Toxic Toy Law Threatens All Used Book Stores, Goodwill, Salvation Army

Published on January 7th, 2009

Toxic Toy Law Threatens Local Businesses – NBCSANDIEGO.COM- msnbc.com —

Must now wear new “tested for lead” clothes from Macy’s

This is the most idiotic thing ever to come down the George Bush Pike. Only Walmart, Target and other big stores selling new products can afford this legislation. No mother will be able to buy used clothing for their children or a used children’s book. Technically this mean garage sales will not legally be able to sell these items either. Also the same goes for the Salvation Army stores and Goodwill. Unbelievable. And, note, China has not been shipping clothes with lead in the fabric. It was always about lead paint. How did this legislation come about then? Let’s track it down and I suspect a corrupt politician is behind it.

This legislation also applies to hand-made one-of-a-kind knit clothing. Screw all those grannies in New England who knit mittens.

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, passed by Congress in August, goes into effect February 10. Among other things, it mandates all childrens’ products, toys, clothes, books, etc. are tested for toxic lead and phthalates, chemicals used in plastic. Store owners must present a certificate proving the products were tested.

Many small business owners say they can’t afford the testing and will have no choice but to get rid of much of their inventory.

“The cost of digestive testing for lead ranges from $130 to $180 per test on a shirt I am selling for $4.95,” said Gulij.

37 users responded in " Toxic Toy Law Threatens All Used Book Stores, Goodwill, Salvation Army "

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# 1 Improbus said, on January 7th, 2009 at 9:26 am

Were from the government and we are here to “protect” you.

# 2 Paddy-O said, on January 7th, 2009 at 9:28 am

“This is the most idiotic thing ever to come down the George Bush Pike.”

Actually, The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, was signed by Bush at the request & urging of the Dem Congress.

He refused most of these types of wacky bills from the Dem Congress in the past. Can’t wait for Omama to start rubber stamping the new Dem private sector regulations!

# 3 Dallas said, on January 7th, 2009 at 9:37 am

Well, there are 12 days left in the Bush regime.

Stay tuned for more idiotic shit but this is nothing in the grand scheme of things. Just another item in the ‘government doing stupid’ pile for Obama for overturn.

# 4 George said, on January 7th, 2009 at 9:41 am

I find it interesting that liberal dogooders who started the anti-lead hysteria about ghetto kids eating lead paint chips and arguably caused billions of dollars of economic damage to the paint and housing industries (lead paint was a superior product) are now all concerned about business costs.

If you liberals are so concerned about American business, then why does your president-select want to bankrupt the domestic coal industry and virtually eliminate domestic oil production?

George Bush is trying to be the kind of Republican you people want. Just remember your mantra. “If it saves the life of just one child…”

I wonder if Jocelyn Elders is available for service in the Obama administration?

# 5 Widgethead said, on January 7th, 2009 at 9:49 am

Is there anyway to pass on the certificate, i.e. selling something “as is” or ” caveat emptor” i.e. “not tested to be lead free, user assumes all risks” The whole idea that yard sales and small business will be held accountable to this weird law seems rather unreal. Again the little guy is punished for the errors in judgment of large corporations.

# 6 Dallas said, on January 7th, 2009 at 9:53 am

#4 Re:
“…I find it interesting that liberal dogooders who started the anti-lead hysteria..blah blah..”
Correct. Note that lead poisoning is the reason Bush is mentally retarded. It should have happened earlier.

“..If you liberals ..blah..why does your president-select want to bankrupt the domestic coal industry and virtually eliminate domestic oil production?..”

I searching for the “Bankrupt domestic coal industry” bill but I can’t find it. Sorry

“..George Bush is trying to be the kind of Republican you people want..”
Yeah right.

# 7 eyeofthetiger said, on January 7th, 2009 at 10:21 am

This is much like the 2005 bankruptcy act that forced families to pay credit bills over mortgages. Welcome, to your outfit – the wall.

# 8 timw077 said, on January 7th, 2009 at 11:45 am

Interesting, however, I think someone needs to read the actual law.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpsia.pdf

It is referring to toys *manufactured* after a certain date. The only people this is going to hurt, is manufacturers. They will have to put seals on their products (like they do cribs for other safty laws) saying they meet the CPSIA requirements, and have evidence of 3rd party testing.

It’s going to be bad for the small time makers, but after reading the law, it isn’t bad idea. Testing is going to increase the price of toys.

I doubt anyone in their *right mind* would close their thrift shop because of this law.

# 9 Mister Mustard said, on January 7th, 2009 at 12:04 pm

#4 – George

>>I wonder if Jocelyn Elders is available for
>>service in the Obama administration?

Ho ho! An Elders-basher! What, you think that if masturbation is not discussed with high-school students, there will be more left over for you?

# 10 Mister Mustard said, on January 7th, 2009 at 12:10 pm

#2 – Paddy-RAMBO

>>He refused most of these types of wacky
>>bills from the Dem Congress in the past.
>>Can’t wait for Omama to start rubber
>>stamping the new Dem private sector
>>regulations!

Yeah, I’ll have to admit, Merkin did a good job of staving off the Democratic craziness.

He vetoed bills on stem cell research, Katrina recovery, troop readiness, veterans’ care, childrens’ health insurance, protecing water purity….he was a real ace!

# 11 LibertyLover said, on January 7th, 2009 at 12:22 pm

#10, Don’t forget the farm subsidies, too. Unfortunately, those were overridden by a congress for a grand total exceeding $300B. Most of that money was pork.

Don’t play holier than thou when both sides of the aisle have their pet projects.

# 12 Paddy-O said, on January 7th, 2009 at 12:30 pm

#10 “he was a real ace!”

Exactly my opinion.

# 13 sargasso said, on January 7th, 2009 at 12:33 pm

The military and arms manufacturing industries have been administering lead to children for centuries. Obviously, in their context it wasn’t a bad thing.

# 14 Mister Mustard said, on January 7th, 2009 at 12:46 pm

#11 – Loser

>>Don’t play holier than thou when both sides
>>of the aisle have their pet projects.

I’m not playing holier than thou. I’m simply performing my duty to debunk Paddy-RAMBO’s myth that Dumbya has been protecting the country from frivolous legislation foisted on him by “Omama” and his ilk.

The only thing Dumbya has protected us from (or tried to, as he’s pretty much ineffectual) is legislation that would actually do the country some good.

And now Paddy-RAMBO shoots back with his snappy rejoinder, verifying that he does indeed consider Dumbya to be “a real ace”.

Yee-haw! A real ace! We found the one guy in the country (the world?) who doesn’t think Dumbya should be tarred and feathered and forbidden ever to clear brush from his Crawford “ranch” again!

# 15 Li said, on January 7th, 2009 at 1:12 pm

Now that the children are done playing their retrograde and useless game of partisanship, I hope that they are satisfied long enough to discuss the bill itself.

As far as I can tell, this is an effort by the big toy manufacturers to counter the movement towards cottage industry toy production that was so strengthened by the lead toy scandal of ‘07. Frankly, this is clearly built on the model of onerous inspections that killed the local dairy decades ago, but this time the public is more wise and there is a bit more resistance. Just search around a bit and you’ll find several groups against this act, and even better, civil disobedience is easy. All you have to do is sew a glove and give it to a kid, or throw a garage sale. I am a big supported of cottage industry, and we must work against all regulation of this sort to bring about the distributed, decentralized future that can solve so many of our energy, economic and social problems.

# 16 meetsy said, on January 7th, 2009 at 1:34 pm

#8, I guess you can’t really READ!!
The law is poorly designed and it had an amazingly FAST implementation time. The bugs ain’t out of it.
The law should be aimed at importers and manufacturers, instead it’s RETROACTIVE to retailers. Go figure. The way the law is written it does say (if I might interpret for you) that goods made prior to Feb 9,2009, cannot be sold, unless testing has occurred (third party testing, mind you…at a cost of between $100 and 400 — and the item is destroyed in the process) and/or a certificate can show that. It is a broad sweeping law, and those caught in the net include: resale stores, ebay, vintage toy stores, doll stores, thrift stores, hand-made items (like sweaters and bibs, or diaper wraps, or toys). Starting in early February Ebay will no longer accept toy sales, or anything for infants..antique or new. The resale and boutique children’s stores are calling Feb 10 National Bankruptcy Day. Even Freecycle is fearing it…because seems the rules are so strict that you can’t legally give these items away…they are hazardous waste (no matter if true or not) and must go to a landfill.
If you doubt me….try looking up HR4040. Or, read these articles: http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/legislating_montana_small_businesses_out_of_business/7197/
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-thrift2-2009jan02,0,2083247.story
The PROBLEM with America is that people only HALF read something then jump to conclusions and just say “oh yeah, that’s fine”. Moronic.

# 17 billabong said, on January 7th, 2009 at 1:56 pm

Remember behind every corrupt pol. there is a businessman corrupting him.

# 18 xjonx said, on January 7th, 2009 at 2:04 pm

There is a very easy and cheap solution. Just mark them all as for “adults only” and let people give them to whom ever they want.

# 19 LibertyLover said, on January 7th, 2009 at 2:36 pm

#15, Now that the children are done playing their retrograde and useless game of partisanship, I hope that they are satisfied long enough to discuss the bill itself.

I’m non-partisan

As far as I can tell, this is an effort by the big toy manufacturers to counter the movement towards cottage industry toy production that was so strengthened by the lead toy scandal of ‘07.

Lobbying groups don’t operate for free. Somebody funds them and somebody get’s paid.

http://tinyurl.com/9qmmxy

Here is how much the special interests paid to pass this bill. How much are they getting in return?

# 20 Angel H. Wong said, on January 7th, 2009 at 2:47 pm

More laws protecting mediocre parents..

# 21 Li said, on January 7th, 2009 at 4:46 pm

More laws protecting mediocre toy makers. . .from sweet stuff like this!

http://www.rocketworld.org/

# 22 amodedoma said, on January 7th, 2009 at 5:01 pm

Ya ever get the impression that the kids are in charge of the cookie jar?

# 23 Mister Mustard said, on January 7th, 2009 at 5:19 pm

#19 – LibLo

You keep posting links to that inscrutable web site, and it raises more questions than it answers. In this case, it reveals:

Interests who DID want this bill to become law (such as Consumer groups and Environmental policy) gave an average of:

$136,370 to each legislator voting Yes
$276,121 to each legislator voting No

So. Those who successfully lobbied to have the bill passed gave MORE money to those who voted “NO” than to those who voted “YES”?

What, do they have George W. Bush deciding whom to bribe, or what?

# 24 MikeN said, on January 7th, 2009 at 6:42 pm

Could we get rid of all of the labeling laws on shirts?

# 25 Don said, on January 7th, 2009 at 6:55 pm

Wow, what a disaster. This was obviously conjured up by big industry to destroy the small manufacturer and eliminate the resale industry.

You will only be able to give new, aproved toys. Once you loose the CERTIFICATION that your toy is lead free, you cannot sell of give the item away.

Don

# 26 LibertyLover said, on January 7th, 2009 at 6:57 pm

#23, [...]it raises more questions than it answers.

That is definitely the truth. The big question is why aren’t these numbers broadcast on the nightly news every night?

I didn’t ask how much “each” one got. I asked how much they paid.

89 x 136,370 = $12,136,930
3 x 276,121 = $828,363

They spent a total of $13M to pass this bill.

So. Those who successfully lobbied to have the bill passed gave MORE money to those who voted “NO” than to those who voted “YES”?

I guess those three wanted more money to change their vote. I bet those 83 yes’s are kicking themselves in the butt right now — “I should have held out for more money!”

# 27 Mister Mustard said, on January 7th, 2009 at 7:01 pm

#26 – LibLo

>>That is definitely the truth. The big
>>question is why aren’t these numbers
>>broadcast on the nightly news every night?

I would certainly be in favor of that.

# 28 LibertyLover said, on January 7th, 2009 at 7:07 pm

#27, They say lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place. You do realize that we just agreed twice on the same blog . . .

# 29 Mister Mustard said, on January 7th, 2009 at 7:48 pm

#27 – LibLo

Yeah, I noticed that. I’m becoming concerned.

Let’s just hope that Sea Lawyer doesn’t accuse us of having a homoerotic love fest. He’s funny that way.

# 30 GetSmart said, on January 7th, 2009 at 7:54 pm

Guess it’s going get to the point where any body doing cottage industry type stuff or recycling is going to have to cozy up to the underworld.
“Hey man, you wanna wooden pull toy ta go with that weed? Hand made in America, the best!”
I can see the fucking “War on Toys” now. Sponsored by Mattel. Of course you’ll still be able to buy Chinese made crap at the local BigBoxMart.

# 31 GetSmart said, on January 7th, 2009 at 8:00 pm

When pinhead inspectors show up at the local Mininstry to the Poor to shut down redistribution of clothing and such, simply Tar, Feather and remove from vicinity on Rail. Repeat as necessary.

# 32 jestyr said, on January 7th, 2009 at 8:37 pm

Thanks for posing this John. My wife and I own a children’s consignment store and we just found out about this yesterday. If this law goes into effect we’ll have to close our doors because it effects everything sold for children; stroller, cribs, clothes, shoes, books, etc. We won’t be alone, however, this could hurt goodwill stores, consignment boutiques, close a half dozen shops like ours in our small town alone I’ve been calling my congressman/senator and telling anyone that would listen.

Thanks again.

# 33 Uncle Patso said, on January 7th, 2009 at 10:23 pm

If you really want members of Congress to pay attention to the flaws in this bill, tell them it will apply to all alcoholic beverages. Specifically, any made before 9 Feb 09 will have to be destroyed and any made after will have to pass stringent and expensive tests.

“Want some 16-year-old Scotch (that I made this morning), Senator?”

# 34 So You Think You Live In A Free Country said, on January 8th, 2009 at 3:26 am

So all this time Toys for Tots was handing the kiddies lead to play with. Those bastards. They were supposed to be protecting us. This is yet another of many failures of the Bush administration.

# 35 mommyof5 said, on January 8th, 2009 at 9:12 am

What the heck??? I have 5 children and I live for thrifting….in this economy especially. So we should stop “going green” because there are a few parents who didn’t monitor their children as they should have. Ever see “Wall-E”? That’s what we’ll turn into with all the toys made from Feb.9,2009 back. Thanks government. Makes me proud to be American.

# 36 Paddy-O said, on January 8th, 2009 at 9:33 am

# 17 billabong said, “Remember behind every corrupt pol. there is a businessman corrupting him.”

I guess if you consider Unions & Enviro wacko groups to be businesses, that’s true…

# 37 meetsy said, on January 10th, 2009 at 12:39 am

All the little resale shops and small toy makers and the people who make bibs, and grannies knitting sweaters should just ignore this stupid law. There are dozens of high powered law firms already lining up to challenge this law.
I’d say..let them try and enforce it. It’s the most stupid law EVER, but the sad part is it shows just how screwed up our legislators are. This law was sped through…and signed into law, without anyone with ANY manufacturing expertise. It doesn’t have any teeth to go after the suppliers of tainted raw materials. It puts all the burden on the retailers…all the retailers smaller than Walmart, that is.
Screw them all…buy used, don’t shop at Walmart, and thumb your nose at them. Meanwhile, give a call to Bobby Rush’s office (the moron who is credited as authoring the bill) at 202 225 4372 (no, really, it’s his DC office) and, as for you people in Chicago….don’t re-elect this dweeb.

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