Comments about ‘Paranoid legislation’

Not only that, but they want to destory all books printed before 1985 becsuae they may have lead in the paint, which would destroy used bookstore, and libraries. It seems as though they want an uniformed public.

Hey! Lets put them in charge of our healthcare too.

Maybe they thought to eliminate the pre-1985 books,
through a back door law, instead of burning books deemed dangerous, as the Nazi's did in Germany.

Republicans simply don't care if toddlers suck lead. After all, it might require some fat tycoon somewhere to get the lead out of his products. BTW, the law does NOT require any books to be destroyed. That's a myth. Check it out-- it takes 5 seconds on google.

Don't be a "partisan politics idiot"! This has nothing to do with either party. This has to do with Congress, as a whole, allowing two people in charge of the CPSC to destroy thousands of small businesses unnecessarily. ....My case is this: I manufacture plush toys for Zoos. I test according to the ASTM standards. Test results show absolutely No Lead in my products. With the CPSIA, I will have to spend $4,000 per design per production run. If I was WALMART and producing millions of each design I could absorb the cost. As it is, my designs are unique and produced in much smaller quantities. I may make only 1200 of a custom design for an Eco exhibition! This adds over $3 to each item at the manufacturing level! That translates to a minimum additional cost of $12 to the consumer..... There are many ways to accomplish the goal of eliminating dangerous products. This is a knee-jerk reaction by people who don't know anything about what they are legislating over. Looks good in the press but the reality is a Very Different Story!... I have two words for Congress and the CPSC.... Component Testing!

The legislation which caused the confusion came about as a result of the tainted products from China. Obviously, not all the ramifications were appreciated and/or the bill was poorly written. But, no conspiracy here.

You beautifully describe the unintended consequences of the actions of the brain dead political class which burdens every industry in the US and has cause the continual difficulties for small business, the nation's biggest employers.

I agree with the letter writer. This law will bankrupt or criminalize various small businesses because of the supposed threat of minute amounts of lead in various products. The law will cause serious harm, with likely no measurable benefit whatsoever. Senator Bennett was right to oppose this law. (I just wish he would be conservative more consistently, instead of mainly when re-election time rolls around.)

And it will drive the home-made entrepreneur out of business and leave only the big corporations to play. Just like Safe toy guy, my wife has a small business making homemade jewelry that she then sells online and at boutiques and craft shows. Yet under this new law because a parent might purchase a bracelet for a child, she would have to pay thousands of dollars to have her jewelry tested.

Seems to me this law is trying to finally put the nail in the coffin of the american dream.

Re: Safe Toy Guy: I agree with your comment, but I think you didnt go far enough in your conclusion. So I have two additional words for Congress and the CPSC: Back off!

No trucks are pulling up at the libraries at UC Berkeley. Nothing has happened to the Library of Congress. Why bring up that we can scan any book and make safe digital copies.

Why use logic when some conservative inciter can get you all tried up in knots by saying the sky is falling.

I've only worked in manufacturing. All our vendors could provide certification on their products specs. If there was a problem. I could call my suppler and ask for a cert.

Anonymous... Normally, I would agree with you.

However, I am shocked and amazed that my government has banned children's motorcycle's because of a lead poisioning excuse to begin with.

I can believe it was an un-intentional mistake. But the fact that it's taking so long to rectify tells me that it wasn't a mistake. There are people out there that have an agenda, want the Nanny state and will do whatever it takes to get it.

My family was getting along just fine before this stupid law was passed.

Anonymous and Oh Please, you are wrong about the impact of the law on books. Although no one seems to be enforcing the law YET, under it children's books printed before 1985 do have to be tested (not feasible - testing is expensive and destructive), destroyed, or kept away from kids. CPSC says the law does apply to libraries and schools, which contain many older books or books with no print date.

You can't just scan any book - you have to obtain permission from the copyright holder (not an easy task at all) and we're talking millions of books (a gargantuan undertaking). Not too mention it's not easy or satisfying to read a bedtime story on a monitor.

Books are safe, even if there's a little lead in the ink, because it's only soluble and dangerous if the kid EATS the book (not just sucks or chews on it), and almost no kids do that. This law harms kids while not making them appreciably safer.

By the way, I'm a liberal Democrat, not a knee jerk conservative.

Come on people, some parts of the law don't make any sense. If you own a dirt bike for your kids no matter how old or new the bike is you can't get any parts. My 5, 7, & 9 year old have never thought about eating the brake cable, all they want to do is set on the seat and ride! Some of you people are so far out of touch with reality it makes me sick.