I’m not sure who came up with the idea (maybe these people at Etsy?), but tomorrow, Wednesday, January 28, has been nominated as CPSIA blogging day, and I expect hundreds of bloggers will be taking part, looking at different aspects and consequences of this immensely destructive new law. My posts on it can all be found here, and the two Forbes pieces I’ve written recently are here and here. While you’re here, why not enjoy all of Overlawyered? You can start on the front page, or browse by tag to find posts on topics of interest to you.
In the mean time, check out Forbes’s latest piece about the law, in which Paul Rubin, former chief economist at the Consumer Product Safety Commission, explains why CPSIA would flunk any imaginable cost-benefit test.
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I sent a standard email about the problems with CPSIA from a website that automatically sent out emails about CPSIA to my senators and representative. The reply I got from Senator Kennedy’s office ( the other senator & representative did not reply) seems to show one reason why there is such inaction on this from Congress: Here’s the reply I got from Senator Kennedy’s office:
“Thank you for your letter on recent safety recalls of tainted food and consumer goods. I share your concerns and I appreciate this opportunity to respond.
It is the responsibility of the Food and Drug Administration to inspect and safeguard the nation’s food supply, in order to prevent outbreaks of food-based illnesses and contain such outbreaks when they do occur.
To help the FDA accomplish these goals, the Senate has passed several measures to reinforce and improve the FDA, and I am proud to have been a sponsor of the FDA Revitalization Act, which strengthens the FDA’s ability to inspect food and expand its notification process so that the public can learn sooner about outbreaks and recalls sooner.
Our people expect and deserve that their food supply and consumer products are safe. I strongly support the agencies responsible for inspecting food and goods, and when necessary, and I’m doing all I can to see that they have the authority and support they need to protect the American public.
Thank you for contacting me on this important subject.
Sincerely,
Edward M. Kennedy”
[…] all of them know that today is CPSIA Blog Day, in which hundreds of bloggers will be calling attention to the law’s terrible effects? I […]
Handmade Quilt, $58, Um, Make That $3,530…
Walter Olson, of the excellent site Overlawyered, reminds that today’s the day to make blognoise (and, he hopes, incite noise in the offices of our Congressturds and Senaturds) in hopes of repealing the dumbass Consumer Product Safety Act of 2008……
CPSIA: “Congress is completely clueless about what is coming”…
One of the better blog posts on the subject of the extraordinary burdens of CPSIA was Eric Husman’s last month. A few excerpts: …there are some details. You can’t just not use lead or phthalates. You can’t just point out……
CPSIA: another coming (un-)attraction…
The law will come as a serious financial blow to the amusement-park, tourist attraction and festival sector of the economy, instantly wiping out the value of large inventories of plush animals, t-shirts, toys, souvenirs and so forth, and raising the……
The blog-in day was an idea from a fellow Etsian, Chichiboulie. She and I drafted a sample blogpost that others were allowed to copy/paste or glean inspiration from. The outpouring of fellow bloggers has been phenomenal (over 300). This show of support only reiterates the awful ramifications of this horribly written law. Without exemptions in place, there stands to be devastations widespread, not only from the crafting community, but schools, libraries and the economy in general. Putting more people out of work in an already faltering economy is an extremely unfortunate side effect that only demonstrates the lack of thought that went into passing this law. I have to believe it will be amended, but the time line doesn’t appear to be soon enough to minimize the damage this law will cause.
Thank you for your continued efforts in keeping this issue at the forefront.
Thank you so much for picking up on this. We decided on a blog-in in the hopes of getting the information out to more people as it would appear that the great majority in the US is unaware of the CPSIA and its effects. We ended up with well over 300 bloggers who signed our list, but many others joined in once they got word of it.
It is our hope that this will have helped to spread the word to as many people as possible.
Many Thanks!
excellent – thank you for sharing this information – together hopefully we can make an impact and get this law amended and focused back onto it’s original intent – keeping our children safe!