was looking at this story. I have to tell you, you know, people use these reviews not just to pick a place to go for dinner saturday night, but to pick attorneys, doctors, they guy who will renovate your home. It is all done on line. How widespread is the problem of these fake reviews and what are the stakes . Well, it is very widespread, but the stakes are very small if you decide to take them with a grain of salt. If you decide to live online and believe everything you read online, then you are a fool. Gerri well, mark i have to disagree with you here. Obviously you have to take things with a grain of salt, but more and more people do look at these reviews and are weighing the men are part of the marketplace now. To ignore them is ridiculous, frankly. I did not say to ignore them. I said taken with a grain of salt because, for example, i recently bought a new computer and printer. I read things online. I went to a trusted reviewers, i went into the store, talk to the guy, and i said, okay, if you are going to put your money in this, which one of you going to buy. I lifted his face. So i use many different data points to make my decision. And to believe only what you read online is foolhardy. Gerri that is absolutely true. More people in doing it, but so what . Gerri absolutely true they have to take things with a grain of salt and obviously you will not take the word of a salesman either, right, but at least you know it is a salesman when you speak to him. I just think that most people did not realize the degree to which these things are cooked up. And some of these reviews are actually outsourced. These companies actually hire other companies in bangladesh, all over the world to write these fake reviews. It is amazing to me how far these companies are going. What is at stake here for the company themselves . It is not amazing to me. 55 percent of obamas twitter followers are fake. I mean, we have to be realistic about the world. And we have this society where a lot of people are on facebook and think that their facebook friends are really their friends. Theyre not. So i think that the idea of personal responsibility is lost. And now the government is getting involved. The government cannot even solve welfare fraud and food stamp fraud. Now people expect it to solve opinion fraud. But i think, commonsense and logic seemed to be loss in our utopian world. The end of the Day Companies that lie are just going to hurt their brand. Apple just sold 9 million iphones. We saw people camped out for days waiting to get iphones. I looked at that and say, that is a better indicator of the quality of that product than any online review. Gerri thank you for that. Appreciate your time. Sure. Gerri now we want to know what you think. Here is our question. Do you trust and use Online Reviews . Log on to gerriwillis. Com. And if you think the division on capitol hill could not get any worse, House Minority leader nancy pelosi says she would not make a single cut to the governments nearly 4 trillion budget. The coverage is there. There is no more cuts to make. It is really important that people understand that. Gerri no more cuts to make . [laughter] says nancy pelosi cannot figure out what to come we will do it for her. Joining me now, gop strategist and ceo of ripple communications. Welcome back to the show. Good to be back. Gerri i was blown away by these comments. It is unconscionable to think that the federal government with the massive budget has no plans to cut. How is that possible . Of course there are places to cut. We hear examples every day. If you went out into any main street cafe in america you find people with plenty of opinions about where to cut. And the bigger issue here is really the entitlement programs and the fact that the democrats are unwilling, unwilling to discuss how to reform entitlement programs so that we can make them more efficient and really serve the people that they are meant to serve which is the issue. Was she is trying to obscure by saying theee is nowhere else to cut. Gerri that is a good point and well taken because that is a preponderance of the budget, these entitlement programs. Overwhelming majority. Gerri we did research on our own and found other areas where you could make cuts. Take a look. The tsa is spending three and a half million per year to store 6,000 pieces of unused security equipment worth 184 million. And the u. S. Air force, they have an office of Scientific Research that spans 681,000 on a study to confirm that man look taller, stronger, and mainly year carrying a firearm. [laughter] and then there is this, and Naval Research office spent 450,000 on a study that determined robusta not have the ability to maintain a babys ttention. They are not good mothers. Im thinking nancy pelosi, what shes smoking . To me, that is a place, any one of those programs could go out the door. And you are exactly right. Those are great examples. And we could actually fill reams and reams of books, reams of paper giving more examples of them, and the real issue to me is the fact that we have lost perspective. We have a government i like to say we have an encyclopedia government in now with a ph. The government is not kept up with how people live their lives , how they get information and has not been able to become more efficient in order to respond to what is modernday life. So we have this infrastructure of government that we are finding that is not actually meeting the needs of the people it is supposed to serve. And so there are these crazy examples where we have built up this government doing things that are no longer the priorities are meeting the needs especially right now when there are so many. Listed all of those examples and put them into the Food Stamp Program since that seems to be a big topic of conversation. Our medical research, the things that we really say our priorities. Gerri i think the old government could go on a diet. I dont necessarily want to take that money and put it somewhere else. I think maybe spending should be lowered. Your point which is terrific. You know, Corporate America has slimmed down. They use fewer workers. They tend to use computers instead of people, and it works for them. I have to ask you, the conversation going on in washington right now is defunding obamacare. Do you think, can it happen . And other republicans have tried now for the times to stop. Theyre trying now. Will that work . Actually, i do not think that it will with all due respect to my republican friends on the hill. It has been a good talking point for them and it is true that there are a lot of problems with obamacare and people unhappy with it. The Obamacare Program is also tied up in entitlement. There is lot to do with health care in this country that is entitlement driven, not discretionary. It is not discretionary spending. Even if we did take even if we did defund obamacare we would still have to be funding some kind of Health Care Program which would be mostly to the entitlement program. Gerri we are already finding many, medicare, medicaid, chips, you name it. The federal government is spending, what, three out of five Health Care Dollars in this country. It is astonishing. I want to ask you about another Government Program that is getting a lot of attention today. Because of this conversation about lower spending which is the National Park service. There website promoting his lawns benefits. Get this, to womens rights. Now, they did not produce this video apparently, but they have been up on their website. It raises the question, what is the National Park service during promoting, you know, the image really of muslims. Makes no sense to me. What do you say . I agree. If you show this to anyone in mainstream america it will ask that exact same questions. Why is this the park service jurisdiction. Okay. I think that the way they work into it is through the womens Rights National historic park. And that is on the site witnesses appearing of what i say, you know, encyclopedia government in now with a ph. It used to be that in order to learn about the Womens Suffrage Movement and what happened in seneca falls he had to go there and visit and learn about it. Now there are hundreds of ways online. But this park Service Department has to legitimize their existence. Gerri are you kidding me . This makes no sense. Youre right. Gerri the National Park service shut down some parts last year when we had the government shut down. They were closing doors. That should be the priority, running what they have, not branching off into some area which, frankly, i dont understand how they have any interest in whatsoever. It is a little bit curious, but i know everyone gets all lathered up. It would be just as inappropriate if it was pro lutheran. This is not a priority. Weigh more things to be funding. Gerri but it is not their business. Not that it is ever going to be for the National Park service. What do they have to do with that . Nothing. Right. I think you for coming and the show and being with us. Good to see you. My pleasure. Gerri now we want to bring you the latest developments on the irs scandal. The official at the heart of the Tea Party Targeting is retiring. Head of the irs division handling applications for taxexempt status, lois lerner, was put on paid leave back in may and repeatedly refused to answer questions a congressional hearings pleading the fifth. Once again, lois lerner officially out at the irs. Since he is retiring in not being fired, her pension will likely remain intact, surprise, surprise. Your tax dollars. A lot still to come including last yr money saving monday tips includingays to save on your holiday travel. In sing money at the ocery store. You wasting food an mey because of the expiratnabel . P. S new s ayit us. Thank you orville and wilbur. Amelia. Neil and buzz for teaching us that you cant create the future. By clinging to the past. And with that youre history. Instead of looking behind. Delta is looking beyond. 80 thousand of us investing billions. In everything from the best experiences below. To the finest comforts above. Were not simply saluting history. Were making it. But it doesnt usually work that way withealth care. With unitedhealthcare, i get information on quality rated doctors, Treatment Options and cost estimates, so we can ke Better Health decisions. Thats health in numbers. Unitedalthcare. [ engine revs, tires squeal ] [ male announcer ] since we began, mercedesbenz has pioneered many breakthroughs. Breakthroughs in design. Breakthroughs in safety. In engineering. And technology. And now our latest creation breaks one more barrier. Introducing the cla. Starting at 29,900. Gerri 90 percent of americans, almost all of us talked at our food prematurely because we think we are following the expiration labels on the product this is costing you big bucks. Here with survey findings and moneysaving monday tips is a scientist at the National Resources defense council. Welcome to the show. Good to see you. You say that we do not understand these labels. What is wrong . Well, it is not that there is anything wrong with them themselves, but we are all interpreting them to mean that food is unsafe to eat when, in fact, what theyre trying to tell us is only that the food is at its fair very best quality. Gerri so it is a fresh this label, not, this is going to kill you if you read. Less talk of little bit about how much folks waste every year per household dry stuff out that you can still eat or drink . Back of the envelope we estimate that households are spending somewhere between 275 and 450 on food that they really did not need to throw away. Gerri of that is a lot. How she views the labels, the freshness labels . Is it a suggestion . How should you think of this . It is a suggestion for when the product is at its very best quality, but you should keep in mind other indicators like making sure that you get a refrigerated product refrigerated the alltime, you know, one food Safety Experts estimate that leaving a product out of the refrigerator for one hour is like a full 24 hours in their refrigerator. Gerri these levels confuse consumers, and i am one. Frankly we are showing no right now. I throw milk out when it grows like coffee, and i dont even look at the labels any more. You can smell when it is bad. It is that simple. Are there other test site in use to make sure there is still good . There are. You know, my grandmother used to use one, floating eggs and up bowl of water. They float they are not good to eat anymore, but if they say theyre perfectly fine. Gerri these labels, they have some information, but not a lot. What about those things like really processed foods, cocacola and soft drinks and all of that stuff for you know it will last a long time, canned foods, soups, beans, more important to follow those labels . Not at all. Those are great examples of where there really is just an estimate of when the product will be at its best quality. You know, many manufacturers, it is up to them when theyre not to include a date at all, how they, but that and what theyre trying to tell you what that date. Gerri thank you for coming on the show. Gray stuff and we appreciate your time. Greta permission. Thank you for having me. Gerri coming up later in the show, fed fears to washington worries. Now we have gone from record stock market highs to a string of red in just a few days. Next, how do you do that . Now is the time to start booking holiday travel. We will tell you how to save money. Faugh train horn vo wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. Norfolk southern. One line, infinite possibilities. Gerri thanksgiving is around the corner and air fares are taking off. Expe gerri attention, if you are planning on flying to your thanksgiving destination, our next guest says you better book now. Joining now, mark moved mark murphy, a travel expert and ceo of travel alliance media. Welcome back to the show. You think people who book early, what do you say . The early bird gets the window seat . Do they also get a better share . Youll probably get a better fare in definitely get your choice of seats because right now there are fewer seats in the air and more demand, so the economy has picked up, more people that want to travel. That is a peak travel time frame. Are the busiest times of the year. I suggest that you get going this week. Gerri what is a sweet spot to booking. Well, the travel that monday. Give yourself some flexibility. If you avoid wednesday and sunday, you are going to basically clear your head of a lot of headaches that tsa and Everything Else and get a better fare. If you can book that monday before thanksgiving and wait until the following monday or the following wednesday to come back, stay away from the peak travel days. You will save money and headaches. Gerri and you say it is now until the 30th of september to get the tickets. Yes. To actually book, yes. Right now is the time, this week basically. Gerri t think that tickets are more expensive this year than they were last year . Up marginally. We are pretty much seeing that yearoveryear. The airlines have been doing a great job of raising yields. Of course we talked in the past adding on a few. Gerri yes. We talked about all of those. Ridiculous nonsense, but the fees for the water. I have not heard about the bathroom. Gerri someone out there, creative marketer is thinking about that. The busiest days to fly, wednesday, november 207th. You know what id like to do, travel on thanksgiving, leave early that morning, no one is lying. It is a great time to travel. You get to your destination easy , no hassles. I agree with that except if you absolutely have to be there and theyre is a mechanical failure or Something Like that with the plane and the plan does not take off, then you may miss that thanksgiving bird. Think about that. Gerri it is all about the food, too. Well, definitely not the airline food. The thanksgiving dinner. Gerri thats true. Less talk about christmas. Now is a good time to book that holiday. What is that season shaping up to be like . By december. They are going up. Whenever you are booking during peak travel time france, spring break, president s weekend, christmas, thanksgiving, air fare goes through the roof because that is where their air fare goes up, a resort costs go up. Everything. In some cases 100 percent higher than it was just two weeks before. If you dont have kids and can travel outside the holidays, that is where youll find the bargains. That is what youre looking for. If you have to travel during those time frames, im going away to mexico for the sixth year in a row. I love mexico for the family vacation. Ibook my Airline Tickets two months in advance. I am looking out. They are not going to go anywhere but up at this point. Gerri if you can travel in the first two weeks of december, that is a great time because not a lot of people are doing it. You know what, the offers are fantastic. A cruise out of new jersey on rural caribbean will take you down to the caribbean for nine nights. 3 50 cheaper. Gerri love to travel that time of year. Great to see you as always. Gerri coming up, forget keeping your doctor when obamacare kicks off next week. You may have to sacrifice the quality of your care. I will explain. After hitting record highs last week the markets have been experiencing a string of down days. 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