Lead In The Head

Editorial - July 16th, 2009 - Washington Times

On June 22, Baby Sprouts Naturals went out of business. Congress killed it. Baby Sprouts Naturals is [that should be was] a small company making what it calls "natural, non-toxic baby products" such as "organic apparel," toys and the like. None of the company's products contains lead. But an anti-lead law Congress passed in 2008, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), has snared even this leadless company in its trap.

Baby Sprouts Naturals is far from alone. Horror stories abound about small and large businesses, and, indeed, entire industries, closed or hobbled because of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. The law sets new, absurdly stringent limits on how much lead any children's product can contain. It requires strict testing and labeling of all products intended for children and makes both manufacturers and retailers responsible for proving that such testing has taken place. It allows all 50 state attorneys general to take "enforcement" actions related to these issues and to hire outside counsel to do the legal work. It all but invites class-action lawsuits against children's product suppliers.

Idiots who support legislation like this law, ushered though congress by the ultimate fascist Henry Waxman, still do not seem to understand what Frederick Hayek described so well in his book, "The Road to Serfdom".

You cannot legislate government control without huge unintended consequences. This law by Waxman is loved by big corporations. It destroys small business who were actually providing consumers with better value, wiping out the competition for big business and leaving big busines with a monopoly. You can pretend that is not tyranny, but it is.