CPSIA – Perhaps Mark Pryor is Detrimental to the American Public

I have resolved to “out” the politicians who stand between federal law and rationality when it comes to the CPSIA. We endured two years of torture at the hands of Henry Waxman in the House, who spent 18 months denying that anything was wrong with the CPSIA – and then tried to put through an amendment to his liking in the dead of night. I exposed that deceptive effort, but it didn’t change much in Mr. Waxman’s approach.

Now, post-2010 midterm elections, the winds have shifted and there is much more recognition that the CPSIA is deeply flawed. The House is controlled by Republicans who have long recognized and admitted that the law needed to be changed in important ways to save jobs (without sacrificing “safety”). Unfortunately, certain members of the Senate remains wedded to the Waxman script and seem committed to fall on the sword to protect each precious word of that defective and fundamentally flawed law. As they rise up to stand in the way of progress and rationality, I commit to YOU that I will out them in this space.

One person who is already raising his profile to protect this law is Senator Mark Pryor of Arkansas. I am told he has a copy of the signed CPSIA framed in his office (I haven’t seen it personally, I admit) so presumably he is very proud of “his” law. It’s a shame he hasn’t been listening since he cast his vote in 2008. In today’s USAToday, Mr. Pryor opines that de-funding the CPSIA database would be “detrimental to the American public“.

Why does Mr. Pryor think this? “Private consumer complaint websites tend to focus more on performance issues, which is why ‘one central place where consumers can go to find accurate information’ about safety is needed, says Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., who is pushing to keep the funding in place for the database.” [Emphasis added]

Perhaps a place with accurate information about consumer product incidents is “needed” but is the CPSIA database such a thing? Why, precisely, does Mr. Pryor thinks the database information will be “accurate”? After all, we know that Inez Tenenbaum admitted in Congressional testimony that the agency will likely post inaccurate or misleading information. Remember, “that’s what the rub is”. We also know that the General Counsel of the CPSC says that the database will not be trustworthy, featuring “complaints” without shedding light on “causation”. Remember, the General Counsel touts the disclaimers all over the website, which she is considering AMPLIFYING. In other words, she admits/acknowledges/trumpets that the information may not be true and can’t be relied upon. In other words, it’s not accurate.

Senator Pryor, are you listening?

I am sure the answer is “no”. Expect more of this from Mr. Pryor. According to Wikipedia, he is quoted in the movie “Religulous” saying “You don’t need to pass an IQ test to be in the senate“.

No argument here.

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CPSIA – Perhaps Mark Pryor is Detrimental to the American Public

CPSIA – Senate Dems Try to Line up Against Pompeo Amendment

Senator Jay Rockefeller issued a press release today to slam the Pompeo Amendment de-funding the CPSIA database. Mr. Rockefeller apparently feels that the legitimate concerns of American manufacturers and retailers pale against the need for consumers to make product judgments based on unfiltered hearsay, lies and nonsense:

“’This database will provide important safety information to American consumers,’ Chairman Rockefeller added. ‘A mother will be able to check the CPSC database to see if there are complaints about a crib model. A young couple will be able to see if a certain microwave has a history of safety complaints or if there are complaints about a coffee maker shorting and causing fires. I will fight this ill-informed proposal to undermine such an important consumer protection tool. It’s a bad idea and a bum deal for American consumers.’” [Emphasis added]

Consumers will also be able to decide to stop driving Toyotas because of accusations borne of driver error, or drop DryMax diapers over discredited claims of diaper rash.

True story – last year, stopped at a stop light, my car was gently rear-ended by an elderly lady driving a Toyota. As I approached her car after inspecting the minimal damage, she expressed “shock” at the accident and informed me that it was “sudden acceleration” just like in the newspapers. Who could see such a calamity coming? I noticed a little dog on her lap, jumping up and down, trying to get out of the window to sniff me. Let’s just say that I didn’t immediately side with her “explanation” of the accident. Nice doggy! That incident could have been reported under the current terms of the new database (were it a consumer product). Who would pay the price for that kind of baloney assertion? The manufacturer – with no defenses whatsoever.

Nothing surprises me anymore BUT Senator Rockefeller’s denials fly in the face of House testimony given on February 17th, not to mention the outpouring of testimony, data and legitimate procedural complaints by industry. In the hearing on the 17th, Inez Tenenbaum ADMITTED that the agency will be posting information that may be inaccurate or false. To quote Ms. Tenenbaum, “that’s what the rub is”.

I cannot overstate how frustrating it is (remains) to see Democrats stick to the script notwithstanding data and testimony that directly undercuts their position (and their credibility). Either they think we are morons, or else they must believe the government is something SEPARATE AND ABOVE the people. President Lincoln took a different view, stating in the Gettysburg Address:

“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

It is hard for me to believe Mr. Rockefeller believes what Mr. Lincoln instructed on that day. The testimony on the database is not a farce, and our concerns are legitimate. If the concerns for consumers are actually so urgent, why not hit the “pause button” to fix the issues affecting those of us stubbornly trying to provide jobs in this country? Talk to the Pompeo staff – they want to FIX the database, not kill it. Is it really necessary to trash the economy out of pure stubbornness?

The time to genuflect to the holy CPSIA and its misguided almost-unanimous passage through Congress is OVER. Senator Rockefeller, please pay attention to the legitimate needs of those who provide JOBS to your constituents and de-fund the CPSIA database until it can be fixed. You represent the many millions of people who are still working in this country, too. It’s time to remember EVERYBODY’S interest in this matter, not just the left edge of the left wing.

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CPSIA – Senate Dems Try to Line up Against Pompeo Amendment

CPSIA – Washington Times Lashes Out at Database

In an editorial in today’s Washington Times, the paper railed against the CPSIA database. Says the Washington Times:

“The Republican-led House of Representatives is fighting back against big-money plaintiffs’ attorneys who use campaign cash to control congressional Democrats. . . . [The database is] an open invitation for competitors or interest groups to destroy a product’s reputation – and sales – without proof. It’s also a major come-on to trial lawyers eager to file class-action suits. Attorneys could tell juries that publication on an official government website is evidence that allegations have weight.”

Perhaps the Washington Times should talk to Cheryl Falvey. She’d tell them not to worry, it’s just a “complaints” database . . . but that’s the rub, isn’t it?

The paper carries on: “Previous bogus consumer scares . . . show the dangers of letting unsubstantiated allegations gain premature credibility. The CPSC database would add to the mischief trial lawyers could cause with spurious lawsuits.”

The big question is – will the Dems abandon their plaintiff lawyer patrons when faced with the LEGITIMATE CONCERNS of industry – or will they sell American business down the river and kill yet more jobs with a further expansion of the government’s reach into our lives?

Please write your Senators and demand their support to de-fund the database!

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CPSIA – Washington Times Lashes Out at Database

CPSIA – Write the Senate to Stop the Database!

The AAFA has created an easy way to send emails to your Senators to encourage them to support the House’s effort to de-fund the CPSIA database until it is fixed. Please click on this link and let your voice be heard in Washington!

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CPSIA – Write the Senate to Stop the Database!

CPSIA – It’s Time To Feel Safe – We’re SAVED!

The Virginia Baker Graeme Pool and Spa Safety Act was designed to prevent a particularly gruesome death that tragically afflicted 11 people over ten years, including the young grandchild of James Baker, former Secretary of State. For the math-addled, that’s one pool drain entrapment death per year in our country of 300 million (I assume some Senators are reading this blog). For perspective, my subversive friend Lenore Skenazy notes that five Americans die from venomous spider bites each year. [Ironically, I was able to find a video of Senators Durbin and Klobuchar teaming up to kill a spider - to keep you safe!]

There is another pool safety “risk” that the two esteemed Senators did not come to the CPSC to discuss – drownings. Any idea how many of THOSE there might be? Quite a few, it turns out. Commissioner Anne Northup notes that CPSC death statistics for 1999-2006 (seven years) account for a mere 27, 514 drownings, or 3,439 per year. 6,685 of these drownings occurred to children 14 and under, or 836 per year. Let’s see, 836 drowned kids each year, divided by 365 days, that;s more than two dead kids per day. At least that’s less than the almost TEN AMERICANS THAT DROWN EVERY DAY.

But I don’t want to be accused of misusing statistics. Fun statistics can prove almost anything if you yank and twist hard enough. Just ask Dr. Dana Best! The CPSC acknowledges that only some of those kid deaths come in a pool or spa: “From 2005-2007 there was an annual average of 385 pool and spa-related drownings for children younger than 15; about 78 percent, or 299, of these children were younger than five. From 2007-2009, there were an estimated average of 4,200 pool or spa emergency department-treated submersions for children younger than 15; and children between the ages of 12 to 35 months represented 47 percent of estimated injuries for these years.” That’s almost one dead kid under five every day of the year and 5-6 serious injuries for kids under three every day. EVERY DAY.

I am just panicked about pool drains . . . .

No wonder the Senators are so worried about the $20 pool drains. It’s a national crisis.

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CPSIA – It’s Time To Feel Safe – We’re SAVED!

CPSIA – Chicago Tribune and Dick Durbin Show Us How to Create a Crisis

On the morning of February 7, my dog brought in the Chicago Tribune and I almost asked him to take it back to the driveway. Blaring at me was the front page headline”Danger lurks in pool, spa drains“. This article was a monster – an entire page (all five columns). Apparently alerted by a “tipster”, a Tribune “investigation” discovered that some pool drains designed to meet the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool & Spa Safety Act (part of the CPSIA) requirements had apparently failed certain lab tests. Notably, there have been no reported injuries as a result of this “defect”, although one manufacturer asked dealers to return stock for replacement “out of an abundance of caution”.

Why does no injuries merit a full page article? The story continues. . . .

Senator Durbin of the great state of Illinois must have read the same article, because he immediately sent a letter to the CPSC alerting them to this hazard. More precisely, alerting them to this article. I am picturing him dropping his toast in horror. What an efficient clipping service. [Two words for the Senator: "Google Alerts".] His obvious and immediate concern are commendable, if you consider reading a newspaper article adequate due diligence for one of our nation’s leaders. Mr. Durbin notes the outcome of his intensive research (reading the newspaper): “This appears to have allowed dangerous drain covers to continue being sold and distributed. The issues highlighted by the Tribune story are very concerning and raise serious questions, not only about dangerous drains but also about accreditation of testing facilities on products generally.”

Next, the Tribune duly reported that Senator Durbin had performed his clipping service for the CPSC, thereby “legitimizing” their investigation. Case closed! The Chicago Tribune to the rescue. . . .

The Tribune must be right if Dick Durbin drops everything to send a letter . . . right?

Ummm, well, let’s take a deeper look. [It's possible Durbin only read the headline. That's enough, right?] The Tribune investigation was started by a “tip”. Someone with an interest in the drains and their effectiveness. Who might that be? I don’t know myself, but there are rumors. We need not speculate on the rumors but we can certainly look at the article itself. In the article, the Tribune quotes an “expert” on pool drains, Paul Pennington. Did you know there was such a thing as a pool drain expert? Mr. Pennington intones: “Some child is going to die.” And he’s an expert! Sounds bad, very bad.

Mr. Pennington is Chairman of the Pool Safety Council. The Tribune notes: “Paul Pennington, chairman of the nonprofit Pool Safety Council, said he has sent 73 e-mails to CPSC and standards officials, pleading with them to do something about unsafe drain covers since the new law took effect in December 2008.” What a guy, tirelessly fighting for innocent children.

But who is the Pool Safety Council? The Tribune explains: “His group is largely funded by the makers of devices that shut off a pool’s pump when a dangerous vacuum forms, like a circuit breaker turns off power when it senses an overload.” In fact, Mr. Pennington is the President of Vac-Alert Industries, Inc. Hey, here’s another “shocker” – Vac-Alert has patents on vacuum alerts used in pools (patent no. 6,591,863 and 5,991,939).

Conflict of interest? Nah! The Tribune again: “Why did Pennington think the covers were dangerous? As soon as the new drain covers hit the market in 2008, pool owners who had vacuum-release devices complained that their pumps were turning off after they installed the covers. Pennington, who owns a stake in a vacuum-release system company, investigated and concluded that the new covers were allowing the hazardous suction forces they were supposed to prevent. Pennington said his concerns were ignored by the federal government and by the standards committee that writes the testing rules for the drain covers. That committee consists mostly of people who work in the pool and spa business.”

Hmmm. So you have a newspaper trying to sell papers by “saving” the populace, an entrepreneur who is leading the “fight” over pool drains with patented technology ready to replace those drains, an ambitious local politician interested in making headlines while supporting the hometown paper that helped elect him, and what do you get? The feeding frenzy that gave birth to the CPSIA. Everyone’s a winner . . . except for the businesses and markets caught in the middle.

Makes you anxious to vote again, doesn’t it?

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CPSIA – Chicago Tribune and Dick Durbin Show Us How to Create a Crisis

GUEST BLOG – Congressional Office of Compliance Confirms: Congress is Dangerous to Your Health

Okay conspiracy theorists. Do you think the Capitol Hill newspaper Politico held this story until Rick was out of town? In a front page story today “Dangers on the Hill” Politico reported that Congress’ Office of Compliance have found an estimated 6,300 safety hazards that are “potentially fatal or could leave victims with serious injuries.”

That’s right, Congress is dangerous to your health.

Here are some of the juiciest excerpts from the story. In Rick’s honor, we provide commentary after each excerpt, Woldenberg style:

“Workplace safety experts say that if Congress were a private-sector business, it would be at risk for massive fines from government regulators.” (oh, the irony!)

“But Congress has exempted itself from key parts of federal workplace law.” (Without even proving it was impracticatable for Mr. Waxman to comply?)

“…the latest study offers arresting detail. Investigators estimate there are 1,742 electrical hazards, 1,058 fire-safety hazards, 102 storage shelving issues, 61 first-aid emergency-care lapses and 70 machine-guarding problems, to name a few found so far.” (Hey, no lead violations?)


The report divides the hazards into categories, with some more routine and others potentially life threatening. (Wait a minute, that sounds like risk assessment!)

“Furthermore, the report makes clear that the hazards may prove dangerous to Capitol Hill visitors, including constituents and lobbyists.” (in other words, visiting Congress is hazardous to….people)

“This measure was inspired by that year’s new Republican majority and some Democrats who were aggrieved by what they saw as supreme hypocrisy: Congress and regulatory agencies imposed all manner of rules on the private sector and the states through laws such as the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act, but lawmakers themselves did not have to obey those rules.” (Can anyone think of another law that they could have included – hint –it rhymes with SHEE SHPEE SHESH SHI SHAY)

The compliance office cannot issue investigative subpoenas to Congress and its entities, even to seek information that could solve a workplace hazard. (Call in the AGs!)

Whistleblower protections for staffers who report hazards are essentially nonexistent, leaving aides responsible for their own litigation costs if they are fired or an office retaliates against them. (C’mon, the Onion couldn’t write a better article – oh the hypocrisy!)

“It’s hard to defend Congress when things are this bad,” said Center for Progressive Reform board member Sidney Shapiro, … But if Congress is going to insist on running its own safety regime, then it ought to do it the right way.” (Are we sure they’re not talking about CPSIA?)

“Congress faces a major challenge in trying to fund fire- and life-safety projects, historical preservation and deferred maintenance campuswide, all within very limited resources,” said a congressional aide familiar with the blue-ribbon panel. (Hey, they told us safety at any cost – even if the costs don’t improve safety)

“On the upside, a number of offices have become more proactive about protecting safety by voluntarily requesting inspections ahead of the compliance office’s regular schedule; 154 offices in the 111th Congress achieved hazard-free status. “Over the years, we’ve found that working cooperatively with employing offices to reduce hazardous conditions in the Capitol complex can be more effective than a confrontational approach. The statistics bear this out by showing remarkable progress in reducing hazards.” [Working cooperatively? What a novel idea! Nah, we say use the CPSIA model – enforce, enforce, enforce, treat every risk equally, discourage cooperation and levy huge fines!]

We couldn’t make this stuff up. To read the entire article for yourself, click here. (warning it’s about 1800 words).

Posted by the Alliance for Children’s Product Safety Staff

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GUEST BLOG – Congressional Office of Compliance Confirms: Congress is Dangerous to Your Health

CPSIA – Why the Waxman Amendment MUST BE REJECTED

As we face the dilemma of what to do about the Waxman Amendment 2.0, I want to point out recent quotes by Sam Zell, a Chicago-based real estate entrepreneur. At a recent panel discussion of the Urban Land Institute, Mr. Zell bemoaned how our federal government governs these days: “[What's] going on now is frightening . . . Up until this administration, you knew the rules and had a very stable environment . . . If the current situation is indicative of the next half century, I think we’re screwed.”

Screwed. Mr. Zell’s words ring in my ears.

In the wake of Friday’s contentious meeting with the Waxmanis on Capitol Hill, the Dems announced that a new draft of the Waxman Amendment 2.0 would be released on Monday. In their usual bullying style, Waxman staff issued yet another ultimatum, advising this time that after release of that next draft, we all must “decide” whether or not to support the amendment. If we won’t support it, they say they have better things to do.

The meeting produced no breakthroughs. The fundamental flaws in the law remain unaddressed, and meager goodies meant to partially salve the wounds of a limited number of companies remain the focus of the legislation. The goal of this legislation is to split the group protesting this law, peeling off the ATV’rs, the book industry, the crafters and mass market retailers. None of these groups is a clear winner, either. The rest of us, namely the Small Business community, will be left as roadkill.

A request by the ranking Republican for hearings was rejected on the grounds that there has been too much “jawboning” already. We are apparently all Chatty Cathies. Shame on us.

This reasoning behind the limited intent of the legislation was on display at this week’s Senate Appropriations Committee hearing attended by Illinois’ own Senator Dick Durbin and Maine’s Senator Susan Collins with only one witness, CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum. Don’t watch the hearing on a full stomach . . . . Among other things confirmed by this hearing was that the functional purpose exemption embedded in Waxman Amendment is supposed to benefit a “narrow class” of products (in the words of Ms. Tenenbaum), namely bikes, ATVs and books. Lucky them.

Sadly, the hearing also confirmed the bizarre impression held by members of Congress that the small business issues are limited to crafters, for some reason a particular source of angst. Our company happens to also be a small business, although we no longer operate out of a bedroom or a garage – and we face major issues caused by this law. While I share concern for the tiniest of enterprises, the economic problems don’t end there. In the words of the Chicago City Treasurer Stephanie Neely: “We are truly an economy of small businesses. And it’s important that they thrive. They do a lot of employing. . . on a day-to-day basis, these are people who are employing one, ten, thirty people, and and it’s important that we help them.” Oh yeah, jobs.

The Waxman Amendment should be REJECTED until comprehensive legislation to fix the law is brought to the floor. If we let them pass this law, organized resistance to this law will be greatly diminished, and any opportunity to restore a sensible rule of law may be lost . . . permanently.

Consider the consequences if this amendment is passed:

- Our national safety law has changed from risk-based to standards-based. Mindlessly focused on lines in the sand, the new law’s definition of safety has been completely rubbed out. Without this compass, the world of safety has become an unpredictable, unstable random walk. The Senate hearing included (incredibly) a rehashing of the “dangers” posed by Zhu Zhu Pets, the need for BPA recalls, the potential risk posed by triclosan and the CPSC’s ability and interest in initiating recalls for these “dangers”. Given that we no longer can figure out what’s safe and what’s not, every possible threat brings up discussion of recalls.

Try to run a business under conditions like that.

The risk of this reactive form of government CANNOT BE OVERSTATED. On April 13, Representative Edward Markey proudly sent out letters to 13 companies demanding that they stop using the antibacterial compound triclosan. The list of targets was almost certainly supplied to him by consumer groups. Mr. Markey, for all his power, is not a regulatory agency and does not have authority, resources or expertise to act as a regulator and his consumer group buddies are also not empowered to regulate our markets (thankfully). He is only a Congressman (up for reelection in November, btw). However, nowadays, that’s apparently enough to regulate. I would not want to receive such a letter. I also do not cotton to this style of government.

- The complexity and volume of safety law being spewed out is truly breathtaking and overwhelming. I literally cannot keep up anymore. i can’t read it all, watch it all, digest it all or even write comment letters. [Unfortunately, I still have job responsibilities, too.] On a recent Friday, the CPSC expelled almost 600 pages of new rules – and they were IMPORTANT. They included the new so-called 15 Month Rule – have you read it yet? This 100+ page rule has been written to control children’s products as though we were merchants of death. We are not. The April 15 hearing to review this regulatory morsel was a mere five hours long, so lengthy that the CPSC has only posted one hour of the fun so far. Ironically, this hearing wasn’t broadcast live, as it conflicted with broadcast of the first meeting of phthalates CHAP. Can’t broadcast two mega-hearings at once.

Do you get it yet?

By my reckoning, the rules applicable to generic children’s products is now nearing 2500 pages. If you take into account childcare items and other ancillary matters, the number of pages is probably well in excess of 3000 pages. We are clearly heading to a place where the rules total many thousands of pages. And WHY are there so many rules? It has nothing to do with actual safety. The injuries (one) and deaths (one) from lead in 2007/8, the highest outbreak of recalls in our history, were simply nominal for a country 300 million people.

In any event, you are going to have to know and bear the risk of ALL of those rules. And the new rules keep coming, very often overruling the rules you already mastered. For those you who are tempted to support Mr. Waxman’s Amendment, please THINK about this.

- When the CPSC is done with its rulemaking, it is going into enforcement mode. That was a clear message of Ms. Tenenbaum’s testimony in front of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Her Compliance initiative will feature another 41 employees at a cost of $4,7 million to catch you violating rules. In addition, the resources of the existing agency will also shift to catching you. If you have read any of my writings about penalties, perhaps you can figure out what that means.

Bottom line, having divorced their mission from common sense or any notion of risk, the CPSC built an ornate and truly incomprehensible set of safety rules that even mega-corporations have admitted exceeds their capacity to manage. For small businesses, not merely the home crafters, compliance will be simply impossible. If those businesses are unable to understand the rules or afford to comply (while staying in business), they won’t be able to follow them, and if the agency is bent on catching them, well, the results will be grim.

If you can’t see this coming – my friend, you are blind.

The Testing and Certification stay ends on February 10, 2010. Don’t expect this Commission to extend it again. The meter is running.

IF you support the Waxman Amendment because you really want the meager relief they are dangling, you will be conceding that you are prepared to endure what I have described. You are not ready for that, and you know it. Support for revising the bill comprehensibly will be greatly diminished at the same time, and even our most steadfast supporters in Congress will give up on us.

As painful as it may seem, you MUST decline to support this legislation. We must, as a community, insist on a true fix, one that addresses the real problems caused by the CPSIA. Nothing short of a total fix will suffice. The ornate rules needs to be simplified and refocused on real issues. The needless self-destructive imposition of blinding costs needs to be reversed. Excessive bureaucratic processes and exemptions only for big industries and big companies must end.

NOTHING that I am suggesting will or should amount to a retrenchment in safety for children or anyone else. It is no “free pass” for industry, whatever that might mean. It is simply means a return to sanity.

That may be too much to ask for this Congress or this Commission. I am not optimistic. Make me a believer this week – REJECT THE WAXMAN AMENDMENT.

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CPSIA – Why the Waxman Amendment MUST BE REJECTED

CPSIA – Regulation by Newspaper Headline

There was once a time when newspaper headlines did not immediately become law. Those golden days are seemingly a hazy memory, to judge from the swift and judgmental reaction to a recent AP story on cadmium in children’s jewelry.

PLEASE NOTE – This essay is not a defense of cadmium. That’s becoming a tiresome objection, frankly. Cadmium is bad, okay? Back to the story . . . .

The AP story, backed up by test reports that AP will apparently not release, prompted Senator Chuck Schumer to introduce legislation on Wednesday, two days later, to “stop it cold”. After an equally lengthy deliberation and careful consideration of the flimsy facts of this case, Chairman Inez Tenenbaum of the CPSC made this astounding announcement today:

“Because of these recent developments, I have a message for parents, grandparents and caregivers: Do not allow young children to be given or to play with cheap metal jewelry, especially when they are unsupervised.”

Whoa! Tenenbaum is saying that consumers should boycott ALL “cheap” metal jewelry now? Is she trying to put Claire’s Boutique and countless thousands of other small companies out of business entirely, all because of the unconfirmed accusations of an AP reporter about a handful of pieces of jewelry from a tiny number of sources? Within 48 hours, too? I think that’s irresponsible.

Yes, it’s irresponsible, but that’s the way this populist government of reactive politicians wants to govern. The Obamites are apparently shocked to discover that anything ever goes wrong, and if they ever find a single fly in the ointment, they then assume they are facing a broad scale assault. Hence, the immediate action to implement bans and cessations of trade.

Stop it cold, indeed – but what exactly is being stopped? Trade. Jobs. Futures.

Even worse, frankly, is the notion that this problem must be “solved” by legislation. While Senator Schumer was simply doing the usual, pandering for votes, where is it written that this problem is best resolved by Congressional action? [Let's put aside the niggling detail that some further assessment of the nature of this "dire" threat is appropriate before we take ANY action whatsoever.] Apparently, Mr. Schumer believes it’s his job to fix this problem and that in the absence of his decisive action, the rest of the government would fall on its face.

Umm, well, we used to have a federal agency for this very task, the CPSC. Okay kids, gather ’round, let me tell you about a long ago time when the CPSC has actual authority to assess risk and depending on its independent judgment, was entitled to draft and implement rules governing safety in the marketplace. Wasn’t that a wonderful time, kids?! Well, not anymore. Nowadays, apparently only Congress can exercise judgment. And that judgment is best exercised without the use of any scientific advice or reliance on the agency charged with the responsibility for safety administration.

Courtesy of the CPSIA, the CPSC is now a bureaucracy designed to serve the will of the politicians – determining what is safe (and what is not) is not their primary job anymore. Congress has no use for Ph.D.s or other people that actually understand science. With folks running the show like Chuck Schumer who apparently believe that an AP story is a perfect substitute for expert advice, there is no need for the CPSC to do anything other than fuel panic for Congress to assuage. Hence Ms. Tenenbaum’s shocking announcement today.

This is completely wrongheaded and will damage markets almost immediately. It’s all the more amazing because we have been here before, and paid the price with two years of chaos, misery and pain. The lessons of the CPSIA apparently weren’t learned, and to judge from the knee-jerk reaction to the AP story, it appears unlikely that this group of politicians (Democrats) and administrators are capable of ever mastering them.

Remember, I think cadmium is bad. But bad is no justification for legislation or rulemaking on the fly. This is not a sudden and life-threatening crisis. This metal, while undesirable, was probably in the market for years, all without poisoning large swaths of American children. The story of the little boy in Minnesota who swallowed a jewerly bangle and died (monotonously repeated by Senator Amy Klobuchar and now by Inez Tenenbaum), sad as it is, should be retired. I have no interest in seeing the children’s product industry put out to pasture just because of one accident.

Someday I hope we can restore some sense of proportion and restraint in safety administration. It can be done. . . .

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CPSIA – Regulation by Newspaper Headline

CPSIA – Eroding Trust in Our Leaders

The CPSIA spectacle over the past two years of Democratic leadership in Congress has been a sign of the times, something that revealed basic problems with these new stewards of our futures. Not only have the Democrats alone stood up against altering the CPSIA, the source of well-documented misery and phantom benefits, but they have ruled with an iron fist in an attempt to suffocate opposition. Please note that for two years, Congress under the leadership of Californians Henry Waxman and Nancy Pelosi has successfully resisted having a hearing about this law with stakeholder witnesses who could shed light on the problems (rather than the joke of hearing last Fall featuring one witness, a newly-appointed Party-loyalist Chairman of the CPSC). The message control and forum management has been revolting. Despite the fact that these folks work for us, there seems to be NOTHING we can do about this sham process.

Readers of this blog are well-aware of the mounting ANGER over this astounding indifference to facts the awful CPSIA and our suffering. The latest low point engineered by Democrats is the Commission’s failure to approve public discussion of the recommended changes to the CPSIA, a report due next Friday. This is no small issue – read my post from yesterday for a summary of legal changes necessary to restore sanity to safety administration in children’s products – yet the Dems apparently feel discussion of these issues in front of you might somehow limit their discretion. Huh? It is very tempting to believe that handlers from Congress (Guess Who) have given strict instructions to the Dem Commissioners that there will be NO public debate of these issues. And there won’t.

These blows to our faith in government raises serious questions of character. Leadership is accountable to the American public. A failure to operate openly and with an open mind is intolerable. People will not forget.

I understand that bipartisan meetings between Congressional staffers and the CPSC have been cancelled or postponed until the report is issued. Furthermore, I believe that Mr. Waxman is already circulating new language for his amendment redux quietly, sans hearing or public discussion. Connect the dots – the Democrats have decided what the report will say (they have the votes to ram it through), it has been pre-approved by Guess Who (which means it will not fix the CPSIA because the Dems on the Hill don’t care about our little problems) and a public discussion between Commissioners is pointless. As the self-appointed Prince of “Darkness”, Bob Adler, put it, “I think the positions at this point are pretty firmly set.” Right – set by Guess Who. Discussion in public will only embarrass the Dems on the Commission – they are only allowed to read from the script and will be unable to defend loopy positions without looking loopy themselves.

If all of this has not fully eroded trust in these folks, let’s not forget that we are not living in a vacuum. The behavior of the Dems on other issues is part of the milieu. These same “leaders” are making other messes for us to regard, such as Harry Reid’s “apology” for incredibly racist remarks about Obama’s skin color and “dialect”. OMG, can you believe the shamelessness? The Dems made everything nicey-nice by Obama and Al Sharpton forgiving Reid’s “poor choice of words”. Please, you can’t say something like that without thinking it, and if you think it, you are a bigot. Plain and simple. No apology will cover up this disgusting fact. ANY person in a minority will tell you that prejudice is deeply rooted, and no apology will rid the system of that poison. Reid’s apology rings rather hollow to me. And he’s the voice of the Dems in the Senate.

And then there’s health care. To protect you, Mr. Obama and the jackals crying out for health care reform have insisted on taxing “Cadillac” health care plans. This sounds “bad”, right – like someone’s getting something they don’t deserve, all at your expense. More benefits for “fat cats”, right? A great sound bite for the saviors to make their case . . . .

That’s what Obama and the other Democratic do-gooders are all about, making things fair for “regular” Americans, isn’t it? Well, Fortune Magazine has a different slant on this critical term in the Obamacare plan – namely, that the tax on so-called “Cadillac” plans will mainly punish the elderly. Why? Well, here’s a shocker, more expensive health care is generally health care delivered to sicker populations, like older Americans. Here’s an example of a plan that crosses the Cadillac boundary: “Now to Medicare — no Cadillac plan — which will spend about $510 billion this year to cover fewer than 46 million people. That’s more than $11,000 a person, well over the Cadillac threshold of $9,850 for single retirees 55 and up. And that’s without counting Medigap coverage (for which I have no numbers), which would send the average higher.” Right – Medicare, the health plan for older Americans.

I am sick of the misleading messaging, the manipulation, the indifference, the obstruction of this crop of Democrats. I have no idea if the CPSC Democratic leadership will rise to the occasion and do the right thing or whether the House and Senator Democrats will wake up to the terrible mess they made and take the appropriate steps to fix it or whether (as seems likely) the fix is in and we are cooked, but this much I DO know – I am sick of this treatment. I cannot support this kind of leadership and cannot abide by it.

The Democrats have made this mess entirely themselves. No one forced them to be so deaf and so indifferent. No one required their arrogance, high-handedness or insensitivity to the misery that they caused. When November 2 comes around and the American people exact their revenge, the party leadership will have no one to blame but themselves.

I look forward to that day.

Read more here:
CPSIA – Eroding Trust in Our Leaders

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