In August the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act was passed as a reaction to the wonderful garbage China has been sending us in the form of lead painted toys. Unfortunately Uncle Sam, in all his infinite wisdom, has overreacted with a law that it is completely impossible for any small business (that's you) to comply with. I know, you're shocked.
I encourage you to investigate the law and contact your representatives.
Some links:
I read this and guess I will need a bail out due to the influence of Anti-American business influences, the US Congress. I don't see how any small toy maker can meet the standards set up here.
And it's not just toys. Clothing. Everything. Some companies are already announcing they are pulling out of the US market.
And soon they may f*ck up our healthcare, automotive, and banking systems.
cm
Too late for the banking system. The automotive industry is days away and soon to follow is the healthcare system.
Since when has Congress ever talked to small and medium size businesses before passed any law or act. They are part of the never seen or listened to group. You can bet that if the people that contribute heavy to their re-election campaigns was going to be affected the act would have been written differently.
Paul T.
Wow.. another great reason for getting out of the US..
mac
Please remove splinters before emailing
On Wed, 10 Dec 2008 22:35:04 +0000, snipped-for-privacy@YAHOO.COM wrote (in article ):
This is beginning to sound like dear old Great Britain.
The politician's answer is always to make new laws rather than enforce the ones we already have.
Politicians here never legislate to deal with _the problem_ they just pass restrictive and constrictive laws to deal with a different, imagined situation which they have hyped into existence and the legislation then, maybe, sort of catches the problem indirectly. The huge wave of political "concern" and media hype over owning knives, for example. They already did it with guns (It is now illegal to train for an Olympic sport involving shooting in Britain, yet there are shootings on the streets daily 'cos the ones doing THAT sort of illegal stuff aren't bothered and the law would rather close down a target shooting club than make sure that street gangs don't carry guns)
Gun club members were never the cause of any problem. There has been sufficient law to deal with illegal firearm use for a very vet long time, but it is not enforced. That would cost money and involve the police going up against the ant-social elements. Let's target everybody else instead...
The politician's answer is always to make new laws rather than enforce the ones we already have.
Now penknives, Bowie, camping knives are all being vilified and made illegal.. apart from the "ceremonial" swords, knives and daggers that Sikhs carry, and guess what, even though such "ceremonial" weapons rank highly in stabbings and woundings, they are not being touched while it'll soon be totally illegal to go camping with a buck knife...
Lead paint?
When did a western manufacturer last use lead paint?
I've nothing against selling non-lethal toys generally but all this sledgehammer to crack a walnut thinking makes my blood boil. If you are going to paint a toy for sale locally, all you'd need to do, logically, is use finish materials with a known COSHH (or whatever standard you colonials use) certification rather than constantly re-inventing the wheel at _every_ stage of the process.
To prevent the sale of lead-filled Chaiwanse pacifiers, spiky-eyed dolls and arsenic-flavour candy bars, all you need do (broadly - I'm sure there are detail problems to work out) is make the supply of such stuff illegal - with massive fines for supply for resale - and have a bit of random testing. This would push the onus onto the importers who would then have the incentive to only import stuff that would pass through all the hoops and wouldn't affect domestic manufacturers producing stuff with known ingredients.
The politician's answer is always to make new laws rather than enforce the ones we already have.
But, as I said, politicians are unlikely to tackle the real problem. They want to be seen to be apparently doing something so they can crow about it but they'll make damn sure that any new legislation won't upset any apple carts that they happen to be hitching a ride on and is, whatever else, "politically correct" and won't offend any pressure groups with money or "God" on their side. Damn everybody else.
Yet, for some reason, millions risk their lives to get to here to live in this horrible, despicable place.
Amen
Well, by definition, most politicians are lawmakers. Their only real ability is to create and pass new laws, or remove old ones (and they seem loath to do that). Sort of like hammers. Useful for some things but really not the right tool for driving a screw. Asking a politician to "do something" pretty much means they will try to pass a new law.
The few politicians who are actually administrators, they should be able to do cover a wider range of function, but most of them started out as lawmakers and mostly think all problems look like nails.
Bill Ranck Blacksburg, Va.
I have spent the morning looking into this legisitation and have been told by one senator's office that they are two busy to talk to me and by a number of government that there is no one there who can help me, please leave a message or I have gotten answering machines that can not take messages because they are to full of unanswered messages. Makes me wonder what my taxes are going for, oh yeah I remember for the rich to get richer.
It's a lot more informative when you name the Senator and tell /which/ government offices you called that weren't responsive...
Despite what far left politicians, who make their livings exploiting and perpetuating class warfare (most of whom came from old money, ironically) would have you believe, ninety percent of millionaires in this country are first generation rich.
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that of the US product safety commission compleance staff whose answering was too full to take another message. The others I will wait to see if they do call back. I did recieve a call from Representative Edward Whitfield (R-KY) who told me that they were looking into possible self certification for small business, but that they had no real information as of this time and would let me know by Monday as to what was going on. I hope that is a little more informative then the post I wrote in disgust a short time ago.
Well... yeah, that's a lot more info. I understand you frustration, though.
Yuppers, it is; and I fully understand the disgust.
I *like* sunshine! I think they don't get enough of it in DC. :)
Well that's the first encouraging response I've heard.
-Kevin
He was way too....oo busy getting re-elected to do anything constructive.
BTW, did you contribute to his re-election campaign?
Lew
Not since back when I worked for and with him before he bacame a Senator. >
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