CPSIA – Hey Republicans, You Aren’t Allowed to Think!

During the July 7th House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Oversight Subcommittee hearing on regulatory reform among independent agencies (a hearing which presumably prompted Obama’s Executive Order two business days later), Ranking Member Diana DeGette (D-CO) trotted out one of the most common arguments against change: “I want to talk . . . about the recent proposals on the other side of the aisle that would undermine the Consumer Product Safety Commission and some of the other good work that they’ve done.  Three years ago, this Committee and this Congress worked hard in a significantly bipartisan manner to put meaningful reforms for consumers into the [CPSIA].  This has yielded unbelievable benefits. . . . So I think it’s important to know this, that these reforms were worked out by this Committee in one of the last great efforts that was completely bipartisan.  We should embrace that.” This is a familiar argument by Dems.  The law passed almost unanimously, guys, so it’s wrong to try to change the law now.  What logical point is DeGette making here?  How is this argument supposed to persuade us? At first, I thought the Dems were simply arguing the infallibility of Congress.  Congress never errs, so how can we doubt something every Congressman voted for?  Congress is all-knowing and cannot pass a bill without doing the right thing.  [And as Obamacare indicates, Congress apparently doesn't even need to read the bills to get them right.] To argue that this law is a product of infallible judgment is quite a leap.  Even the unanimity of the law hardly explains the mental state of Congress at the time.  Congress was ANGRY.  Have you ever said or done anything in anger you later regretted?  ‘Nuf said. No, an infallible Congress cannot be what Ms. DeGette is pushing.  Actually, I think it’s far simpler.  She is saying that the Dems were right and are still right and have no need or interest in changing their position.  She points out that the two parties agreed on the law’s text in 2008 and passed it almost unanimously.  Now the Republicans want to make serious changes.  She says the Republicans should return to their bipartisan brothers, the Dems, and support the work they did three years ago.  She essentially calls into question the motivation of the Republicans in opposing the Dems now, suggesting that this is a by-product of a broken Washington, where partisan posturing is all we can expect from these people. At the heart of her reasoning is the fact that the Dems are holding their course behind the law, and the Republicans have moved, and now she wants the Republicans to be more “bipartisan” by returning dutifully to agreement with the unwavering Dems.  Or is it the intransigent Dems?  A matter of perspective, I suppose.  Come back to the fold with the Dems!  DeGette’s argument relieves the Dems of any obligation to reconsider ANYTHING.  How convenient.  How Waxman-like. Here’s something the Dems won’t tell you – the law was jammed down the throats of the Republicans in both Houses of Congress.  Congress was controlled by Nancy Pelosi at the time (she of San Francisco, of course).  The CPSIA was purpose-built for getting Democrats elected and was not negotiated with the Republicans in any sense you would recognize.  On the national stage, the Obama wave was cresting at that time, too, so what do you think the political calculation was in the Bush White House and in the Minority ranks in either House on the CPSIA?  The Republicans knew that any opposition to any aspect of this law, regardless of how awful, would mean attack TV commercials on support for children’s safety at a time of great electoral vulnerability. Bush agreed to sign the bill to protect his party, not to protect kids.  At least it neutralized a possibly existential political threat.  Each Republican Congressman or Senator had to make a similar political calculation.  Only four people (Ron Paul and three Senators) were politically courageous enough to stand up against this excessive bill.  It is certain that far more than four members of Congress found fault with the CPSIA at the time.  The 2008 “great bipartisan effort” that DeGette romanticizes is an urban legend, a fiction, a fairy tale, a story.  She wants to cow the Republicans into losing their political nerve at this critical juncture when some kind of momentum behind our position may actually be growing.  She wants them to think ballot box. And for those of you who pepper me with defense of Dems or reminders of past Republican “sins”, all I can say is this:  the Republicans have nothing to gain politically from their three-year effort to right this wrong.  They are taking electoral risks to help us, and have been unwavering in their support of our mission. I can only believe that this is because they actually are trying to do the right thing.  This has never been about policy or safety. The Republicans know that this issue has been played for political gain by the Dems with no remorse over the devastation they have wrought to your businesses, your markets or job creation.  For them, it’s just too juicy an opportunity to get reelected.  And if that’s so, it must be the reverse for the Republicans. The Republicans are taking this risk on your behalf, for your benefit. I hope there’s a nice occasion to say “thank you”.  In the meantime, the likes of Diana DeGette must be vanquished.

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CPSIA – Hey Republicans, You Aren’t Allowed to Think!

CPSIA – The Cost of Government Regulation Examined

I recommend that you check out Wayne Crews’ article in Forbes dated July 6 entitled ” The Cost of Government Regulation “. This article predates the recent House Oversight hearing or the Obama Executive Order on Independent Agencies and Regulatory Reform. Mr. Crews cites regulatory costs in excess of $1 trillion for this excess ($1.4 trillion for the self-destructive overreaction to Enron, Sarbanes-Oxley alone). Costs of this magnitude makes cost-benefit analysis something of joke. He notes: “Agencies think within their squares and have conflicts of interest in assessing their own benefits. Regulators can ignore the opportunity costs and moral hazard they create. Even now they are in the process of distorting entire industry structures via limiting access to energy, antitrust regulatory abuse and “net neutrality” rules in telecommunications and government “stimulus” with regulatory strings attached.” Enough already!!!

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CPSIA – The Cost of Government Regulation Examined

CPSIA – Letter to CPSC re Executive Order on Regulatory Review

President Obama issued an  Executive Order yesterday instructing the CPSC to institute “retrospective analysis of rules that may be outmoded, ineffective, insufficient, or excessively burdensome, and to modify, streamline, expand, or repeal them in accordance with what has been learned.”   Notably, the order specifies “allowing interested members of the public to have a meaningful opportunity to participate in rulemaking”. In the White House blog announcing the Executive Order, Inez Tenenbaum is quoted as follows:   “Earlier this year, I directed agency staff to reinvigorate CPSC’s voluntary review process, which is intended to look at ways to maximize openness and public participation, and effectively review substantive regulations that may require revision, repeal, or strengthening . . . . I believe this approach is consistent with President Obama’s call for a sensible and streamlined regulatory system that is protective of public health and safety, and I look forward to working with the President and Congress, as appropriate, as our review process moves forward.” As you know, I have participated in CPSC public forums numerous times in the last three years, in addition to testifying before a House subcommittee twice on the CPSIA.  I have testified at the CPSC at least five times by my count, several times at the invitation/request of the agency.  I have done so at my expense.  In each case, I believe my testimony was disregarded.  My positions on the CPSIA have been publicly documented, principally in my blog which I know you read.  My positions have been consistent and backed up by data open to anyone’s review.   Now that the CPSC is subject to an Executive Order demanding real public input, I call on the agency to break with its past of disregarding inconvenient opinions or those that may subvert a political agenda, and allow the public to participate MEANINGFULLY in this critical process.  Those of us who have attempted to stop the CPSIA train wreck have been thoroughly marginalized by a process that uses us to create an impression of public dialogue without actually taking any meaningful feedback or adjusting any preexisting plans.  The President did not order the agency to provide a public forum for VENTING.  He has ordered the CPSC to afford the public a “meaningful opportunity to participate in rulemaking”.   To me, the Executive Order means that when we present reasoned arguments with actual data, the agency has NO OPTION other than to listen and take into account our views.  There is nothing in the Executive Order that indicates that consumer groups speak for the public or should be accorded extra weight in your deliberations, nor that manufacturers are somehow excluded from the group considered to be “the public”. It is time to recognize the legitimacy of the views of those of us who create much-needed jobs.    With that in mind, I call your attention to a blogpost I wrote on cost/benefit analysis of CPSC decisions and policies under the CPSIA.  Please see my post ” Do Accidents Happen? ” dated June 29th.  In this post, I explain that, as a matter of accepted economic theory and legal theory, the policies and decisions of the CPSC in the wake of the CPSIA have crossed the line into inefficiency and bad public policy.  This is PRECISELY the issue that the President has charged  the agency with investigating and resolving.  Speaking as a business owner in the field of children’s products, I can assure you that time is of the essence.  Every day counts at this point  as the cumulative impact of three years of CPSIA duress has taken a terrible economic toll with virtually no identifiable public health benefit. Writing a law with noble intentions does not ensure that it will be good law or one that benefits society.  In the case of the CPSIA, the issue has never been “What price safety?”  A failure to effectively enforce the law prior to the CPSIA never constituted a need for new safety rules anymore that a failure to enforce traffic laws means that we need lower speed limits.  New approaches to enforcement, perhaps, but new standards, no.  The question today is “What price survival”? Businesses and markets have been punished mercilessly in service of the CPSIA but to what end? President Obama’s order comes after years of public outrage over regulatory excesses and significantly, was issued shortly after a House Oversight hearing featuring two CPSC Commissioners examining the question of economy inefficiency in rulemaking.  I fully believe that the agency can never fix this mess without taking a strong stance on real CPSIA reform. The CPSIA took away the agency’s right to assess risk, not its ABILITY to assess risk.  This is a truly counterintuitive approach to safety, as safety is all about risk management.  There is no logic to this approach which sadly renders the expert opinions of the CPSCs legions of Ph.D.s meaningless at critical junctures for my market.  I am frustrated, to put it mildly, that ALL CPSC Commissioners do not regularly protest this subversion of process and responsibility.  This problem is at the core of the issue with the CPSIA and should be offensive to Democrats and Republicans alike.  The failure of any Commissioner to demand the right to exercise his/her honest judgment is akin to acknowledging that they do not trust themselves to act prudently and in the interest of the public.  Do the Commissioners really believe that taking away their authority is necessary to ensure sound decision-making?  That reasoning never worked with my teenagers.   Resolving the issues that the President has ordered the CPSC to examine will certainly require the exercise of judgment.  It is inescapable that the Commission must be prepared to deliver this unpleasant news to Congress for better or worse.   I look forward to a meaningful public process investigating these issues, and pledge my support and engagement in this process. I want to be helpful but ask in return that the agency turn over a new leaf and let rational arguments supported with data influence outcomes in CPSIA rulemakings and policies. Please do not hesitate to contact me with your comments and questions.  Thank you for considering my views on this important subject. Respectfully, Richard Woldenberg Chairman Learning Resources, Inc. Vernon Hills, Illinois

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CPSIA – Letter to CPSC re Executive Order on Regulatory Review

CPSIA – Functional Purpose Exception Is All About Dollars Now

The purported Functional Purpose Exception in the last draft of ECADA is unavailable to all but the largest and most well-funded of corporate supplicants.  Is it even THAT good? Let’s start with the premise that the holding by the CPSC Staff that it is “technologically feasible” to make everything without lead at 100 ppm concentrations.  In other words, in CPSIA-speak, it is ”possible” to make EVERYTHING without lead.  As noted previously many times, the term “technological feasibility” does not incorporate any concept of money or economics.  It simply signifies that it is possible in the real world to do it, damn the cost. Thus, the functional purpose exception is intended for products, components or materials that are either not possible to make without lead at compliant levels (not “technologically feasible”) or if possible, are unreasonably expensive or disruptive to make (“not practicable”).  In other words, the functional purpose test boils down to this:  ”not possible to make” or “possible to make but too expensive”.  As previously noted, this is further limited to items REQUIRING the inclusion of lead.  These items are quite limited, generally they are metals only.  You’ll never see the law reflect this metals limitation honestly because the Dems want to fool you into thinking this provision is something much more than it is. They don’t want you to know it’s not really for you. The retort to my argument yesterday is that this exception will be a boon for everyone because you can use evidence from prior hearings (paid for by preceding supplicants) to prove your case.  But since EVERYTHING can be made without lead according to CPSC Staff, the evidence of preceding supplicants is much less likely to be helpful or even available to you.  Why?  Because evidence dealing with technological feasibility is a settled question now.  There is no need for further evidence so all those expensive consultant reports are moot.  The only evidence of prior supplicants that would be useful must  reflect on the question of “practicability”.  How likely is it that you can use other people’s data on practicability? The pending draft reads as follows:  “In demonstrating that it meets the requirements of subparagraph (A), a party seeking an exception under such subparagraph may rely on any nonproprietary information submitted by any other party seeking such an exception and such information shall be considered part of the record presented by the party that relies on that information.”  [Emphasis added]  In other words, you can only rely on non-proprietary evidence of others reflecting on practicability.  Of this, there will be none. The issue of “practicability” is essentially one of having to take steps that are unreasonably burdensome in economic terms.  Each competitor in a marketplace has a different cost structure and sets different profit margins. This is very confidential and highly proprietary information.  Sources are confidential, manufacturing processes and innovations are usually trade secrets. All these secrets provide competitive advantage and will not be disclosed publicly. Furthermore, the disclosure of such information could devastate the market for the product, once profit margins or technical manufacturing data are disclosed to customers and resellers.  No one will disclose this information except under seal.  Many people won’t even take that step, distrusting the sanctity of their most precious information assets once it is out of their control.  So there won’t be any non-proprietary information to share or use.  Besides, each case will be different.  In reality, the case for Kawasaki to use lead in its ATV engine blocks will be different from the case of Arctic Cat ATVs because their manufacturing processes, cost levels, manufacturing location(s), market position and so on are different.  Deciding practicability for one manufacturer sheds no light on another manufacturer because the entire question is one of economics.  Let’s not forget, practicability will be determined not by whether ANY additional costs are imposed, but instead by whether the new costs are unreasonable AND unbearable.  That will vary in case by case, market by market. No doubt extraneous subjective factors like the Dems’ paranoia about lead will make for inconsistent judgments of what constitutes an unreasonable burden.  After all, there’s no safe level of lead!  Nothing will extend from one case to another.  Nothing at all. It is not surprising that this confusion lingers.  The original concept of the functional purpose exception (a lame idea from the get-go) was focused on the question of technological feasibility.  The ability to use other people’s submitted consultant reports had some value in that case.  But since that question is now resolved, so the value of sharing the reports is gone.  All that’s left is the taste in everyone’s mouth. Where does this leave us?  With no exceptions to the CPSIA, none, zippo, nada, nuthin’.   You can thank the ever-intransigent Dems for this terrible situation.  The functional purpose exception should be DROPPED and replaced with something actually useful to real businesses, before we all expire.  The House Energy and Commerce Committee needs to ask:  Who are we trying to benefit?  What problem are we trying to solve? How will the new provision solve that problem? Who will be the beneficiaries of that solution?  [In the real world] Do we like the order in which relief is likely to be doled out?  Is it okay to design a provision such that only big companies can get relief in practical effect, or one in which big companies must be granted relief first ? How much will the process cost?  How risky is the investment in applying for relief?  Is the application for relief essentially automatic, or will it be a case-by-case trial in front of the Commission? How burdensome will the application process be?  Is the exemption intended to benefit companies with small high-value product lines of 5-15 products (e.g., ATV manufacturers), or companies with broad product lines (e.g., science educational suppliers can carry many thousands of items)? Let’s get real about the relief we are purportedly offering.  Something good and useful can be crafted but not if it must followed the form of the useless functional purpose exception.  Please, Congress, don’t play games – write a provision that speaks clearly and honestly about who will benefit and how.  After three years of this, we deserve at least something clear and understandable.

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CPSIA – Functional Purpose Exception Is All About Dollars Now

CPSIA – Hypocrisy on Display

CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum was home in South Carolina last week and made an appearance to commemorate a new State ATV safety law known as ” Chandler’s Law “.  This law is supported, even encouraged, by the ATV industry.  Notes Paul Vitrano of the SVIA, “Chandler’s Law is a major step in the right direction. It’s something to be celebrated and we extend sincere thanks to everyone involved in its enactment. But there’s much more work to be done in South Carolina and all over America. ATVs are safe when used properly, but they are not toys. No responsible parent would hand the keys to the family car over to their child and send them on their way.” [Emphasis added] ATVs are not toys.  But ATVs are regulated by the CPSIA as though they are toys.  Notably, as a consequence of the CPSIA, access to youth-model ATVs has been all but eliminated .  Incredibly, there is still NOT ONE test lab certified by the CPSC to test ATVs for compliance either.  Testimony to this effect was given at the February 16th CPSC hearing at which I appeared.  Jay Howell of the CPSC acknowledged that the expense of testing ATVs cannot apparently be recovered by labs because there are so few youth model ATVs left on the market.  No lab wants to invest for testing at a loss.  The market speaks?  The absence of youth model ATVs from the market also means that they are not being rented out.  Rental and sales are the same thing under the CPSIA.  They’re gone. Interestingly, Chandler’s Law prohibits children under 16 from riding adult-sized ATVs.   If you can connect even two dots, you will realize that this is a tacit ban on children riding ATVs.  Period.  This is the secret agenda of the consumer group zealots like the former AAP majordomo Cindy Pelligrini as she admitted at a meeting of stakeholders with the House Energy and Commerce Committee staff on January 6, 2011.   So in other words, the consumer groups have a political agenda that they cannot accomplish via direct legislation – taking away ATVs from your kids, even using youth model ATVs developed at the request of the CPSC.  ATV riding is too popular regionally for a ban to ever pass Congress - so the consumer groups obtained their objective under the cover of darkness with the CPSIA and sympathetic Dem plants on the CPSC Commission.  And here’s the hypocrisy of Ms. Tenenbaum on public display.   Appearing to herald the restrictions on youth access to adult-sized ATVs, Ms. Tenenbaum does not mention that she is ALSO responsible for the removal of youth-model ATVs from the market and that Chandler’s Law essentially implements a ban on ATV use by children under 16 years of age in South Carolina.  Had she admitted it, the publicity storm would have been bad for South Carolina legislators and Dems all over the country.  She’ll never breathe a word. Not unlike the rest of the CPSIA mess, the reality is kept beneath a cloak, out of sight.  You will only notice, if you ever do, when you go to the store and try to buy something wonderful that you have used safely in the past . . . and it’s gone.  Where did it go?  The self-appointed ” fun suckers ” have been there first.  Youth model ATVs – they’re against them.  Trampolines, backyard pools, fireworks, rhinestones, brass instruments  - all too “dangerous” for you to be allowed to use.  They know what’s best, and you should be thankful. It’s our country but they’re running it.  When are you going to do something about it?  After three years, you don’t have much time left to figure it out.

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CPSIA – Hypocrisy on Display

CPSIA – Oversight Hearing Set for July 6th

The House Energy and Commerce Committee is holding an oversight hearing on July 6th entitled ” The Views of the Independent Agencies on Regulatory Reform ” featuring CPSC Commissioners Bob Adler and Anne Northup.  Other agencies will also be questioned (FCC, FERC and FTC).  Break out the popcorn!

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CPSIA – Oversight Hearing Set for July 6th

CPSIA – Shams and the People Who Perpetrate Them

As far back as December 2009, CPSIA zealots have been promoting the notion that a “functional purpose” exemption is the centerpiece of any fix to the CPSIA.  See Henry Waxman’s first attempt at a middle-of-the-night amendment to the CPSIA.  Chairman Inez Tenenbaum chimed in in January 2010 to support the need for a functional purpose exemption:  ” I have learned through our implementation of the law, however, that there are circumstances where the exclusion of lead in certain materials or component parts is extremely problematic. Accordingly, it would be helpful for Congress to create a new exclusion to the section 101(a) lead content limits that would allow some flexibility in cases where lead is required for a functional purpose and the elimination of the lead is impracticable or impossible. “  At their insistene, this term has always been part of each draft of CPSIA amendment being discussed by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. This same approach lives on in ECADA today.  Does it really make sense to offer an “out” for items or materials which “[require] the inclusion of lead because it is not practicable or not technologically feasible to manufacture” without violative lead levels?  How might that judgment be made?  No matter – the exemption sounds like a nice gesture by the powers-that-be, doesn’t it?  Leaves the door cracked just a bit so that companies in the children’s market can preserve hope, right?  The provision also addresses the unfortunate but predictable fact that the CPSC has been “unable” to grant even one exemption to the CPSIA in the last three years.  Zero, zip, zilch, nada, nothin’.  Advocates insist that this exemption process solves the problem of an overly-inflexible law without unnecessarily “endangering” children from dreaded lead. I wonder if you would feel differently if you knew that there are no conceivable materials or products that meet this standard.  The CPSC Staff confirmed it in writing.  The CPSC report on 100 ppm released last week confirms once and for all that the functional purpose exemption is an outright SHAM.  This darling of Rep. Henry Waxman and his minions (including Adler and Tenenbaum) will never be used to grant even one exemption, thus perpetuating the hoax that the CPSIA has exemptions.  It doesn’t, it never has and if the Dems get their way with this provision, it never will.  This is no accident. The CPSC Staff report concludes that the 100 ppm lead level is “technologically feasible” for all products and all materials.  Thus, they recommend the implementation of the new standard on time on August 14 to apply to everything.  This is critical – they conclude that every material and every product can be produced at the 100 ppm level.  This is actually a narrow judgment under very specific conditions set out in the CPSIA.  “Technologically feasible” is a term of art under the law – it does not have the ordinary English language meaning you might otherwise expect.  Of particular note, the definition does not refer to cost or economics in any fashion.  In other words, if it can be done (at any expense, regardless of how ridiculous), it must be done.  As the staff discovered, almost anything is “technologically feasible” under this definition in a low tech business like children’s products.  Of course, you might have to spend a lot of money or take a lot of economic risk.  The law is indifferent to these pedestrian concerns.  To reach this conclusion, staff also dispensed with the notion that anyone “used” lead at these trace levels. They note that intentional uses of lead were always at concentrations well above 300 ppm:   ”Staff has found no intentional uses of lead in materials at concentrations at or near any of the three statutory lead limits (i.e., 100 ppm, 300 ppm, or 600 ppm).  Therefore, staff does not believe that children’s product manufacturers intentionally design or make products or components with the maximum allowable lead content because lead concentration near the maximum limit would have no benefit or purpose to the product or the manufacturer.”  In other words, lead is never “included” in children’s products at these levels.  [Note to the Dem Commissioners - you can now officially apologize for your insulting remark that we manufacturers intend to "dose" children with lead if standards are even slightly loosened.] Staff also confirmed the obvious on health issues relating to these trace levels:  The contribution of products with lead levels of between 100 ppm and 300 ppm is “minimal”. In so concluding, the staff apparently rejected the testimony of the AAP’s estimable Dana Best that IQ points were being lost left and right from trace levels of lead.  So why are the Dems still insisting on a “functional purpose” exemption process?   Well, substantively, there is no rational justification for it anymore – it cannot be granted given staff’s conclusions.  That said, who is going to figure that one out?  It sounds good, makes good press for an easily-duped media, and allows Dems to adopt the stump-worthy posture of “listening” to corporate victims while still protecting children against evil companies out to poison them.  As I said, who is going to connect the dots and figure this one out?  Expect every draft of the pending CPSIA amendment to include this obsolete notion no matter the facts.  It’s good for you, remember! This is called leadership in Washington today.

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CPSIA – Shams and the People Who Perpetrate Them

CPSIA – Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them

We live in interesting times.  There has been no action by Congress to deal with the CPSIA since its controversial passage in August 2008 despite consistent and loud hue and cry.  Right now, Dems are blocking progress.  Apparently, they think the biggest threat to America is ANY change to the CPSIA. Our markets, our jobs, our livelihoods will be a necessary sacrifice to . . . what?  Reelection. During this crisis of thousands of businesses catering to children, a Democrat on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, the committee charged with managing the CPSIA mess, has been emailing photos of his you-know-what to women and girls all over America.  One of Anthony Weiner’s email correspondents was reportedly voted ” Most likely to be involved in a tabloid scandal ” by her high school class (she’s only 21, it wasn’t long ago).  I think you get the (sordid) picture.  Mr. Weiner has been of no use on the CPSIA, riding the high horse “protecting children” with his Dem brethren, at the VERY SAME TIME he was using the Internet for interactions that are, at a minimum, pretty creepy.  So Weiner is against letting even a notch out on the CPSIA belt around our necks, too unsafe . . . but he thinks it’s okay to creep around on the Internet, shooting pics of himself in the Congressional locker room and sending them out to his female Internet pals ( one of whom was a porn star ).  Hypocrisy?  How can that be, the Dems are cloaked in white, right??? Mr. Weiner remains perplexingly in office.  As Chairman of the Republican National Committee Reince Priebus noted on Meet the Press : ” What we called for is for Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic leaders in this country to do what every American knew had to be done immediately and call for his resignation. Now, it seemed to me that for the first 10 days in this circus that the only job [in America] that Nancy Pelosi was interested in saving was Anthony Weiner’s . We’ve got crushing unemployment in this country, we’ve got a president that’s, that’s whistling past the graveyard, we’ve got families that are struggling, and instead we’ve got leadership in a Democratic Party that are defending a guy that deserves no defense .”  [Emphasis added] And back at the ranch, the CPSIA Amendment (ECADA) is stalled.  Why?  Consider the May 25th words of Rep. Henry Waxman, Ranking Member on the Energy and Commerce Committee and principal roadblock to relief: ” But instead of refining a good law, the Republican bill goes after the law with a wrecking ball . The result is an assault on children’s safety.  The Republicans call their bill the ‘Enhancing CPSC Authority and Discretion Act.’ A better name is the ‘Unsafe Toy Act.’ “  [Emphasis added] That’s right – the Dem leader is calling the work of the Republican majority the “Unsafe Toy Act”.  Hmmm.  Please NOTE that the General Counsel of this committee (Gib Mullen) is the former General Counsel of the CPSC and its former Director of Compliance.  Is the implication that this former Kirkland & Ellis partner is a “hack”, lacking principle and integrity and is simply doing as he is told by Republican overlords who don’t care about children’s safety?  Please, if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you. The label “Unsafe Toy Act” is an insult and a lie in so many ways.  First of all, it isn’t true.  As I have discussed extensively in this space, ECADA is a surgical revision to the CPSIA, designed to fine tune the law without restructuring it.  Reporters have called me to ask what the big deal is.  Good question but the answer is obvious.  No rational person subject to the laws of the United States or residing here would want to make toys, or any children’s product, “unsafe”.  If you insist that they would, Mr. Waxman, PROVE IT.  Oh yeah, you don’t do that, do you? Second, Mr. Waxman impugns the dignity and integrity of anyone who would dare support ECADA.  That includes me since for more than 20 years my career has been devoted to making educational products (with perhaps the best safety record in the entire children’s product industry).  Mr. Waxman’s label plainly announces to the general public that I favor poisoning kids to make more money.  That is rather offensive, to say the least.  Members of the House of Representatives are permitted to speak their minds, through and including libelous remarks, while on the House floor.  They literally can say ANYTHING with impunity – I can’t sue them for this slander.  As such, there is no recourse for this slander. This unfortunate label is at the heart of what the Dems are after – political advantage.  Those of you who periodically pepper me with defenses of good Democrats fail to recognize the consistent pattern of obstruction and failure to act reasonably among the small group (cabal) of Dems and associated consumer groups behind this roadblock.  The pattern of lies is all for political effect.  Can you imagine the reelection commercials?  Good for the Dems, bad for anyone who disagrees with them.   The threat even applies to Dems who might have a conscience and be willing to stand up to the demagogues – the consumer groups are ready to attack them, too.  Everyone knows it, no one wants to say it. Mr. Waxman trots out the usual lies and misstatements, relying on the trick of portraying this law as a “toy law”: ” The Unsafe Toy Act triples the amount of lead allowed in most children’s toys. For some children’s products, the bill would allow lead levels to increase 100 times or more.  The bill eviscerates the requirement that toys imported from China be independently tested for safety. . . . Just listen to what the experts are saying about this bill. The Consumer Federation of America says that the bill creates ‘huge loopholes.’ Consumers Union says it will ‘lower standards and roll back safeguards for children and infants.’  The American Academy of Pediatrics and 100 other experts in children’s health wrote to express their ‘deep concern’ over the bill because it ‘would have the effect of permitting more lead in toys.’  Chairman Inez Tenenbaum of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and a majority of the Commission wrote that the bill ‘would effectively revoke key protections … and fails to adequately protect the health and safety of American children.’ ” I have rebutted the consumer group ”arguments” numerous times in this space already. I am not going to repeat myself here.  Mr. Waxman’s reference to “triple” lead levels refers to a new limitation on the excessive and useless 100 ppm lead standard that, btw, has never been deemed technologically feasible by the CPSC.  The “change” to lead levels of 100 times or more than existing standards refers to the rule exempting metal alloys (like brass) complying with the stay authorized by the CPSC Commission.  OMG, you mean we can still use brass in children’s products like pens and trumpets?  The HORROR! Neither the consumer groups nor Mr. Waxman and his Dem brethren have answered my question – Where are the victims?   This question was asked several times in the April 7th hearing by members of the committee.  To date, no one has supplied even one case history. No one calls Mr. Waxman to account for his lies and innuendos, so he persists in trashing those who can’t defend themselves.  This is not unlike his unjustified attacks on Toyota that were later proven FALSE .  Mr. Waxman did something similar at the April 7th hearing first discussing the CPSIA Amendment.  In his opening statement , Mr. Waxman laid it on thick:  ” But your discussion draft, which is the subject of today’s hearing, takes a wrecking ball to the law and would endanger young children. . . . Your discussion draft is a very different document. Democrats, consumer groups, and health experts were not consulted. The result is a one-sided proposal that provides relief to industry, but sacrifices children’s health and safety. . . . I have learned over the last few months that there seems to be no limit to the ability of the new Republican majority to pass bad legislation in this Committee and on the House floor. I have no doubt that if you want to do so, you could do so again with your draft bill.  But there is no chance that a bill this extreme could ever become law. It would not survive in the Senate and if it did, it would be vetoed by the President . ” [Emphasis added] It’s always nice to end with a threat. The title of this post refers to a lampoon written by now Senator Al Franken (D-MN).  In this book , he contends that Republicans are liars.  Well, well, well, how times change, huh?  Mr. Franken???  Any comment? I didn’t think so.

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CPSIA – Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them

CPSIA – Nancy Nord Points Out the Unpleasant Truth

In the June 1st edition of the WSJ, Nancy Nord was featured in a Letter to the Editor about over-regulation.   Commissioner Nord has had a front seat for the baloney “effort” by the Obama Dems to “reduce” burdensome regulation and to eliminate “uneconomic” regulations.  As Ms. Nord points out, the CPSC has been an oasis of normalcy during this period of regulatory introspection.  Certainly no such deregulation project has been started at the CPSC.  As she notes, she has lost vote after vote requesting cost-benefit analysis for CPSIA and other regulations – all on a party line vote.  Yes, the Dems are voting AGAINST a cost-benefit analysis again and again on the CPSC Commission. It’s your money they are spending.  It’s your business that is crumpling under the burden of their over-reaching laws and rules.  There’s nothing we can do to stop it – except to vote ALL Democrats out of office, including the big guy.  Since they won’t play ball, this is their just desserts. Here is Nancy Nord’s letter: Administration Isn’t Serious About Regulatory Reform I read with interest Cass Sunstein’s assertion that federal agencies are working to eliminate excessively burdensome regulations (“21st-Century Regulation: An Update on the President’s Reforms,” op-ed, May 26). As a commissioner at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), I can attest that no such activity is happening at this agency. We certainly have not combed through our regulations to eliminate those that are “out-of-date, unnecessary, [or] excessively burdensome,” as he suggests is being done across the government. Instead, we are regulating at an unprecedented pace and have pretty much abandoned any efforts to weigh societal benefits from regulations with the costs imposed on the public. The CPSC is an independent regulatory agency and therefore, technically, it is not required to follow the president’s executive orders such as the one Mr. Sunstein refers to mandating a “cost-effective approach to regulation.” In past administrations, the agency has always followed the lead of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which Mr. Sunstein heads, in such matters. However, under this administration, we have ignored the recent direction to look for and eliminate burdensome regulations. We are just too busy putting out new regulations. I have repeatedly requested that the agency do cost-benefit analysis on our various regulations only to have that request voted down by my fellow commissioners on a party-line basis. Consequently, we are issuing regulations without having done the necessary work to understand the impact of our actions both on those being regulated and on the public. As a result we have imposed regulatory burdens and caused people to lose their livelihoods without a real payback in terms of safety. At the CPSC, common sense regulation doesn’t even get a head-nod. Nancy A. Nord Commissioner Consumer Product Safety Commission Washington

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CPSIA – Nancy Nord Points Out the Unpleasant Truth

CPSIA – He Was Always a Weiner

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) is the latest politician caught doing naughty things (” The Incredible Shrinking Weiner “, ” Weiner Admits He Sent Lewd Photos; Vows Not to Resign “, etc.).  It is no small irony that the zesty Mr. Weiner blew hot and cold on the CPSIA. It’s one of his issues – he is a long-time member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and one of the people we are ostensibly supposed to BEG for help on the CPSIA.  On two occasions, he sent letters asking questions about this noxious law (July 7, 2010 and January 7, 2009) but never actually voted to help us.  His letters are evidence that he knew that there were serious problems affecting, among others, his constituents. Thus, we cannot nominate the Weinerman for the Hall of Fame, notwithstanding his apparent interest in our problems.  It is regrettably true that Mr. Weiner never actually DID anything for us other than send the letters.  As per the usual for EVERY SINGLE DEM, Weinerboy fell into line with the Waxmanis and refused to break ranks to support efforts to amend a law he himself questioned.  Now that’s great government!  At least he was never so heavily committed to our cause that it took time away from his hobbies.  Work-life balance is so important! Dare we hope to someday miss Mr. Weiner???

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CPSIA – He Was Always a Weiner

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