The Consumer Product Safety Commission has apparently decided that they don’t feel like holding the bag for Nancy Pelosi’s inability to write a functional consumer protection bill:
Officials with the Consumer Product Safety Commission initially said that thrift stores couldn’t sell any clothes, toys or other merchandise for children younger than 12 that had not been tested for lead starting Feb. 10, as required by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act passed by Congress last year.
Outraged thrift store owners blitzed the commission with objections, and on Tuesday the two-member panel gave preliminary approval of several measures to exempt products made from natural materials, such as cotton and wood, from the rules.
[snip]
On Thursday the agency backed away even more, issuing a statement saying that “sellers of used children’s products, such as thrift stores and consignment stores, are not required to certify that those products meet the new lead limits . . . or new toy standards.”
Via Hot Air. Now, before you go ahead and make the welkin ring, keep this in mind: this commission still has the legal power to shut down an entire industry. It is merely choosing not to do so; partially because it recognizes the inherent stupidity of the action, sure – but partially because it’d look bad. They are not saying that they don’t have the authority to regulate thrift stores in the process; they can’t say that, because it’d be a lie. Congress gave them that authority.
Speaking as someone who – unlike, apparently, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid – doesn’t want poor people to be unable to buy clothes and toys for their children, I’d like to know why. Both in the specific case, and in the general one.
Cross-posted at Moe Lane.
Moe Lane
Steve Maley
KnightsofMalta
Dan Spencer
Dan McLaughlin
Government control
fisk2521 Saturday, January 17th at 3:55PM EST (link)I volunteer at a church sponsored Thrift shop in upstate NY. It’s purpose is to provide consignment items at a reasonable price. Our clientele is mostly those that cannot afford to pay the high prices at department stores … so they can put their children in winter coats, boots, infant clothing etc.
This new “regulation’ was a real blow when it was realized how comprehensive it was. Essentially, it would have put the shop out of business, leaving another empty store in out small downtown business district and our customers would left without a place to get things they could afford.
It is shocking just how much power these agencies have; not just in the line of the sale of clothing, but the control of property, the local schools that you think are run by the School Board, but are actually controlled more and more by the state and feds….making education much much more expensive and brininging property taxes to levels that many just cannot afford.
I am gratified that the people with the power have determined that they will ‘back off’ for a while. However, it feels just like the NY State program called STAR (the School Tax relief Program that gives ‘rebates’ to senior citizens or people under a certain income level. It’s not a property tax reduction, but a rebate; meaning essentially a favor and not guaranteed forever. We await our State every year to deterimne whether it will continue or how much….God help us this year with Patterson slapping taxes on everything that moves.
More liberals, more regulations, more control, less freedom. Looking forward to the next 4 years, I only see much much more control from bureaucratic organizations like this and less freedom for us.
LDavis