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Imagine that...another Republican Corporatist heading another public safety office: the Consumer Product Safety Comission.
The following article is a stark reminder of the types of people Bush has appointed to head public agencies.
A former corporate lawyer and official at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce? That's a joke that is not funny.
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October 30, 2007
Strengthening of Consumer Agency Opposed by Its BossBy STEPHEN LABATON
WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 — The top official for consumer product safety has asked Congress in recent days to reject legislation that would strengthen the agency that polices thousands of consumer goods, from toys to tools.
On the eve of an important Senate committee meeting to consider the legislation, Nancy A. Nord, the acting chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, has asked lawmakers in two letters not to approve the bulk of legislation that would increase the agency’s authority, double its budget and sharply increase its dwindling staff.
~SNIP~
Ms. Nord, who before joining the agency had been a lawyer at Eastman Kodak and an official at the United States Chamber of Commerce, criticized the measure in letters sent late last week and this afternoon to the Democratic leaders of the committee. She was critical, for instance, of a provision to ban lead from all toys. She said that the proposal to raise the potential penalty to $100 million “may have the undesired consequence of firms, as a precautionary measure, flooding the agency with virtually every consumer complaint and incident.”
She opposed making it easier to bring criminal prosecutions of companies that knowingly sell defective products and also criticized a measure that would make it easier for the commission to publicly disclose reports of faulty products. CONTINUED:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/washington/30cnd-consumer.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print---
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