This truly is a nightmare before Christmas, and I agree with you wholeheartedly that the government needs to tighten controls and increase funding to better protect our children. But before we start calling for our leaders' heads, let's get back to reality and put things in perspective.
We live in one of the safest countries in the world. Regarding food supplies, Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt recently said the United States has "among the safest food supplies on the planet [and] we're very fortunate to live in a place where...problems are discovered quickly and responded to." The same can be said about consumer goods. Even Europe, a place notorious for its stringent product safety regulations, has recently experienced similar rates of product recalls as the United States. These recalls almost universally stem from the same problem on both continents--and no, it's not President Bush, even though I recognize Democrats consider him the root of all problems--manmade or otherwise. No, indeed, it's not Bush (or global warming for that matter) this time, but instead under- or un-regulated chinese exports. Yes, it's that simple.
Yet Donkey, your columnist wants us to see it from a more cynical point of view. She seems to have misrepresented enough issues that, if you took them at face value, would indeed lead us to believe that President Bush favors corporate interests over the lives of our children. You certainly can't get much more cynical than that. And yet this is exactly the type of political propaganda that democrats want us to believe. Fortunate for our readers, though, I--Mighty Elephant--can set the record straight on this perversely one-sided news piece promulgated by our very own and otherwise well-respected Donkey.
The truth is that President Bush and Nord are not opposed to additional funding and more staff for the CPSC, as your columnist led her blind readers to believe. Nord simply doesn't want the funds coming in the form of big, inefficient bureaucracy, which is precisely what Congress is trying to strong arm her to do. In fact, Nord is quoted as calling a proposed House bill doubling CPSC's budget “a win for consumers.” What differs between Congress and the Bush administration, however, is that the latter actually wants to spend agency dollars wisely, working with industry, rather than against it, to promote toy safety.
The Wall Street Journal does a fine job of clarifying the other misconceptions of your columnist's post.
Tinkering With Toys
November 9, 2007; WSJ, Page A18
Just in time for toy season, Congress is promoting new legislation to crack down on companies selling products said to be defective or dangerous. With an epidemic of tainted Chinese imports on their hands, industry and regulators have been clamoring for beefed- up safety standards. So far, more than 21 million products have been taken off store shelves since the summer. That's not enough for the Senate.
Under a Senate bill sponsored by Arkansas Democrat Mark Pryor, the budget of the Consumer Product Safety Commission would be increased to $117 million from $62 million over five years. It would also raise the cap on civil penalties against a company selling a defective product to $100 million -- more than 50 times its current level.
While many agency complaints are now handled through negotiation, with a $100 million anvil over their heads, companies likely would litigate. Prosecutions would rise, while actual enforcement would fall. Meanwhile, the Pryor bill would empower all 50 state Attorneys General to effectively run their own consumer product safety adjuncts -- deciding what constitutes a safety defect and making their own judgments about appropriate remedies.
The result could be a jigsaw system of conflicting standards across the country. You can see where this is going: banned-in-Michigan Hot Wheels being smuggled across the border into Indiana and so on. And without a consistent national standard, small businesses would be particularly hard hit, lacking resources to monitor the evolving rules nationwide.
But wait, there's more. Mr. Pryor's proposal would also give whistleblowers within companies bonus cash for coming forward with the dirt. Fees would float between 15% and 25% of any civil penalties collected by the state or feds. At up to $25 million, that's not a bad finder's fee. Whistleblowers also cannot be fired if they are "about to" provide information on an "alleged violation" of law, which sounds like a license for any worker to make himself untouchable.
Among those objecting to this plan is the head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission herself, Nancy Nord. While she'd be happy to have more resources, she would prefer to use them for hiring "more safety inspectors and scientists and compliance officers," she said, "I don't want to be hiring lawyers." In exchange for this honesty, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for Ms. Nord's resignation.
All of this is happening at a time when the appetite for business self-policing is strong. Businesses have every incentive to clean up their acts, given the costly damage to their brand equity from news stories about tainted toys. Mattel ran newspaper ads this summer speaking directly to consumers about its efforts to ensure its products were safe.
Other toy companies have already begun raising their own internal safeguards, with Toys "R" Us and Walt Disney joining Mattel in announcing more rigorous safety testing. Their action even earned them the praise of Illinois Senator Richard Durbin, who announced himself pleased that they "held themselves to a higher standard."
The industry has been loud in its complaints against Mr. Pryor's bill, and he may yet be willing to negotiate. The House has offered a more reasonable version, reducing the $100 million penalty to $10 million and leaving off the whistleblower provision. Congress's urge to legislate here is, we guess, understandable given that the Members can claim to be doing something to protect children. But as with many passing "scandals," the idea that federal legislators have the solution is itself most likely a defective product.
With that, all I can say is "Viva free enterprise!"
Kind regards,
--Mighty Elephant
Just in time for toy season, Congress is promoting new legislation to crack down on companies selling products said to be defective or dangerous. With an epidemic of tainted Chinese imports on their hands, industry and regulators have been clamoring for beefed- up safety standards. So far, more than 21 million products have been taken off store shelves since the summer. That's not enough for the Senate.
Under a Senate bill sponsored by Arkansas Democrat Mark Pryor, the budget of the Consumer Product Safety Commission would be increased to $117 million from $62 million over five years. It would also raise the cap on civil penalties against a company selling a defective product to $100 million -- more than 50 times its current level.
While many agency complaints are now handled through negotiation, with a $100 million anvil over their heads, companies likely would litigate. Prosecutions would rise, while actual enforcement would fall. Meanwhile, the Pryor bill would empower all 50 state Attorneys General to effectively run their own consumer product safety adjuncts -- deciding what constitutes a safety defect and making their own judgments about appropriate remedies.
The result could be a jigsaw system of conflicting standards across the country. You can see where this is going: banned-in-Michigan Hot Wheels being smuggled across the border into Indiana and so on. And without a consistent national standard, small businesses would be particularly hard hit, lacking resources to monitor the evolving rules nationwide.
But wait, there's more. Mr. Pryor's proposal would also give whistleblowers within companies bonus cash for coming forward with the dirt. Fees would float between 15% and 25% of any civil penalties collected by the state or feds. At up to $25 million, that's not a bad finder's fee. Whistleblowers also cannot be fired if they are "about to" provide information on an "alleged violation" of law, which sounds like a license for any worker to make himself untouchable.
Among those objecting to this plan is the head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission herself, Nancy Nord. While she'd be happy to have more resources, she would prefer to use them for hiring "more safety inspectors and scientists and compliance officers," she said, "I don't want to be hiring lawyers." In exchange for this honesty, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for Ms. Nord's resignation.
All of this is happening at a time when the appetite for business self-policing is strong. Businesses have every incentive to clean up their acts, given the costly damage to their brand equity from news stories about tainted toys. Mattel ran newspaper ads this summer speaking directly to consumers about its efforts to ensure its products were safe.
Other toy companies have already begun raising their own internal safeguards, with Toys "R" Us and Walt Disney joining Mattel in announcing more rigorous safety testing. Their action even earned them the praise of Illinois Senator Richard Durbin, who announced himself pleased that they "held themselves to a higher standard."
The industry has been loud in its complaints against Mr. Pryor's bill, and he may yet be willing to negotiate. The House has offered a more reasonable version, reducing the $100 million penalty to $10 million and leaving off the whistleblower provision. Congress's urge to legislate here is, we guess, understandable given that the Members can claim to be doing something to protect children. But as with many passing "scandals," the idea that federal legislators have the solution is itself most likely a defective product.
With that, all I can say is "Viva free enterprise!"
Kind regards,
--Mighty Elephant
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