A place to voice our questions about CPSIA

NOTE: Check out District Dispatch, including the comments. The article brings current information, but it also highlights the fact that we're beginning to compartmentalize attacks into our own narrow interests. We need to press for repealing of the law, period.

We have another place to voice our concerns about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.

Stephen Macquignon posted on CPSIA-Central a link to “Ask a Question Regarding the New CPSC Reauthorization Legislation." He had submitted the question, "When's the law going to be repealed?"

My question was a bit more detailed, but it essentially asked the same thing. When will the CPSIA be stopped?

I think we should inundate that site with our concerns, questions, desires to see this law nullified, repealed, halted, stopped, and otherwise erased. Another law, one well researched and written, would better protect our children.

We need to stop the tragedy from happening, and we need to keep honest people from being law breakers because, as some folks keep telling me, "the law is unenforceable so don't worry about it." Personally, I try not to disobey the law even if I think no one will catch me. I prefer to be legal, as do most people and businesses.

Another blog that discusses the CPSIA problem in a more humorous manner, but no less true one, is Trockle. Personally, I'm a bit partial to the lovable little monster and his book, published by 4RV Publishing, written by Holly Jahangiri, and illustrated by Jordan M. Vinyard. I'd like to see him, uh, his book continue to be available for children. I'd also like to see the Trockle stuffed toy become a reality and not "thrown away" before produced because of a bad law.

Discussing the CPSIA and its impact with others is a good strategy. I attended a book festival this past Saturday. I was surprised how many authors had no knowledge of the law or its impacts. I spent 80% of my time talking about the CPSIA rather than books.

In fact, The Oklahoman photographer captured me with my mouth open telling someone about the law. However, not one word appears in that same paper about the serious impacts the CPSIA will have on stores, books, libraries, schools, small home businesses, or the price everyone will pay as costs of items increase.
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Burn the house to avoid a cockroach equals CPSIA

Whizbang had an interesting post "Who would want to poison our children?" posted January 19. The entry begins with

A good rule of thumb is that when everyone in Washington agrees on something it's either inane or you better hide your wallet. Of course, there's nothing that will rally together Congress faster than a law written "for the children". So it should come as no surprise that the innocuously named Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) proposed following the lead-paint-in-childrens'-toys-from-China scare last year received almost unanimous support. It passed by a vote of 89-3 in the Senate and 424-1 in the House.

What should also come as no surprise are the unintended consequences CPSIA will have on everyone from toy manufacturers to public libraries.

The post continues with Yet another classic case of razing the house because someone saw a cockroach. The blame here is obviously bi-partisan, and this abomination was signed into law by President Bush. Clearly, no politician (other than Ron Paul) will stand up when they might be shouted down as wanting to poison the children. But either large numbers of Congress-critters supported this law without fully reading and understanding its impact or their intention all along was to saddle makers of kid's goods with an exasperating suite of regulations that will yield no significant improvement on children's health.


Commentary from Forbes, "Scrap the Consumer Product Improvement Act" (by Walter Olson, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and the author of The Rule of Lawyers and other books. He edits Overlawyered.com), is quoted in the above post. One section of the commentary by Olson needs to be emphasized:

As CPSIA opponents mobilize, the phrase "unintended consequences" is often heard. Part of the irony, after all, is that the Hasbros and Targets, with their standardization and economies of scale, can afford to adapt to such rules as part of their business plan, while the sorts of enterprises that initially looked to benefit most from the Chinese toy scare--local, organic and so forth--are also the ones who find it hardest to comply.

But the failure here runs deeper. This was not some enactment slipped through in the dead of night: It was one of the most highly publicized pieces of legislation to pass Congress last year.

And yet now it appears precious few lawmakers took the time to check what was in the bill, while precious few in the press (which ran countless let's-pass-a-law articles) cared to raise even the most basic questions about what the law was going to require.

Yes, something's being exposed as systematically defective here. But it's not the contents of our kids' toy chests. It's the way we make public policy.

Hopefully, someone will do something before our house is burned to the ground.

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Keeping track of the CPSIA

Below are links to some of my posts concerning the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. Yes, we need to be sure that lead isn't in products for our children, but this law is poorly written and impacts products that do not have lead. We must keep pressuring our law makers to halt this law as it is written. The problems will affect us all and still not address the original cause of toys with lead which were imported.

More Confusion about the CPSIA

Committee with with ability to call for hearings on CPSIA

Links to use to combat CPSIA

More on the CPSIA - hurting the helpless

CPSIA effect on authors

Time is running out. The law goes into effect February 10, 2009.


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Committee with ability to call for CPSIA hearings

The following information is taken from ETSY. I thought the addresses included needed to be posted. I already wrote letters to the chairman of the committee and of the subcommittee and to the main leaders of both.

IF we write enough letters, so that these men know the problem affects many, many people, they may take action.

The new chairman of the Committe of Energy and Commerce has the ability to call for hearings on the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 and advance critical legislation to resolve some of the issues. The best way to convince him of the need for a hearing to amend the CPSIA is to WRITE LETTERS to the four Energy and Commerce Committee leaders explaining our concerns and issues with the law as it is written and how it will affect us. Even if you have written to these people before, I urge you to send another letter.

Here are the names and addresses of the four Committee leaders:

The Hon. Henry A. Waxman
Chairman Committee on Energy and Commerce
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515


The Hon. Joe Barton
Ranking Member
Committee on Energy and Commerce
2322-A Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

The Hon. Bobby Rush
Chairman Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade
and Consumer Protection
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

The Hon. Ed Whitfield
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade
and Consumer Protection
2322-A Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515


Call to Action: Write a letter to each man, explaining the problems of this law as you know them and how people, small businesses, etc. will be impacted. I wrote that books contain little to no lead anyway, and to have publishers pay for testing to prove themselves innocent would put many small companies out of business (and not only publishers)including 4RV Publishing; the cost of books would rise, meaning that fewer children would have books; and more economic disasters will be result -- in a time of economic problems. I also gave the impact on me personally.

If anyone does write these men, would you let me know, please? Also, spread the word and the addresses. The more letters, the more likely we will be heard.


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More on the CPSIA - hurting the helpless

People who are the least likely to survive any more economic disaster are going to be hurt by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.

Resale shops will have to test all the items they carry, and the expense will put them out of business; their stock will be destroyed. Charity organizations that provide clothing, and even books, to people in need, will have to test all items or dispose of them(and not give away, but throw away).

Those already struggling to survive will be harmed the most: people relying on resale shops, small business owners (including 4RV Publishing), people needing aid from charities, schools and libraries (all books will have to be tested or destroyed).

People who handcraft one of a kind items will be required to test each item, causing them to go out of business, and if they don't test each item in their inventory, the inventory must be destroyed.

I wish I had kept all the URLs about this topic that I've read the past two days, but I didn't.

Holly Jahangiri, on Do I Have to Spell It Out, posted the following:

For additional information, search for "CPSIA" and "books". Here's a good post that goes into some detail:

http://bookshopblog.com/2009/01/04/book-burning-on-feb-10th-2009-due-to-cpsia/#comment-2557

Here's a copy of the letter sent out by Amazon.com:

http://issues-in-publishing.blogspot.com/2008/11/cpsia-sneaking-up-on-us.html

The law has already passed and goes into effect NEXT MONTH, so this is urgent.

Yes, CPSIA is a bad law which will do more harm than good. Lawmakers are the only ones who benefit because they can state they did something: too bad what they did is lacking in brain cells. Children, in the long run, are harmed, not helped.



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