Remember how they found lead in a bunch of toys

a while ago?

Remember that the government passed a law mandating that toy companies test their toys in third-party labs to ensure that they fall below the new more strict requirements of lead, lead paint, and chemicals known as phthalates because of a bunch of recalls?

Remember how a bunch of small companies were lobbying against the bill with a claim that this new law will negatively effect them most of all because they would be less able to come up with money to pay the third party labs for testing?

Remember how the toy company that prompted the new law (after 6 recalls) was Mattel?

Remember how Mattel spent $1 million lobbying congress for a couple of it's own provisions to be added to the bill?

Well, the joke's on you. The Consumer Product Safety Commission recently (but very quietly) granted Mattel an exemption from the new law. Now because of the 3-0 vote, Mattel has government permission to continue to ship their toys to Mattel testing sites in Mexico, China, Malaysia, Indonesia and California. All the small toy companies that complained? They get to shell out money to pay for their own testing sites (unless the CPSC grants them an exemption too).

More http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090827/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_product_testing_mattel">here.

Your government....seriously...what can you say?

Q3JR4.
The corporatocracy is protected while the consumers, once again, shoulder the burden.

install barriers to entry for small companies, exemptions for big ones.

there was an element of same in the progressive movement reforms & roosevelt's trust-busting, too.

It's beginning to look like any bill passed by any political party in congress should be considered most suspect.

Q3JR4.

the would join us in doing what is best for them and all of us. But many small businessmen (and the general population) fall prey to the GOP hype that the GOP is fighting for all business.

A major platform of the DJP was the promise to break up these kinds of bureaucracies and make life better for the little guy. I can't imagine it will be easily done, but the fact that reformers have won such a major victory is a sign of progress.

much higher than their big conglomerate competitors, but now this kind of bs. Somehow a big mega corporation like mattel can't afford to pay a third party tester, but a small business can??? wtf!! all these congresspeople who supposedly support small businesses seem to like to make it harder to get your foot in the door whenever possible.

Mattel got the exemption because they were able to convince the board that their testing facilities were insulated from corporate influence and, so, could function independently. It had nothing to do with what they could afford.

Presumably small businesses could get the same exemption, but I thought it worth pointing out that the very law meant to provide oversight over Mattel (because of the high publicity of their lead-in-the-toys-your-child-chews-on recalls) no longer applied to Mattel despite all appearances to the contrary.

Q3JR4
For the low, low price of $1 million, you too can own your own congress-critter! If that doesn't do it for you in this special one time only deal, for the low, low price of $10 billion you can write your own law and congress will pass it as written guaranteed.

person might think that the bodies who are supposed to be protecting the consumers aren't doing that.

sounds like the folk in this thread are starting to get it

here`s the latest....the feds have`t done anything since 2006.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-playsetaug30,0,6828223.story

Why would anyone who knows about this buy a Mattel toy? They exempted themselves from my shopping list.

:eyes:

Maybe we'd best not jump to conclusions until we find out exactly who these 3 CPSP people are. Chances are, they're Dubya cronies that Obama hasn't replaced yet.

but, sadly, I no longer have faith in the american system of government.

That being said I have no idea what part of the world would or even could be any better. Corporations have their talons in governments the world over and only the little guy gets f**ked.

Q3JR4