Thursday, February 19, 2009

More on CPSIA (Pun Intended)

Planet Moron has a few appropriate remarks on the CPSIA.

...Congress felt compelled to pass The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) that requires any product that contains lead, from toys to books to clothing to off-highway vehicles, intended for use by children under twelve, be prohibited from sale

...The obvious danger is the possibility that a six-year-old might accidentally swallow a motorcycle fender. Never mind extensive damage to the gastro-intestinal system, think of the low-levels of lead exposure! You want that on your conscience?

...the law doesn’t actually require that you subject your products to prohibitively expensive and time-consuming tests that might put you out of business, only that if you don’t, you could go to jail.

Talk about simple!

And he points out the obvious:

And besides, much of the whining is coming from smaller makers of children’s toys. You don’t hear that coming from the true champions of free enterprise and consumer safety, the gigantic multinational toy companies, each of which is perfectly willing to do whatever it takes, no matter how many of their smaller competitors are thrown out of business.

Tim Carney has another chapter for the sequel to The Big Ripoff.

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