CPSIA – Illinois Politics in the Gutter

742 days have passed since ANY Democrat in Congress did ANYTHING to help us on the CPSIA. There are 69 days left until Election Day.

After two years of banging my head against the wall on the CPSIA, it has become clear that much of the problem is in Congressional leaders from two states, California (Waxman, Boxer, Feinstein) and Illinois (Durbin, Rush, Schakowsky). [I hope I'm not forgetting any other "worthies".] I live in Illinois. The fact that our state is part of this disaster is no surprise. I get to follow the local political goings-on in the paper and on the Internet. Of course, people talk, too. We sure know how to pick ‘em in Illinois . . . .

I think it’s well-known that I am not a big fan of Ms. Schakowsky for her cheerleading for the noxious CPSIA and her leadership of the gang that stymied any effort to fix that awful law and its regulatory by-products. And it’s hard not to be utterly disgusted by her legislative agenda, which earned her the rank of NUMBER ONE SPENDER IN CONGRESS and which has been a job-killer of the first order. She provides many reasons to dislike her passionately . . . but did you also know that her husband is a FELON? As a lawyer, I have very little sympathy for felons. One never becomes a felon by accident. [As a matter of fact, the prospect of being accused of a felony under the CPSIA is one of my hottest "hot buttons" as I deeply resent that our government could make something that inappropriate possible under federal law.]

Yes, in fact, Schakowsky’s husband is a crook. Robert Creamer was convicted of financial crimes in 2005 (check kiting and tax evasion, a $2.3 million fraud committed against nine financial institutions to fund his salary, among other things) while Schakowsky was a sitting member of Congress, served five months in the pokey for his felonies and then was placed under house arrest with his member of Congress spouse for 11 months. Perhaps you think this is some sort of Illinois sitcom or perhaps a new kind of reality show. Here is Creamer’s jail release record, if you are curious.

Creamer’s criminal record is absent from his bio, interestingly enough. Anyone shocked to learn that Creamer was an important advisor to our very own Governor Blagojevich, a fellow felon? Creamer has quite a business going as a political consultant – Democrats from all over the country clamor for his help. Hmmm.

And the Illinois sewer continues to spew to this very day. Mr. Creamer, who was a critical thought leader and trainer for the 2008 Obama campaign (Obama is another Illinoisan with a CPSIA taint), is now apparently part of Democrat Alexi Giannoulias’ campaign for Senate against Mark Kirk. Here’s a still of Alexi Giannoulias posing with Mr. Creamer:

Also conversing with Mssrs. Giannoulias and Creamer is lobbyist Larry Suffredin. Here’s what Wikipedia says about his lobbying practice: “Suffredin is a registered lobbyist with Cook County, the City of Chicago, and the State of Illinois. Suffredin lobbyist clients include resort and casino company MGM Mirage, owners of the Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin, Illinois, and Penn National Gaming, owners of the Hollywood Casino, Aurora, Illinois, the Illinois Alliance of Competitive Telephone Companies, the Donors Forum of Chicago, the Illinois Arts Alliance, and Illinois Citizens for Handgun Control, the Chicago Bar Association, and Kankakee Regional Landfill LLC. He is also a registered lobbyist for Abbott Laboratories, Nursepower Services Corporation, and Quest Diagnostics.”

I assume the three of them were discussing the weather. “Pretty sunny out today, Bob.” “Larry, did you see that rain cloud as you drove in?” “Alexi, surely it won’t rain on your parade!”

This still is from a Giannoulias campaign video pitching an endorsement by Jan Schakowsky. Perhaps there are a few dots to connect here. . . . Giannoulias chats with Creamer at the 1:45 point in the video, check it out yourself:

An Illinois Senatorial candidate hanging out with a felon who stole from banks? Hey, isn’t that practically the very question that dogs Giannoulias in this campaign? How ironic! And then there’s the issue of members of Congress who consort with thieves. This is even more ironic given the Dems’ practice this year of viciously bashing banks and bank bailouts. Perhaps defrauding banks is okay, but keeping them afloat is not. there an odor in the room???

What integrity! How inspiring! Can’t wait to vote . . . .

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CPSIA – Illinois Politics in the Gutter

CPSIA – Lead in the News

The New York Times published an expose on lead poisoning earlier this week. Here’s a shocker – APPARENTLY, the main cause of lead poisoning in American children is lead house paint (leaded gasoline having been long eliminated as a source of lead in our environment). Isn’t it strange that the Times never mentioned the dangers of educational products, toys, t-shirts, ATVs, bikes, pens, rhinestones (oooo, rhinestones, so dangerous!) and the like? What ‘s wrong with those people?

The article cites an example of the lead poisoning problem:

“But the invisible threat persists in the city’s so-called lead belts — areas of Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island where the rates of children showing elevated levels are routinely the highest in the city. Last summer, E.P.A. officials took hundreds of soil samples near a long-closed lead factory on Staten Island suspected in the chronically higher rates of lead poisoning among children in the North Shore neighborhoods of Port Richmond, Stapleton and St. George. The area was once filled with heavy industry, and lead contamination can be found in parks and industrial sites. Of the children tested from those neighborhoods, about 7 out of 1,000 had elevated lead levels, health department data show, compared with a citywide average of 4.5 out of 1,000.

But when the soil sampling results came in last month, the lead contamination found in six residential blocks was traced to peeling paint, not the plant. . . . Walter Mugdan, the E.P.A.’s regional Superfund director, said that the paint had contaminated backyard soil that could also harbor traces of leaded gasoline.”

What-a-shock.

The NYT article points readers to the Lead home page on the CDC website. If you click forward to the poisoning prevention page, you get the straight scoop from the CDC: “Lead-based paint and lead contaminated dust are the main sources of exposure for lead in U.S. children. Lead-based paints were banned for use in housing in 1978. All houses built before 1978 are likely to contain some lead-based paint. However, it is the deterioration of this paint that causes a problem. Approximately 24 million housing units have deteriorated leaded paint and elevated levels of lead-contaminated house dust. More than 4 million of these dwellings are homes to one or more young children.”

[You should also check out the NYT video on the CDC's efforts to eliminate lead poisoning.]

With House hearings on the CPSIA pending this week, this reminder of the real threat to children’s health is helpful. As we have been saying for two years, the real health risks in children’s products today are lead-in-paint and leaded jewelry. [I am not even so sure about jewelry but accept the concern as legitimate.] There is no hint that the CDC is any way fixated on the same “threats” as your Congress. Interestingly, if the issues spotlighted by the CPSIA were so serious, they might show up as centerpieces in CPSC outreach programs. After all, the CPSIA did NOTHING to remove these supposedly dangerous items from American homes and schools – it merely ended new supply. As the longstanding effort to remove lead house paint makes clear, our government is capable of acting to remove dangerous products or conditions from our living spaces. Congress made no such effort here – and the CDC saw no need either.

Our businesses have been torched by a phobia. It’s shameful.

For a lighter news item about lead perils, check out this criminal case from Texas which sent the lead perpetrator to cool his heels in jail. Don’t worry, it was just something fishy.

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CPSIA – Lead in the News